sinatraman Loc: Vero Beach Florida, Earth,alpha quaudrant

no one has bothered to ask what she wants to shoott with her camera. if mostly snapshots then steer her towards any brand point and shoot. how comfortable is she with technology? has she ever used an slr or dslr before? my other advice is to locate a real camera store not ritz or wolf and take her theree to try the different brands and models whichever one she seems mlost comfortable with thats the system she should get. They will probably drum me out of the nikonian ninja's for this but all the major manufacturers are good. there are no more dog cameras out there. nikons are known for being able to use high iso without generating distortion. sony is known for some innovative technology as well as pentax. olympus has a fine history with film slrs om-1 and om-2 were cool cameras, plus they have the 4/3rds system wich means smaller lighter cameras for smaller hands. it also has the undying passion of 5dawgs so its gotta be a good camera. aS FOR CANNON.... (fill in blank with something nice about "them". There is just so far a heritic nikonian can go without risking eternal damnation!)

bobmielke Loc: Portland, OR

Because we don't want to cloud the issue with the facts. :)

dongrant Loc: Earth, I think!

I don't think that you risk damnation. You speak the truth. It is a matter of finding your own camera. There is only a dark side if someone turns out the lights.

jstar Loc: Western MA

I'm with Dognant. I got the Nikon D3000 w/ an 18-55 and a 55-200 for $600 pre Christmas at Target last year. Except for aperature size they are great. No matter what you buy entry level,, you will want to improve your equipment over time. This purchase got me back into photography in a serious way, at a good price.

Bricktop photo's

Pic I took this weekend with my 18-55 love it

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

If I liked Nikon, would be the 3100 or 5100 with 18-105 lens
If Canon - probably one of the Rebel series - T3i, probably the 28-135 lens.
If size, features, weight were important, would choose the Pentax K-r with the upgraded 18-55 kit lens, or Sigma 17-70.
Whatever the choice, it should feel comfortable in your hands.
Suggest doing hands-on at a local photo store. The advice you get from the pros can vastly outweigh any savings from on-line discounters.

tralain

You really can't go very wrong these days with entry level DSLR's The Canon and Nikon's above would all work well, as would the Pentax K-x or K-r. one nice Pentax touch is that almost every lens they made from the mid 1970's and including new lenses, will all work on the Pentax.

Superkru1969 Loc: Longwood, FL

Yikes! Everyone Canon Nikon, Nikon Canon. Here's something different for you. PENTAX! The Pentax k-r is an excellent camera that has outstanding low light performance for any price, can use either the proprietary battery that comes with it, or AA batteries with a $40 adapter, 6 frames per second burst, and an in-camera HDR mode. This kit-Pentax K-r 12.4 MP Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 and 55-300mm f/4-5.8 Lenses (Black) on Amazon is just $709.95. If you don't like black, they offer it in either red or white, though they cost a little bit more. Check out the review at DP Review-http://dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxkr/. If you don't mind spending a bit more, you can get the Pentax K-7, which is semi-pro with a weather resistant body. Go off the beaten (Canon Nikon, Nikon Canon) path and you'll be happy you did. I'll get off my soapbox now. Have fun!

bobmielke Loc: Portland, OR

Just a side note here, the HDR mode is simply called bracketing. Most DSLRs have that adjustable feature to allow 3-5 frames from .5-2.0 F-stop deviation per frame.

dongrant Loc: Earth, I think!

Bob, I believe that you will find the Pentax and a few other cameras that the HDR mode is a bit more than bracketing. It takes the bracket of shots and processes them into a single image... , unfortunately. This is even worse than putting the camera in full auto and taking JPG. If you are going to do that kind of thing just get a point and shoot. Better yet just hire the factory engineering to take the pictures for and tell everyone how great they are. They will believe him, because, obviously, they have not mind of their own .

bobmielke Loc: Portland, OR

I shoot in RAW and Photoshop CS5's Photomerge perfectly blends 3-5 frames without loss of data on the edges.

dongrant Loc: Earth, I think!

I see. Then you too prefer your images as opposed to images generated by someone else, of what every your pointed the camera at. Yes they are our pictures to created, not the images created by the engineers. Good man.

TP Loc: Georgia

May I suggest she looks at a Panasonic. I bought a DMZ8 several years ago and it has been a fantastic camera. Some one mentioned a Leica (as a joke?) Well the Panasonic has the Leica lens!! I just bought the Nikon D5100 with 18-200 lens and gave the Panasonic to my wife. The Nikon is no better and weighs "a ton". Everyone who holds the Panasonic is amazed at how light it is. I'm glad I kept it in the family! Oh yes, it was a fifth of the price of the Nikon!

tralain

Not only do I agree about considering Pentax, I mentioned it several messages ago. We didn't all leave it off our lists. Thanks for adding more info on the K-r, the best of the less expensive Pentax cameras. With about a million lenses out there that would fit the Pentax, it leave open many options for new and old glass.

dongrant Loc: Earth, I think!

This is getting too confusing for the entry level user. I would suggest a camera like the one sitting on a shelf in our house. It had belonged to my wife's father. It is an Agfa. The lens is behind the shutter which is totally manual. There is a small lever on the right side of the camera. The shutter speed is controlled by how quickly you move the lever. Easy to understand on one control. It's not for sale, but you should be able to find one... somewhere. If not then the next easiest to use camera other than a point and shoot, again, the Nikon D3000.