If I were you, I would determine if the new digital camera slr you are
interested in has "the certain plastic" or "the metal piece"

There might be other things to look for, but, for example, the Canon Rebel
has a ***plastic*** actuator piece that operates the autofocus sub mirror.
The better camera's have a metal piece, at least in the Canon line.

I had 9000 clicks and poof - no more autofocus. Out of warranty repair $175.
Its a stinking $5 part. Maybe if I got 30k or 40k out of it, but 9k? sucks!

The consumer reviews indicated that the rebel was similar to better models
except the body was plastic and some of the firmware was disabled,
apparantly not just the body is plastic!

I imagine that we are about 6 months to a year away from a flood of upset
Canon Rebel users.

David A.