advice

[tacit]

Hi all.

I know this 'can you tell me what to get' question has been done to death... However, Id really apreciate some advice/sugestions. Thanks in advance

Where Im at: I guess Youd call me a beginner. Though Ive played around with traditional photography some, but more with development. Im an intermediate in art studies. In that I'm very familier with the artistic concepts behind painting drawing and photography (composition,lighting,colour etc) Im aware that its not a smart idea to go out and buy a super expensive camera because theres no point in having professional equipment if one doesnt know how to use it heh

What I want from my camera I need something thats In my budget of between $1000 and $2000 Australian $$. I will be doing a fair bit of travelling in a few months so it needs to be hardy. I realise that the quality of photo depends also on the lenses. Ones Im keen on getting include something that has a very narrow depth of feild, but also ones that have a longer one. I need to be able to shoot things very close up, but also ladscapes as well. Portraite/studio photography is also on the 'to do'.

So...many have suggested the canon 20D. Though its only just in my budget. I just want to make double certain if that the best choice at this time, or if theres a better option to suit the budget. Lenses of course can be picked up along the way.

Thanks again if you can help

P.S Also, the technical side of things, ie. f/stops etc is still a little vague for me, if you could recomend a read or two??