Before school starts

Before school starts again on the 18th of August, I would really like to get a new digital camera. When I first got into anything even relating to photography, I got the Canon G5. I didn't know anything about shutter speeds, aperture, lighting ... and I ended up hating that camera. So I bought the Nikon 8700 which was also a step up in megapixels. Now - that I could understand. That had everything to do with the size of the pic and the resolution I would be able to see in Photoshop (I have a degree in printing). With this camera I had a photography class. I like this camera - I really do. But now I want to shoot with the big boys ... and as much as it kills me to go down in megapixels ... I would really like, no I AM going to get ... and SLR. The D70 is what the kids in our class had that the instructor saw as top of the line (in the class). And I know there are cameras above that, even in Nikon. But I don't have $5000 to drop on the camera alone ... then start to buy lenses. My friend has a D70 and all she can ever say about it, is how much it sucks that you can't get a cable release for it. You can buy a remote, but no cable release. Hmmm ... not that I was dying to have a cable release or anything but then I'm a little put off that I can't have one ... even if I wanted one. So the D70S should be everything the D70 was lacking ... I hope. I'm still reading through more reviews.

If anyone has any suggestions, places to buy (I generally go through ebay stores, best I've seen so far is $1300 for camera, plus three lenses), or lenses to sell - let me know.

And the pic I'll have up today is something I took for class. Architechure (I'm sure it was at one time) and then I Photoshopped it up a bit to make it look an oil painting. Enjoy!