Looking to upgrade to a slr or something similar?

At the moment i'm using a Kodak Easy Share z5010.
www.amazon.com/Kodak-EasyShare-Z5010-D…
its a nice camera, takes nice pictures, its 14mp, but its fairly limited.i've talked to several other photographers briefly about their camera and looked at their photos.
one photographer was a professional and used a professional camera. He took a picture of a model head to toe, was able to zoom into the model's eye and even the blood vessels in her eyes were detailed. I didn't know a camera that powerful existed. I was rather amazed.
then later i came across a girl who if she took a photo of a person head to toe, you could zoom into the model's face, and the model's eye looked clear but couldn't zoom in any more than that. She wasn't sure what model Nikon she had but she confirmed it was 14 mega pixel as well.
when i take a photo of someone head to toe, if i zoom in to see the models face i can't even tell what color the eye is. At this point, it is making me feel rather insecure about the photos i'm taking.actually, my droid is 8mp and takes better photos (although it can't zoom which is why i don't use it often)

so my question is, for under $500, preferably around $400 or under, what camera will give me the highest quality.
couple things i find important is how clear will the picture be. I doubt i will be able to afford the camera in the first example but the clearer the better. The ability to shoot in low light. And not as important, but back light. Would also be nice if it could take hd video too. If i can trust the company i'm buying from, i don't mind if it is new, used, or refurbished. I'm quite concerned how the girl's camera had the same number of mp but yet her images were 3 x more clear. To make sure it was the camera and not the user, she took the same photo with both hers and my cameras.

You want to upgrade to a film camera? An SLR is a film camera or didn't you know that. A DSLR camera is digital. Be clear on your questions please.

I would recommend the Canon t3.It's a fully adjustable dslr camera for about $500, depending on where you shop.

Clear and crisp involves a lot… Mostly it is the photographer who knows how to actually operate both camera and lens. Is willing to learn the principles of photography from the basics up and understands that he / she may have to actually do some reading and lots of practice because… These cameras are intended for serious photography, not snapping. Snappers don't care about photography so the camera makers build the cheap junk for them… The junk that will everything for you. All you do is push the button.

DSLR cameras are not like that. You actually have to know something about what you're doing to be successful with a dslr.

Bottom line - it's all about your skill set, you're willingness to invest time and learning and to actually care about your results.