Which camera? Help me choose
 

Had our first baby a few months ago and now the wife is begging for a good camera. I want to stay under $500 (at least until I see if she really uses it a lot in which case I could always upgrade down the road)... I've been reading up but I am no camera/film guru what so ever. I like both of the below but feel free to add any suggestions. Also, I like the kit with the bag, extra lens etc if possible...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/canon-eo...&skuId=1004002

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/nikon-d3...&skuId=3643029

You really can't go wrong with the Nikon D3200 package. It's a great camera. I love mine.

Haha :) i would go Sony, I love mine.

Deja vu Tom lol

I would suggest buying body only, then buying decent lenses. The lenses in the kits are meh.

a used tamron 28-75 f2.8 along with either body would be really nice and about the same $$$.

body: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D3200-Di...kon+d3200+body

lens: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...condition=used

That tamron lens sounds "short" vs a 300mm zoom, but realistically it's got plenty of zoom (for, say, shooting wakeboarders from a boat) especially on a crop sensor, which is what you are looking at. And at 28 it's "short" enough for portraits. I shoot that same lens on a sony and for an untrained amateur hack, I've been real happy with it. For the real world it's plenty of lens and it stays on my camera 99% of the time.

+1 great lens especially for the money

i won't go into which camera is better, as at this level, it's likely a toss up. nikon and canon are the "classic" DSLRs. i've shot canon for the past 20 years and i've never missed a shot because i didn't have a nikon/sony/whatever. what will make you miss a shot is poor glass, slow auto focus, poor low iso capability, and not knowing how to properly use the camera. both of the bodies above will provide excellent shots although the iso specs aren't that great. yes, they are expandable, but the quality usually takes a big hit. i agree with the above statement about buying a body and separate glass as the kit glass is usually pretty entry level at best. there are lots of options for decent glass. i personally don't think 28mm is short enough for all your close up shots. i shoot a 17-40 on a 1.6x camera, and i find even that is not short enough sometimes indoors. if you can only get one lens, you can learn to work around it, but you will like the camera more with a shorter and longer lens combo. yes, i realize i'm spending your money. the nice thing about glass is that good glass will retain its value much more than the body will. as listed above, you can even buy used glass to save some money. the benefit of better glass is almost always a larger aperture and a faster/more reliable focus mechanism. whatever you decide to go with, i'd recommend a prime lens as well. canon makes a 50mm f/1.8 for less that $100 new. its not the best glass, but at f/1.8 you can capture lots of low light shots that the f/5.6 lenses will never see. its also a great learning tool to help you master depth of field and exposure. another recommendation is to get a book on photography. personally, i think the most helpful book on cameras i ever read was one that went through the basics of shooting an old school SLR camera. understanding the basic physics of how light enters the lens and how the size of the aperture, shutter speed and film iso all play a part in the final exposure is crucial in understanding how to get the most of your DSLR.

Check out slickdeals.net. there is a few good options on the front-page that are a good deal.

I was in the same boat. We opted for a hybrid camera. Look at some of the Lumix cameras. They shoot 4k video, super easy to use. Tons of features. i find it some much easier to use that using a DSLR. I had a friend take pictures with her DSLR of me wakeboarding and they where terrible, all becuase they didn't know how to use it. Then I gave her my camera and the pictures where way better becuase they are way easier. If you want to play around with some basics , in manual mode you can do that too. Think of It like wake surfing, u can't give a beginner askim board and think that it will work out well.