Camera Dilemma...

As the title suggests I'm in the market for a good camera. All the pictures I've taken so far have been on my Sony Cybershot or my Blackberry, both having served me well (which goes to show I'm not exactly a pro at photography, but a continuous spell of beginners luck has ensured that I have a decent number of excellent shots to my credit). Having said that I have now decided it is time to move onto a more advanced camera. 

A few of my friends own SLR cameras and I contemplated buying one for myself. After asking the more zealous  photographers in my immediate circle about the kinds of cameras that would be user friendly for a beginner, I zeroed in on Canon 550D. This morning I went into Vijay Sales to get a feel of how it felt when I held one in my hand. 

Since this is an honest blog, I've to admit that I felt like a moron holding the camera in my hand, the first thing that hit me was that it was much heavier than my Cybershot and a lot bulkier. I could imagine myself lugging the camera and cursing the day I decided to invest in that piece of machinery. Then add to it the fact that it had so many buttons all over it and looked like it would need a lot of adjustments every time I took a picture. The minute I held it in my hand all I wanted to do was to hand it back to the salesman and crawl back under the rock I had emerged from. 

That is when I decided to do some more research and soul searching as to what I really wanted in a camera, i.e. Conversely speaking - What was my Cybershot unable to do ?

When I asked myself this question, the following emerged... 

I was looking for a camera that would give me:

a) Superior Zoom facility,

b) Non-blurry night or low light images

c) Live-view

d) Ability to take action shots

e) Light-weight

After spending an afternoon researching it on the internet, more facts about the DSLR came to light and I am feeling less and less confident of being capable of using one, things like -Sensor Dust, this is the dust that enters into a DSLR when the lens is being changed, too high maintenance!!! Though the site did say, I could invest in a versatile lens that could be fixed permanently to the camera so as to diminish this problem.

Honestly the more I read the more confused I'm getting... any suggestions from photography enthusiasts among my readers would be highly welcome as I intend to buy a camera before I head off next weekend on a trip that has me thrilled to bits and I would really like to have a good camera to capture memories of my visit to the mystical land...