If you want really great pics, you are probably going to need to get a digital SLR. I finally caved and got one myself, after always drooling over everyone else's photos. Like the ones where the subject is in focus and the background is blurry. I did a ton of research and decided on the Canon T2i. It is amazing quality and is also a HD video camera. You could go cheaper (don't have the video though) or more expensive, it all depends on your needs. This one seemed to have everything I wanted at I price I could justify. They now came out with the Canon T3i, which is just the newest model. It probably has more megapixels. Anyway, hope that helps! GL