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I'm not sure if this question has been asked already, but what is a good DSLR camera for a person just getting into photography without any prior knowledge or experience in photography. This will be my first SLR camera, but I plan to get serious in photography and will probably even take a photography class in the spring. I'm thinking of getting a Nikon D3100, but I wanted to hear some opinions first before making a purchase.
I'm a nikon guy myself so yeah I say the D3100 is good.
Also get a good cheapy lens like the 50mm 1.8/f. When I give that to noobs they start to fall over themselves at the quality and want to press on to more exciting kit.
I would not recommend a DSLR as a first camera, for one reason. You need something that is light and portable, that you will carry everywhere you go. That is the fastest way to develop your eye and to really practice your craft. If you buy a DSLR first, chances are you will not have it with you often enough to take plenty of shots in all sorts of conditions. You learn by constantly shooting and seeing how light and other conditions affect the quality of your photos. Something that you can carry around all day and have fun with will really be more productive for you.
A high quality compact point and shoot with manual controls like the Canon G12 or the Olympus Pen series are lightweight and will give very satisfying image quality. They will also have all the controls needed for technically advanced photos.
Here is a photo I captured with my first digital camera, a 2 megapixel Panasonic FZ1 more than seven years ago. That tiny camera traveled with me on a cross-country trip, was always with me and took memorable photos. It is pretty poor technically by modern standards, but I love the photos. Even now, I take more photos with my current 'point and shoot' than with my DSLR. I have to plan to carry a DSLR, a compact digital is easy to carry everywhere.
While I've been a Sony/Minolta guy for 14 years, and you will hear a lot about Nikon and Canon around here, may I suggest you also look into Pentax. There's a pretty good aftermarket lens availability/compatibility as well, excellent lenses for relatively less.
I'll second the Pentax recommendation. I've used Pentax for many years, currently using K10D but saving for the new K-5. If I were to start out with a Pentax I'd go with the K-x or even find a used K100.
To address Design7, I should have made myself a little clearer. This isn't my first camera. I currently have a cheap Canon PowerShot that I've had for a few years that I use to "play" around with, but I feel like I'm now ready to get serious about photography.
When I said I had no prior experience or knowledge in photography, I was referring strictly to photography with an SLR camera. When I was testing out some of the SLRs in BestBuy, they felt somewhat overwhelming with all the features and whatnot compared to the simple camera that I'm accustomed to using. It also didn't help that the sales associate I had was practically worthless. He knew about as much as me about the cameras!
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