Basic DSLR

I'm looking for some guidance. I'm not pleased with the image quality of my P&S in low light condition (and it seems like every picture I take is in low light). I'm also frustrated with the lag time between pictures. These 2 issues have me considering a DSLR.

I wanted to see if I could get some recommendations on a basic DSLR. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Nikon D5000
Canon 550D
Pentax K-x
Try them before you buy (a little difficult with Pentax)

Sony, Panasonic and Olympus also provide what you want with their dSLRs or mirrorless cameras (like micro-four-thirds or NEX).
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Victor
Bucuresti, Romania
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Paired with a half-decent lens, literally any DSLR available will stomp all over your P&S - you can't go wrong. Seriously...don't worry about the brand or model - just check them out, see which you like the look and feel of, handle some if you can because they are all much bigger and heavier than a P&S and you should be comfortable with it, and try to get at least one decent fast lens, with an aperture of F1.4-2.0 or so that can be your 'go to' lens for low light situations.

If you really think you need to go into the 'very' high ISOs (any DSLR will be fine to ISO800, and can give decent ISO1600, leagues better than a P&S camera)...then you might want to avoid a couple of entry level cams that aren't quite as good with the high range, like Nikon D40, or Sony A230-380. For very high ISO work (over 1600), stick with Canon 550, Nikon D5000 & D90, Sony A450, 500 & 550, Pentax KX, Sony NEX3 &5, to name a few.

Plenty of choices out there. All better than a P&S for those situations.

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Justin
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All dSLRs are as basic as you make them. Set the aperture, exposure time, film speed, and focusing mode, and press the shutter button. The operation is the same regardless of manufacturer, age, and price tag.

What you should be considering is which lenses you need, and which manufacturer supports those lenses at the prices that you want.

What are you trying to shoot?
What is your budget now?
What is your expected budget in a year?
What are your size and weight requirements?

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http://www.alexanderrogge.net/arshutterbug.html

All the entry level DSLRs are very good in absolute terms.

I generally recommend people choose one based on how they feel in the hands and using the viewfinder ( and that's the best way to shoot ). This is far more important than minor technical differences ( or megapixels ).

Kit lenses are very good value and ideal for starting off.

Even with kit lenses you are better in low light with a DSLR for several reasons. If you need to be even better you can add a cheap wide aperture ( "fast" ) prime, like a 50mm f1.8 or 35m f1.8, although the term "cheap" is relative to other DSLR lenses. However you do not need such a lens starting off and probably would not get much benefit until you learn more about your DSLR.

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StephenG

Pentax K100D
Fuji S3 Pro
Fuji S9600

When you take a picture, you're using light. Things work much better when there's more light. While a DSLR will do a lot better than a compact camera in low-light conditions, there are still a lot of problems: too little depth of field, motion blur, noise from high exposure index.

Flash is a really good tool for indoor photography. Not the little thing that's on your camera and makes people's eyes red; you need a real flash gun. Most of these will let you bounce the light off the ceiling, which does wonders for picture quality.

Unfortunately, I think that most compact cameras don't interface well with accessory flashes, so you end up going to a DSLR anyway. But there must be a couple that you can do good flash work with.

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Leonard Migliore