Help, please! Camera recommendations...

[Jon T.]

I am looking to buy a new DSLR camera.  I'm very, very amateur and know practically nothing about them.  I'm looking for just a good starter camera, not too technical and as user friendly as possible.  I was hoping some people could maybe point me in the right direction.  Any help is greatly apprecitated!

[johnnYYac]

I used to sell cameras, but that was pre-digital so I'm not much use to you unless you're in the market for a 35 mm camera from the late 1980s.

I've PM'd you a link to some solid research you can consider while making your decision.  I've been keeping things simple lately.  My last 2 cameras have been Canon Powershot models.

Good luck!

[el_chode]

are you willing to fork out a couple thousand?

if not, go with whatever the updated version of the Nikon P5000 is. That's what I got to "see if liked taking pictures"

Pros:
Digital
10 megapixel (I got it when 5 was the standard, over 5 years ago)
Lets you swap out lenses
Lets you add on flashes
Decent aperture control
Shutter goes from 1/2000 to 8 seconds
Sequential shots
Decent video

Cons:
No RAW output
Not an SLR
Small LCD viewing screen

You can see its potential on my Flickr page from my Honeymoon
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elchode/collections/72157625203732110/

But if you want to see it not at its best, just explore that flickr account.

Like I said, I"ve had it for years now, and it's probably a dated model as far as specs and has a newer update

HOWEVER, I'm still finding new tricks I can do with it to this day, which is why my Honeymoon pics look 10x better than my Gettysburg pics (I bought it with my tax refund to go ghost hunting in Gettysburg)

[BH]

I'm in the same boat as you Jon.  We just bought the following camera trying to upgrade slightly from our old point and shoot.   I don't know anything really but I read quite a bit recently and it seemed to get good reviews.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11539090&search=cameras0216&Sp=S&Mo=11&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&N=5000043&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=cameras0216&Ntt=cameras0216&ec=1&No=4&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

[Jon T.]

Appreciate the help guys.  Those are some pretty sweet pics, Chode.  I especially like the waterfalls with the rainbow coming through.  Really cool. 

I ended up pulling the trigger on the the Nikon D3100   http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D3100-Digital-18-55mm-3-5-5-6/dp/B003ZYF3LO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298674813&sr=8-1

My wife has been wanting one for a while now so it's going to be a gift to her in exchange for carrying what I'm assuming is a REALLY big baby! 

[el_chode]

That looks nice and the price is really good. As soon as I get me a job my first "big buy" is going to be a better camera. I want more control over the aperture than I have now and the ability to export into RAW

[Jon T.]

Yeah, I think so.  Nothing too crazy, but good enough to give us a feel for it and see if we want to take it to the next level or not (and get good pics at the same time).  I actually got an add'l $100 off for ordering it today.  I got that camera, a good (supposedly) carrying bag that comes with a "dummy manual" for that specicfic camera and a 16G memory card for less than $650. 

[weeniebeenie]

I bought a Cannon EOS late last year and I find it really easy to use. I only know a little bit about photography aswell but I want to take some courses soon so hopefully that will change.

[Jon T.]

I gave the camera to my wife last night and she was ecstatic!  I knew she wanted one but I was kind of thinking whe would be happy and then just hand it to me and basically say, "learn how to use it".  Nope.  She wouldn't put it down, watched the dvd, read the manual (okay, one page) and just snapping pics like crazy.  She's not sleeping great right now because she's so far along, so when I woke up this morning she's showing me all of the pictures she's taken of me, my boy and the dog, all sleeping.   ;D

Score!