I have a different opinion... for me there is no such thing as "outgrow a camera"... A camera is just a dumb thing which can do nothing if there is no one behind it... A person's creativity is the one that produce a good picture.
Of course not everyone agree with my statement, but I got it based on my own experience in learning photography... I started learning photography with a full manual camera (Yashica FX3). At one time I thought that I could not progress much without a "better camera", thus I bought Nikon F70. After using it for a while, I realized that I don't learn much since the camera did some important things for me. This was the time when I switched back to a manual one (Nikon F3). Lately I moved to digital, not because of the camera capability, but because I like the digital concept. Most of my friends thinks I'm crazy, but my dream camera is a digital back for my Nikon F3.
Why I like manual camera better? Because they show my mistakes... Modern camera does the basic for me, and most of the time I won't be able to see my mistake.
I hardly produce good pictures since I have no ability to shoot like some of the seniors here. But it is not my camera's fault, it is a limitation within myself.
My two cents.
I see and understand what you mean...however, think about it this way: features such as autofocus are conveniences that have come our way, much like the invention of a car. Granted, we can still walk to get to where we are going, but a car makes things much more convenient (albeit with added costs).
Similarly, anyone can shoot on a manual camera, but not everyone can produce good pics from it. However, with the advent of autofocus, and auto-exposure modes (which incidentally, I rarely use on my dSLR - film background too, much like you), photo-taking is now much more convenient, and provided you NEED these conveniences (sports photographers for instance, need the fast and accurate continuous AF modes of pro-camera bodies) to get the job done, but your camera limits you, then by all available means go for the added features that you need.
This is very different from going for the latest camera, simply because it is the latest. I went digital on a 30D, but after a little more than a year, I realised I needed a faster and more accurate AF system, but did not want an increase in resolution (archiving headache), so I've went up to a 1DMkII. This camera is not exactly new, having already been replaced twice, by the newer, faster, (greater) 1DMkIIn and 1DMkIII, but it serves my needs for now, and for a long time to come.
