My daughter just bought a Canon point and shoot for $249 cdn .. I can't recall the model but it has 5 mega pixels and would fit in a shirt pocket. It has video capabilities, but these 'videos' in point and shoots are very, very limited.

SLR's are better, but john as you mentioned the cheaper (here in Canada) ones still go for about $700 cdn without the lense. On ebay (and such web sites) you can probably find a low end SLR with lense for around $600 U.S.

I should note SLR digitals do not have video capabilities. The view finder in my D70s is for playback only and I think most high end SLR's are the same.

sIx