Simple, quick, rugged DSLR - up to $1,000 or so

[vin43075]

Greetings from a first time poster,

I have been researching DSLRs for a while now (which is a fun hobby in its own right), but have yet to reach any real conclusion on which one I'd be happiest with.

I'm looking for something sturdy, durable, light, not huge (but not tiny either). I know little about cameras, but have enjoyed snapping pictures with my film SLRs for a long time (2 canons). I use auto-everything 80% of the time, and once in a while veer into manual settings.

I'd like something with a quick auto-focus, built in flash, and somewhat-smart detection of environment/settings while on automatic.

I'd also like it to be able to take pictures in .raw format, and come packaged with a decent photo editing tool. I've got no experience with this, but it seems like it would be a ton of fun to work with.

I'm not 100% sold on the necessity of a DSLR, but from my experience the photo quality is much better than compacts, and shooting pictures is a more satisfying overall experience.

Image stabilization and dust-removal seem like really cool advances to me, but at the same time I've gotten by without them up until now.

I'm not great when it comes to organizational skills, thus my cameras tend to get tossed around a lot and are probably not treated as well as they should be. Overall they are no worse for the wear, but I like the camera body to be solid and light.

The Rebel XTi seems like a good choice, but I had an older Rebel (the 2000 maybe?) and it broke pretty soon after buying it (for no apparent reason).

Any thoughts out there? Advice for a mostly-for-fun photographer but once in a while very-amateur-photog? Someone who likes to keep one nearly all-purpose lense on the camera for 90% of the time?

Thanks ahead of time,

Brian

[coldrain]

Any camera can break, from whatever make... Canon SLRs are not more prone to breaking than others. I have the same Canon rebel 2000/EOS 300 too, and it works fine still.

If you still have a selection of lenses for the Canon SLRs, then an XTi may be the best choice. No worries about the XTi, it is a rugged and durable camera.
My XT still works fine too.

If you think you will not go past the auto settings in future either, and you don't see yourself going past a 2 lens cheap setup either, the Nikon D40x may also be a nice camera for you. It has less features than an XTi, but when you think you will not use them, that does not matter.

[bascom]

Pentax K100D and K100D Super sound good to me. Or Fuji S6000 for a good compact.

[fionndruinne]

the Nikon D40x may also be a nice camera for you.

:eek::p;)

Anyway, you might also want to look at the Olympus E-410 and E-510, and the Pentax K10D. The Canon XTi and the Nikon D40 (better costwise than the D40x; save the money for lenses) are good choices. My advice is, play around with cameras at the store, get as many models in your hands as you can, and snap some photos.

Also, don't look to full automatic mode to get the best out of a DSLR; but don't fear that you'll have to use full manual all the time either. Program auto and aperture mode are very handy and offer more control, but with less complexity than setting both shutter and aperture all the time in manual mode.