If you are looking for a good and VFM Canon I would suggest the Canon EOS 1100D. Else if you could extend your budget... I would recommend the Canon EOS 500D. Both are excellent in their own class.(Or go for Nikon ONLY for the swivel screen :P) Link to Reviews (@dpreview) are below and dpreview I personally feel are the best reviewers.
P.S : I would suggest you'd stick to Canon, because they have the best image quality, but also take a sideways glance at the Panasonic series as their lenses are very good. :D Happy Shopping!
Beware of those who will tell you that Canon is better than Nikon or vice versa. This is not a PC vs MAC debate, where one system is clearly better than the other in certain areas. If you are a novice and just making the step into DSLRs, you cannot go wrong with any of the Canon or Nikon entry-level offers. Only professionals, who are highly specialised in one type of photography or another may find a slight edge in one brand over the other (for example, in high ISO performance or frame-per-second performance, etc.) I'd recommend reading this article: http://365project.org/discuss/tips-n-tricks/6477/first-slr-camera
That said, whatever you decide brand-wise, most non-specialised newcomers like to have a good "all-terrain" lens (18-200 mm, for example), a good portrait lens (50 mm for full-frame cameras or 35 mm for crop sensors) and maybe somthing that will allow you to shoot macros (an actual macro lens, extension tubes, close-up filters, etc.) After that, you can start making purchases based on your specialisation / preferences.
@davidchrtrans Very well said! Our SLR is the Nikon D90 and I like it very much, but our point and shoot is a Canon Powershot which does great macro. Canon and Nikon are pretty equal and it does get annoying when people say one is better than the other. The only reason I would recommend the Nikon SLR is because that's what I have! But, I'm sure the comparable one (Rebel?) is just as good.
The only thing I don't really like about the D90 is that it came with an 18-100 kit lens that doesn't really do much for me. I could never understand why my photos always seemed dark and grainy. Then, my husband surprised me last weekend with a 50 mm 1.8 lens and it's like my whole world changed.
Definitely get a 50 mm no matter which camera you get. Trust me! =)
I just bought a 500D (T1i) and I LOVE it! Apparently they are being phased out because of the release of the T3i. Watch for sales...prices will be falling!
My first and only dSLR is a Canon 500D. Jessops had a really good deal just before Christmas, and they had a choice of 2 optional bundles which included lenses. I had the 18-55mm lens (without IS because it was cheaper, and as I undersand things, the IS doesn't REALLY make an awful lot of difference unless you have a longer lens than that (unless you have a really shaky hand...!)). It also came with a UV filter, spare battery and memory card (and £40 cashback).
As a result it was by far the best deal at the time, and I'm very very happy with it.
I bought a reversing ring last week, which enables me to screw on the lens back to front so it doubles up as a "poor man's macro lens" aswell - which I'm dead chuffed with!
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CANON 1100D
www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos1100D/
CANON 500D
www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos500d/
P.S : I would suggest you'd stick to Canon, because they have the best image quality, but also take a sideways glance at the Panasonic series as their lenses are very good. :D Happy Shopping!
I just went and looked at both and I think I am going to buy the 500d purely because the reviews seem to be better and you can get more out of it.
That said, whatever you decide brand-wise, most non-specialised newcomers like to have a good "all-terrain" lens (18-200 mm, for example), a good portrait lens (50 mm for full-frame cameras or 35 mm for crop sensors) and maybe somthing that will allow you to shoot macros (an actual macro lens, extension tubes, close-up filters, etc.) After that, you can start making purchases based on your specialisation / preferences.
The only thing I don't really like about the D90 is that it came with an 18-100 kit lens that doesn't really do much for me. I could never understand why my photos always seemed dark and grainy. Then, my husband surprised me last weekend with a 50 mm 1.8 lens and it's like my whole world changed.
Definitely get a 50 mm no matter which camera you get. Trust me! =)
As a result it was by far the best deal at the time, and I'm very very happy with it.
I bought a reversing ring last week, which enables me to screw on the lens back to front so it doubles up as a "poor man's macro lens" aswell - which I'm dead chuffed with!
I'm sceptical about using ebay because my Mum bought an SLR from there a while ago and it was delivered broken.
So I figure that if I pick it up myself I can't go wrong... :)