SLR is the way to go.I personally use a canon Xsi which you could pick up for around $600 I know that is more than you want to spend but you can do Sooooo much more with a DSLR including get diffrent lenses to achieve the diffrent types of shots you would like to take.There are other models that are cheaper such as the XS(slr) but I would skip a point and shoot altogether if you really want to take excellent photos.