i would buy a used d40/d50/rebel xt for as cheap as you can get it. and take as many pictures as you want. if you don't get bored of it, and actually enjoy it, then pursue. otherwise, there is no sense in spending a lot of money on a camEra.

and i honestly think what vwcorradokid said is one of the best quotes, it is completely true, all the gear in the world can't change the photographers eye for a shot.

so buy a P&S or a really cheap dslr or just a film slr, and take some shots. . . take a course at a community college to learn basics, and see if it is fun for you. .

if only i had tims equipment I COULD RULE THE WORLD!!! haha. thanks but im just as good as anyone else on here.

stillen if you realllly want to get into this hobby, it will get expensive, fast. since i bought my d50 2.5 years ago ive dropped a total of 3-4 grand on equipment. and thats mostly on lenses. you cant just go buy a camera and take awesome shots right away. and learning photoshop is another catch. the g10 is more than capable of taking awesome shots, if the person knows what they are doing.

it has been mentioned in this thread, but just to restate:

good cameras dont make for good photos... good photographers do.

Ok I'm not really into that photography and stuff, but to defend him a little, so what if he wants to just take a bunch of pics randomly of his "car and stuff"?

We all started some where, right? It takes time to develop an eye.

Every time one of my friends is around with their d40 I grab it and start playing, and I'm always toying with the D90 before work. I agree with if he really wants a dslr, then get a d40 or the Rebel xt and go from there.

But a SLR is is a huge waste unless the owner will put forth the time and effort to learn how to take advantage of it, which doesn't happen overnight. Taking a class would be an amazing help and I fully support it, or at the very least get a book or do a lot of reading online to understand shutter speed, aperture, depth of field, iso, white balance, and quite a few other things, and how they all work together to create an image.

This isnt for most people, which is fine, but in this case you would do much better with a quality point and shoot camera which are really pretty damn impressive these days. 8 time out of 10 a good point and shoot can take the same photo that a SLR can... and the camera will do all the thinking for you, and do it in a compact and less expensive package.

I dont think anyone here is saying that he absolutely shouldnt get a SLR, but rather that there are some point and shoots out there which are pretty damn impressive and it may be a better option, depending on his level of commitment.

Zero skill, zero experience, zero gear. Seems a bit ambitious to already have the mindset of making money. It's fine to have goals, but it's better to have realistic goals in small steps.

Clean Neon, I havent gone to the Moorestown Meet's in a while, I may go next week, Ill post over there and let you know, I realize that this can get expensive so can alot of thing's I just have to find the time to do it, no one ever said I had to be a Professional right away, None of you know me so dont judge me. It alway's seem's when I have an idea you guy's are the first to shoot me down, its not like I am spending money out of your pocket's

If you think anyone is judging you then you're not understanding the responses here. We're trying to disspell the common myth that expensive camera = good photos. They've got almost nothing to do with one another. Many many people have SLRs that they leave in Auto or Program mode all the time, and if thats the case it functions EXACTLY like a P+S would, it just costs a lot more and weighs a lot more.
There are also plenty of good P+S cameras which will have BETTER image quality than a lower end SLR with a low end lens on it.

don't get hostile. we are helping you out.

if your heart is really in it and you actually think its something you want to do, then it doesn't matter what any of us think.

a class at a community college is probably $250 dollars. it will be once a week most likely and will teach you so much more than you realize.

buy a cheap used dslr or a p&s and have fun.

Yeah if you're interested in learning manual exposure and are willing to make a commitment to take a class and take the time to practice and learn it, then go for it... and if thats the case then I would recommend an SLR. If you're not willing to go that far though, I would not recommend an SLR.
A class at a community college is a great idea, and well worth the price.

There are a handful of people on this forum that make some decent money out of our photography (weddings, magazines, etc), so we're giving you advice from our own experience. I've seen thousands come and go, wasting their money by not listening to sound advice.

If you're positive that this is something you're going to invest a lot of time and money, jump into an SLR. If not, go with a high end P&S.

I was kind of in the same boat you were in...I wanted to get into photography and wanted to upgrade to a DSLR...if you have a small budget I think the D40 is perfect for what you want it is great camera...def grab one used since if you do stick with it and get better you will probably want to upgrade but at the same time the D40 is a great camera for the price...the canon's which are similar are also nice I played with an XTi and a XSi and both have some cool features but I liked Nikons better...I decided to get a Nikon D80 fr various reason including my budget but I also hope that it won't need to upgrade for a long time since the D80 seems to be a pretty solid camera...anyways as everyone told me, go to a camera store and ask to mess around with a few of the cameras and talk to the people there...see which one fits you...good luck

I didnt like that the D40 requires AF-S lenses, and I believe the functionality of it is limiting in some other ways as well? I'm not sure though, I'm not too well read up on it.
Other options include D50, D60, D80... I'd think about them all. Also from Canon the Rebel line... any of them. I'd go to a pro camera shop around you and talk to someone there, ask to check out a bunch and you'll have a better idea after that. Hopefully they'll be helpful and not just try to sell you what they want to sell you.
If there's no place near you then Allen's in Levittown, PA has been good for me, and they have used gear as well (although not always a huge savings).

Well I am looking at the D80, its a 10.2 MP. not to bad

The D60 is pretty much the D40x and both are limited on lenses like the D40...which is the main reason I didn't opt for any of those...

Don't look at MP as a deciding factor...there are a lot more more important things then that...the D40 at 6mp takes great pictures...the only issue I had found with the D80 is the metering isn't that great and it can tend to over expose pictures...but it is fairly easy to make a few adjustment and you are good to go, it wasn't enough of a problem to make me not purchase one!

Yeah the whole megapixel race is a marketing ploy... there is a lot more that goes into choosing a good camera. Anything that Nikon or Canon currently offer is totally solid and will do you well, but go check them out in person like I said.
Keep in mind that the camera body is only half the expense (or less than half). I would try to get a decent lens for it, not the cheap kit lens. You'll also need a filter for the camera, a camera bag, and a handful of accessories for it just to keep it clean. You'll also need at least one memory card, a card reader, and an editing program on your computer.

Yea well my boy has the Nikon D80 that's why I mentioned it, I was orignally looking at the D90 and D300 but I though to myself that's a little to much money to spend on a Camera at this point.

dont forget a sturdy tripod too.

yea i know, I might want to get a fish eye tripod, I see its 3 pics per frame. I gotta look into this more.