Some of you may have remembered me posting about buying a camera about a month or two ago,but something came up and needed the money for something else.
I took Photography class at my school last year, and have liked it ever since, although I did not have a Dslr of my own.
Now that I have money saved up, I'm looking for help on my first DSLR.
I have about 600ish to spend, and I'm going down to North Carolina on Spring Break on Wednesday so I'm looking to buy one before I head down there, but if not it's no big deal.
I would like to spend abouut 500-600, maybe a little more if needed.

Can any of you give me some suggestions?
I was thinking Nikon or Canon, if so which is more reliable and flexible?
By flexible I mean availability of lens' etc.

If you have anything bad to say about a camera I should NOT look into, that may be helpful as well.

I was looking at Ritzcameras.com and I found a few in my price range.

Canon EOS Rebel XS Digital SLR Camera Outfit w/ EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS Lens
http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/541162707.htm

Nikon D60 Digital SLR Camera w/ AF-S DX 18-55mm F3.5-5.6G VR Lens
http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/SLR1191.htm?bct=t1134

**OR** Would I be better off buying a 400ish maybe 500 dollar camera body and buy a cheaper lens?
Those are two I've found, but am open to ANY camera suggestions [in my price range ofc].

Note: This is my FIRST DSLR, so I don't want to make a bad choice, especially when I'm spending this much money [not alot for some of you, but I'm only 17]
Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Canon has a wider selection and in general higher quality optics than its competitors. Also at this price range a Canon would be better than Nikon. The rebel XS is an option, or maybe you could go for a XSI or XTI. Unless you want to wait a few months then there is a new rebel coming out, which should drop down the prices of prior rebels.

I certainly wouldnt trumph a good camera body with a cheap lens, the camera can only perform as good as the lens you put on it.
I agree with doyleo at this price range you should consider canons. The kit lenses that come with are very decent.

caNON is much more user friendly

I was looking at the Canon 400D a little while back when I had first posted this a few months ago, but they seem to be discontinued for some reason on B&H Photo Video and Ritz, not sure why.
How good is the EOS Rebel XS, and would you recommend it?

The nikon D60 is actually much more user friendly than the XS, but since they are entry level cameras both are easy to learn.

What sort of photography are you interested in?

Mainly things like landscapes, nature, flowers, cityscape, buildings, stuff like that.
Not really pictures of 1 single person.
But I like photography in general so I'd take pictures of anything really.

This post was edited by Virtue on Apr 4 2009 12:47pm

Currently im using an XSI and its a really nice camera, if you are willing to stretch ur budget by about $50. I could reccomend it to anyone. The XS which is a baby XSI is similar but with cut down features for instance a smaller LCD, slower continous shooting, no spot metering, less AF points, etc. If you can't stretch your budget or purchase a 400D. You're proberbly best off with the XS.

Can you find me a link to the camera your talking about? And I originally was going to buy the 400D, but I can't find it anywhere anymore. It's discontinued on BHPhotoVideo.com and RitzCamera.com and on Canon for some reason.

Also, I've only dealt with mediocore 55mm film cameras, so what do you mean by slower continous shooting, no spot metering, less AF [dunno what AF is] points?

This is a fantastic review site and has reviewed both cameras:

XSI:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos450d/

XS:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/CanonEOS1000D/

continous shooting means how fast the camera can take images one after another.
spot metering is a type of mode the camera uses to find the correct exposure
AF = Autofocus. The more AF points the more different parts of the frame can be selected to be in focus, in different images

This post was edited by doyleo on Apr 4 2009 12:57pm