OMG I buy a lot of photography equipment. I don't really recommend that, but darn it's fun. Toys, toys, toys. Anyhow, there are thousands of great cameras out there, so you can do very well with less expensive equipment, but for what it's worth, here are a couple of my current favorites that many of the pictures on neonphoto.com were taken with:

Canon 5D Mark II
Wow, this is my latest and I can never say it's the camera's fault again. An amazing full frame 21.1 million pixel monster. I am/was a Nikon guy, so it was very difficult to make this move, but glad I did. I still love my Nikon's, but it is a rare day when I don't use the Canon first. This my first full frame digital, and the killer was going to new lenses. But it was either this or go to the massively overpriced new Nikon D3, which also really needs new lenses to take full advantage. The best thing to me about the 5D Mark II is that high ISO performance. I haven't purchased a flash and not sure I will. I never worry if it is too dark inside or outside, it is amazing, and produces a remarkably low amount of noice even when shooting night shots. It does have video built in but honestly I can care less. Almost all EOS cameras are adding, and a nice feature, but I'd rather have paid less and had it as an option. Still it actually works great if you are into video (i.e. those with small children will love). You have to work hard to take a bad shot with this camera. Things that can be improved? It's not a great sports or fast subject camera (3.9 frames per second max, and write time seems a tad slower than Nikon), so I still use my Nikon's for fast subjects (Hummingbirds, or action shots for example). Also you need great lens quailty with that many pixels, and full frame. Don't by a cheap lens with this puppy.  Dust with that many pixels can be a bigger issue (i.e. a speck can look like a barrel). However, it does have a self cleaning option. I used to be a jpg guy, but no more, full size RAW files for everything from now on. Yep, u need a big computer, but RAW files now have too many benefits to explain in one article. Also the growing advantage of HDR photography really will make you regret if you only have jpg's in your archive. Anyhow, send me an email if you have questions, be glad to answer, but to summarize this is a great camera at a reasonable price.

Canon Lenses - Shoot only could affort two so far, but they are excellent. I'd recommend to start with these two:
Canon 100:400mm1:4.5-5.6L EF, and a Canon 24:105mm 1:4 L EF (this is the best if you can only afford one lens to start with). That will pretty well cover 90% of your needs. Remember it is full frame so the sizes now relate to the old (and great 35mm film sizes). Be careful to note the EF models, which are full frame.


Nikon D300
My favorite camera of all time still sees a lot of work. I went through a D70 and D200 fast which were great, but the D300 is still my  favorite. I also had a very pricey D2Xs, but despite it being a great camera, I still kept going back to the D300. It is strudy, fast and very forgiving. One for the hall of fame. Soon it will be replaced with a D400 (name could change), but plenty of life left in D300's so if you want a bargain, I strongly recommend.

Nikkor lens:
Since I got into DX lenses (1.5 format conversion from full frame sizes) , this was the painful part of going to Canon. The DX lenses actually are great. They actually have some advantages such as longer range (since they somewhat crop the image, my 400mm Nikkor lens captures a bigger image for long shots than my Canon. Also, lens tend to be cheaper, since you need amazing quaility with higher pixel counts. I won't list them all but some of my favorites are:
Note: All DX models
80:400mm AFS ED G VR 1:4.5-5.6
12:24mm AFS ED G 1:1.4 (A great wide angle lens!)
10.5mm Fisheye 1:2.8 G ED (fun and outstanding resolution)
I also have one Sigma lens which is a great macro lens- 150mm 1:2.8 APO Macro DG EX HSMMost have image stablization on them which is worth the extra cost.

For all equipment I recomment B&H Photo. They are first class. Plus if you purchase through any links on this page, I get a small commission which will allow me to keep eating (fast food that is). Thanks