Photography: What camera to buy

[Starvekos]

The small Fuji Finepix point and shoot camera that has served me well over the last 2 - 3 years is a bit long in the tooth and I need to start considering an upgrade.

I spoke to Woodie last weekend and he gave me sound advice on DSLRs. Now I am interested to hear from guys that have experience in photography beyond capturing cell phones for network operators, white cars and caravans.

Use
Taking pictures at family gatherings, vacations but mostly taking pictures of my detailing process. In general, I think I take about 30 pictures per week if I am detailing or down to 10 pics a week where there is no detailing.

Price
Maximum R5,000

Consideration
I've seen a few a few retailers selling the Nikon D40 DSLR (body, standard lense, carry case, memory card, free photography course). I am told that this is the bare bones entry level DSLR. I've held the camera and it feels comfortable. However, I wonder whether a DSLR might be overkill for me. My wife may be reluctant to carry this camera over and above her hand bag and I've never aspired to carry moon bags ala 1990's trends.

Below that, there are a number of options but I don't trust the sales people I've spoken to. I get the feeling that they are pushing old stock or products that are about to be replaced or they are slow moving products. Even with my best attempts to throw in terms that make me sound like an informed brother (optical zoom, aperture, sensors...).

Comments would be highly appreciated.