DSLR camera for beginners

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Originally Posted by shobana29272

Hence ,keeping in mind , the following factors ..that
1. I am a beginner and
2. my budget is 900-100 dollars
3. I travel a lot and do a lot of sight -seeing and obviously love taking pictures and would prefer a camera(+lenses) which is not too bulky ,
4.I love taking macros too

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One suggestion from my side would be...

considering point 1, 2 and (specially)3, why not try Panasonic or Olympus PEN Micro Four-thirds? If you are not going to be a professional photographer or do not want to spend more time on camera than the natural beauty surrounding you; I think checking out these mirrorless-SLR-ish cameras with bigger sensor (same as Olympus DSLRs) & DSLR like lenses but smaller size may give you flexibility and quality... you may like it. They are now coming up with more choices of lens. One thing to remember, though you can use any micro four-third lens (regardless of make) on any micro four-third camera body (again regardless of make), compared to 'Big two', lens choice are less.

From service centre point of view, you are right, Pentax is a deal-breaker, they are almost nil in India. This is almost the case for Olympus DSLRs in India, but they have third party service centers and Olympus is coming up with company-owned super showrooms and service centers in all 6 metros in India this september (some of them might be already open), but not in Vizag.

I am an Olympus fan and admirer, hence such suggestion :) ... but really, check this option too.

Hey shobana29272.

Here is just a little advice speaking Nikon.
The D90 is not exactly an entry-level camera as the D3000(D3100) and the D5000. (The D60 is discontinued).
It is what Nikon calls semi-pro.
Still, if your camerabudget is $1000, I wouldn't hesitate by buying the D90 - just because of its availability to run autofocusing with the AF-lenses.
I have just bought an used D80 to replace my newer D60 only to deal with that.
AF lenses are a lot easier to get hand on than AF-S, simply because there are more of them.

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Originally Posted by Eric M

Shobana, the Canon 50D is a better spec'ed camera than the D90 (except video) and can be had for under $1K new right now. IMHO, its a current best buy. Just a thought...

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I wouldn't touch anything without solid HD video capabilities at this stage in the game. But that's me of course.

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Originally Posted by Lornek

I wouldn't touch anything without solid HD video capabilities at this stage in the game. But that's me of course.

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And if I had a choice between a camera with video, and one without (but included a free hand-held game of pacman to help pass the time whilst waiting for long exposures to complete), I'd take the latter, but that's just me :) (I'm afraid that I'm one of the "old school" who still thinks "If I need video then I'll use a real video camera").