My girlfriend's birthday is in about 3 weeks, and she wants a DSLR camera.
I'm looking for an entry level camera, under $1000 that will give her a decent camera to learn on, gain experience, and at least carry her through a couple years.
We have a couple that we've been looking at, but i'd like to keep it open-ended for now to see what you guys have used or can recommend based on you all knowing way more about this than i do.
Sooo... bounce 'em off of me!
I love my D40x and just found a 200mm AFS Nikon lens for $99 at the local camera shop
Great camera, lots of support and accessories
Can be bought now for ~$500
Nikons are great, but she will hate it if it doesn't feel right to her. A DSLR is not something you want to buy for someone without getting feedback from them first, as different cameras feel different to everyone. Take her to a camera shop (not best buy) and let her try out the different cameras to see what fits her hand.
As far as model recs for Nikon, I have a D60 and absolutely love it.
As morbid said have her hold a bunch of them to see what is comfortable in her hand and has a layout she can use easily. If you don't do that it may just sit on a shelf.
That being said you can't go wrong with Nikon. You can use just about any lens made for Nikon back to the old manual focus AI lenses which gives you much more range than the other makes. The D40 is an entry level Nikon that is carried by tons of pro photographers as their "daily stuff" rig because it has awesome performance in a nice compact size.
Check out the site www.dpreview.com for some fairly in depth reviews on most DSLR cameras.
I'll throw out the Canon Digital Rebel. I have the XT version from 3 years ago, I believe now they are up to at least XSi. At the time I bought mine it had the best reviews and felt the best to me since it was my fourth Canon. What is your girlfriend's current camera?
As a bonus I think the current Digital Rebel shoots full HD video.
I've got a Nikon D40. The Nikon D60 replaced it. I would get her a D40 kit with the 18-55 and 55-200 VR lenses. A couple filters, a better neck strap, a memory card or two, a bag and she's all set for under 1k. That's going to do you much better than a fancy DSLR with less gear/lenses that will be outpaced in a year anyway. Could get an inexpensive flash later on as well.
Some people like this guy's reviews, some people hate him. Either way, I'd go with the D40 kit. Or if you can't find it as a kit, buy it separately.
The real two choices are Nikon and Canon. Once you start getting lenses, you'll probably want to stick with that brand, otherwise you won't be able to use it anymore. If you get/have a camera of one particular brand, make it that same as your girlfriend's. You can share lenses. And unlike the cameras, the lenses won't go obsolete for a long, long time. As a side note, I left my Nikon in my apartment when I went to VIR earlier this year, so I used my dad's Canon with a Sigma zoom lens. I could not get used to the fact that the zoom ring turned opposite to my Nikon. I missed a lot of shots that way.
JeepinMatt the direction of the zoom ring was actually a function of the Sigma lens itself. I use several Sigmas on my Nikons all have the "backwards" rotation I'm actually so use to it on those lenses I don't miss a beat with it, though it did screw me up the first times I used those lenses.
You want real fun go from a 2 touch lens to a push pull lol.
Only downside to the D40 series is the lack of body-motor, which means that you'll need to use all newer lenses that have the built in lens-motor.
PHeller wrote: Only downside to the D40 series is the lack of body-motor, which means that you'll need to use all newer lenses that have the built in lens-motor.
Well you can use the older auto focus lenses still on the D40 it just will not auto focus they will still meter and everything else. The indicator allows for fairly easy manual focusing. I use my 50mm 1.8 D lens on the D40 all the time. Older Ai lenses can be used (like my 50mm 1.4 Ais) though they will not meter so you have to use the sunny 16 method or buy an external meter.
Also there are quite a few Nikon lenses that are now coming out with built in focus motors. Also there is a huge number of lenses made by other manufactures that have motors for Nikons as well. You basically won't have trouble finding a lens for a D40 in just about any range. Heck you can get the "Bigma" the Sigma 50-500 that has a built in motor, though it dwarfs the D40.
madpanda wrote: I'll throw out the Canon Digital Rebel. I have the XT version from 3 years ago, I believe now they are up to at least XSi. At the time I bought mine it had the best reviews and felt the best to me since it was my fourth Canon. What is your girlfriend's current camera? As a bonus I think the current Digital Rebel shoots full HD video.
She currently has a Sony DCS-T70, and it is HORRIBLE. Takes the worse pictures i've seen in any digital camera in the last 4 years. It's impossible to do anything in low light conditions, and it's noisy as hell.
