What a good digital slr camera, between $1-600?

have in film cameras a Nikon FM, FA, and F2 ( before those I has a honeywell pentax and a mamiya and the school cameras were minoltas ) and in Digital a D40 and a D300 so you can probably figure that I am going to say Nikon as my personal choice. I have friends that are just as loyal to Canon and I really cannot say anything bad about thier cameras either.

Realize whats right for me may not be right for you and I have friends who use Canon and love them and take great photos. I don’t think any of the cameras you listed would disappoint you.

OK here is my short answer. for digital I have a Nikon D40 and I love it. The D40 has a full manual mode, Flexible progam, aperature priority, shutter priority modes. These are the same modes on all DSLR. It also has several other programed modes for things like portrait, night, children etc. As a photographer improves and learnds to use metering better these additional modes seldom get used so they are usually found on the more amature cameras and seen as not needed on the professional cameras. I feel I have a fair amount of experience as a photographer and it performs well for me but I can give it to my 12 y/o grandson if set on program and he can get good usable pictures as well. His photography is improving as he is already learning to use many of the functions himself ( yes I’m a proud granpa) .

I also would not get caught up in the megapixel hype and instead look at the entire sensor issue. Look at the article I linked below The D40 will do everything a beginner to intermediate photographer needs at a great price. It comes with an 18-55 lens. It will let you use any other money to buy more accessories. And by the time you outgrow it cameras will have advanced to the point that most of what is on the market now would be obsolete. I bought a D300 last year and only had a it a few months when the D700 came out. The canon would also serve you well but I am a Nikon person so I suggest them. I have friends that are very happy with thier canon’s and take great photos. You will have others that like Pentax and Olympus and they are not bad cameras but if they were in the same ballpark you would see many more professional photographers use them

So get the D40 and spend the rest of your money on accessories
Enjoy whatever you get

Nikon D60 10.2MP with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens is a great choice. It is very easy to use and provides excellent images without requiring a lot of technical knowledge
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012OGF6Q?ie=UTF8&tag=computer0bd-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0012OGF6Q
If you are on a budget then go with D40 which is an excellent camera and should now be even cheaper.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KJQ1DG?ie=UTF8&tag=computer0bd-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000KJQ1DG