Nikon D5000 or D5100, it really all depends how much you want to spend.. if your just starting out any of the lower end D cameras will be fine.

The point is that with a point and shoot you can only do limited things..mostly just take pictures. When you jump up to an SLR it opens the door to everything photography offers. The auto program lets you take pictures and then as you go you can learn all the things a real camera does..

Another advantage I guess of the higher end camera's.. $2000+ are they are supposed to be more weather proof..

Get an SLR camera not a point and shoot. You can get a Nikon D40 on Ebay. They are real reasonably priced. They have an auto program on them that does everything and you can learn the rest from there. There is very little a point and shoot can do compared to an SLR camera.

I have a Nikon D5000 which I love. It is the predecessor of the D5100. The only real difference now is the Mega pixels.. 12 to 16 (How many Megapixels are you really going to need?) and it has some fancier special effects which I dont use. (Ive never used the Video feature) The D90 would have been my choice though if I had to do it again. Nikon has an excellent warranty program and great service. I have never owned a canon but hear they are great too. As far as if its plastic, its very High Impact plastic, not junk. They just tell you that to sell higher end cameras.