We're leaning towards the Pentax K-X right now, but i'm going to take her out next weekend and have her toy around with some of them. 
good timing for a new digital SLR thread... i'm planning to buy one with income tax $$$ my 5.1mp sony point and shoot is 5 years old and is due for an upgrade/replacement
some digging on here and I found this thread very informative but it's a year old... http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/learn-me-digital-slrs/4600/page1/
i'm still torn on which way to go... i've pretty much talked myself into sticking with nikon or canon... which one is the part i'm having probs with... I grew up around nikon... if my dads nikromat used a slightly newer generation of lenses i'd be 100% on the nikon side...
for prices i'm seeing the nikon d40 looks nice... but for $10 more (as per newegg pricing) the canon xs adds some features i at least in theory like... an extra 4mp, stabilized lenses, extra AF points... do trade in that 3200 iso though.
for the price I think a big high speed SD card and eventually a fast 50mm and i'd be pretty happy for a good while.
thoughts? mark
^Check out the Pentax K-X deal that newegg has right now...
$668 gets you the body, two lenses, and a full kit with bag and card and all that. That's like... $18 more than Pentax's price for just the body and one lens. Oh.. and it's got a 6400 iso. 
My wife has been developing a side business doing children's/family portraits that she's about to take the next step and make her only job in 2010. Here's what I know:
~2.5 years ago: She upgraded her long-held hobby to "serious" status and decided to get a DSLR. Started with an Olympus E-500. Fairly inexpensive with a couple of kit lenses, as I recall, and that's probably why we picked it. Downside- she outgrew it quickly due to less availability of lenses and overall support. Every single other person in the classes she started taking a couple years back had a Canon or Nikon. Got to be kind of a joke among those folks, as Joy's camera just wouldn't do some of the stuff theirs would, or it supposedly would but nobody knew how to get to the settings in the menus, etc. Great camera, though, lightweight, shot great pictures. Kind of not so awesome in low light, though. She bought a great 50mm prime for it that was $500 or so, and that was what she started using on her first few paid shoots.
About a year ago, she decided she was interested in working for herself as a photographer and leaving corporate america, so we started talking about what to get, since the Olympus wasn't cutting it anymore. The advice you have so far on what to buy is solid- go hold the cameras. On paper, Joy was convinced that the Canon XTi was what she wanted, but we went and played with a couple Canons and a couple Nikons, and we just HATED the way the Canon was laid out. So she bought a D300 and we've gone on from there. Fantastic tool, she can make art with it, and it makes me look like I know what I'm doing (I really don't).
Advice from what I have learned:
Get what others near you have- if you're the only oddball in a sea of Canon people or Nikon people, it's gonna suck.
Shopping used and trading in old stuff is a good way to save some $$$. Check KEH.com- we have bought several things from them and always been satisfied. Sold the above mentioned 50mm Olympus prime back to them and funded one of the Nikon lenses.
Good luck!!
I would not say to get what the other people around you have. I mean that is just like buying a Miata because a bunch of guys think its the answer to everything. 
In all honesty buy the camera that you will be happy with HOWEVER try and stay with one of the major brands for a couple reasons.
The first is going to be support. If you choose Nikon (or the Fuji and Kodaks that use Nikon lenses) you will have a large support group online and from others in your area (there will be both Nikon and Canon shooters everywhere).
The second thing is the cost of lenses and the availability of different ranges etc. On some of the off brands you will have trouble finding the good lenses you want at a price you can afford. As Jake said the good prime 50mm for that Olympus was $500. A 50mm 1.8 D for a Nikon (which is an awesome lens that some prefer over the more expensive 50mm 1.4) is only about $100. It is one of the sharpest lenses you can get.
Also don't get to excited when you see things like a camera with a super high ISO range or some other gimmick they are using to try and get you to buy the camera (like on board HD video). Look at the actual performance of the camera at those higher ISO ranges or the other features you are looking at. I have seen so many people buy some camera because of a higher ISO range and then any shots they take above (and sometimes in) the normal ISO range is so grainy you would not even think about keeping it.
Yeah... nobody around us has really anything like this, and there isn't anything on CL really for Nikon or Canon, let alone Pentax, so that's not having much bearing on it.
I was predicting that everyone would say Nikon/Canon, and for great reasons. We'll see what she ends up liking in her hands/navigating throught the menus, but the Pentax deal seems good enough that it'd be kinda dumb to pass up.
We did look into the Olympus E-520/620, and that seemed nice as well.
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