Before making the decision perhaps the best thing to do is to look through the
Gallery at the various images and the the cameras and lenses used to take them, you should be able to build up an impression of what you want to achieve and then take your decision. Whilst SLRs are desirable some people do seem to be able take remarkable shots with cameras such as the "Ultra Zoom" Panasonics, Konika-Minoltas, Olympuses and Fujis.