Help! Moving up from point and shoot?

[LynMcR]

Hi! (Sorry if this ends up as a duplicate post - I tried to post and it isn't appearing.)
I am new to the board and am trying to decide on my next camera.

I take a lot of pics, mainly of family and small children (so I need something quick!) I want something that can take GREAT pictures easily in Auto Mode mostly (will eventually be taking a beginners photography class and PhotoShop)

I have been looking at the Olympus PEN PL1, the Sony Nex 3 and the Canon T2i. Money is sort of an issue or I think I would just get the Canon based on the test photos I was able to take at Best Buy. The Canon is situated under a big photo of a cute kid and the pics I took of the pic came out so good! I couldn't stretch the Olympus over to compare. The Nex could only be tested in video mode as the staff at Best Buy can't figure out how to format the memory card? so that does not help me!

Right now the Nex is on sale with both lenses, high speed SD card and camera bag for $699 not bad. Best Buy will have the Canon on black Friday for $999 with an extra zoom lens, card and camera bag... not sure what deal I can get with the Olympus yet.

My house is pretty dark at night so the high ISO of the NEX sounds good, but am I going to get a bunch of blurry shots because I am a beginner? It seems like the Olympus with the AF may be easier to use? and I did good with the Canon at the store but is it pretty easy to focus in general?

I originally wanted as small as possible, but at this point I know that what matters most to me is the picture quality. I am also open to other camera recommendations if I am overlooking something that may suit my needs.

Thanks so much for any advice you can offer,
Lynn

[Greg McCary]

If you can swing it I would go for the Canon. It is a DSLR while the other two are somewhere in between. I almost went for a NEX but was turned against it after reading reviews on how complicated it is to navagate the menus. You might also consider that you will probably need a flash for indoors. Most built in flashes get the job done but that's about all. So price a flash unit as well. The EPL-1 will probably have the cheapest flash

[freygr]

The problem is just purchase a DSLR or a digital camera with interchangeable lenses. The Canon TI, Olympus PEN, Sony, Panasonic Pen clone, or the Nikon D40. With the inter changeable lenses is the key to expanding you photographic horizons! Just remember allot of the old camera lenses will work in manual mode on the Canon, Nikon, and Sony DSLRs (sony uses Minolta lenses)