The most frequent refrain you hear when you're an aspiring photographer is "it's not the camera, it's the photographer."
It is perhaps the best piece of advice that anyone can give you, because as much as professional outfits harp on the fact that you need to have "professional gear" you can't really take a good picture unless you're a fair photographer (or just very lucky). This is evidenced by all those fancy cameras that go up for auction or for sale on Craigslist, bought originally by some hapless twit who felt that if they could just get the right camera then they could quit their job as a dentist and become the next Ansel Adams (or just take dirty picture of models).
This is my camera, there are many like it, but this one is mine.
