What camera for my wife?

[Ed]

My wife wants a new camera to get into photography a bit more.

She has only ever had point and shoot compacts before, so I want to get her something better. It doesn't need to be a full on pro-spec SLR, so something relatively easy to use and learn about photography with.

Budget is around £300-£400.

I usually just buy Cannon as I've always been happy with them, but open to suggestions

Cheers,
Ed.

[Vigilant teSte]

I am currently eyeing up this D3200 deal to replace my failing Sony...

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/cameras...21324868#packs

Cracking value

[Ross.]

Canon 550D would be an excellent choice dude. I used a Sony A390 when I first started and it was great too!

[Chriscooke]

Either a 550d or 600d would be ideal if you can find one in budget if not the 1100d is a very good starter camera and simple to use, you might even be able to get one with an extra lens for your budget. Don't forget to factor in a memory card as well as most don't seem to come with one.

[schumi84]

600D was what I bought my wife for her 30th Birthday and it came with a free 50mm lens kit. All in, with a 16GB and cleaning kit and postage it came to just under the £500 mark iirc however this was almost 6 months ago so could well be cheaper now.

Here is the one, with the 18-55mm lens kit

http://www.cameraworld.co.uk/canon-e...is-ii-kit.html

[Garrett_T25]

As far as most bodies go, a DSLR is a DSLR. In fact, pro bodies are generally easier to use as the manufacturers assume you will spend more time fiddling with the settings so they're given more buttons, rather than the settings being hidden away in sub-menus. Clearly though, I'm not necessarily suggesting you go buy her a D4.

To be honest, I'd keep an eye on ebay and buy an older Canon or Nikon. They'll do stills perfectly well and if/when she reaches it's limits, she can always keep it as a back-up body and it'll do the trick. To be honest, if she's wanting to learn, her best bet is probably decent tuition. There are guides you can read for free all over the internet but unless you know what to search for it can be a mess and you'll be fumbling in the dark for information.