Butterflies and zinnias

I took these photos last summer, actually. How many butterflies can you count in the second picture?

Speaking of photography, there is a rumbling in the ranks that we may be getting a new family camera soon. (All photos featured on my blog thus far, unless scanned, have been taken with my Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S90, a 4.1 megapixel point-and-shoot.) I have been researching various digital SLR cameras, and have somewhat narrowed down the choices. Right now I'm looking at the Canon Rebel XTi or the Sony Alpha. They seem fairly comparable in price and features. Next, I want to compare available lenses for both cameras.

I have a bit of experience with shooting with an SLR camera, though my knowledge is very, very basic. It's enough to wade through online reviews, though. If any of you have any thoughts on these models (or would like to throw in a suggestion for something completely different), please feel free to leave a comment or drop me an e-mail.