shame on all of you. anyone telling you you need a nice 'camera' doesn't know what they are talking about.
the camera is just a light box. you push the button and it opens and closes. forget about wanting a nice 'camera', any professional (and anyone who knows what they are talking about) is going to tell you that the importance is in the lens. so get a cheap camera off of ebay (an old canon rebel) and then buy yourself a 50mm 1.8 lens. canon's is only $79, probably the most quality photography you're going to get for anything, anywhere on the market. if you want considerably nicer photographs you could spring for the 50mm 1.4 which is $350, and this you will blow you away with its image quality - and is also a lot of bang for you coin.
i have a bunch of really expensive fancy camera gear, but if i was going to only have one lens, i'd make it that 50mm 1.4 forget about zooms, they only inhibit your image quality. you'll get used to the single focal length and you wont care since you're pictures look so good.