trying to tap into DSLR area

[amdxmania]

*Budget
Less is better

*Size
Decent size. As long as not too heavy and easy to carry around.

*Features
Good image stabilization

General Usage
I'll use for general photo taking for hobby when i travels or any events that i attend.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
Time to time yes

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Yes

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
yes

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
Canon or Nikon

Are there particular models you already have in mind?
D40, D40x, D60, XTi, XSi

For price reason, D40 would be the best for me, but all those 5 models are withing doable price. Bit confused between D40x/D60. Not much price difference between two and seems pretty similar.

Among those 5, what will give me the most value? and since it'll be a hobby, it'll be great if it lasts 3~5 years.
Thanks

[SpecialK]

Any of the cameras you listed are fine basic cameras.

At the very top of this page is a "reviews and info" link. Jeff has a review the D40 and D60, so I would suggest reading them first as they will provide you with a knowledgeable basis for further questions.

The difference between the D40 and D40X is only megapixels (6 vs 10) I believe.

However, the killer with any camera choice is deciding what lenses you want. Canon and Nikon are great brands but also can be pretty expensive. Some Nikon bodies do not have a focusing motor, so some lenses that do not have the focusing motor either will require you to focus manually. Some people prefer that, though.

The "kit" lens that comes with any of these cameras is not particularly good in low-light (where the aperture is near or at wide open), and most medium-to-advanced photographers elect to replace it with something else - either a "fast" lens, or a zoom with more range, etc. These normally cost a couple hundred to nearly a thousand bucks, or more.

I suggest looking at the lenses you might want and work backward to the body that will fit them.

Getting a slightly higher-priced body, such as the Pentax 200D may allow you to save some money in the long run if you want to get another lens or two. Pentax (and third parties) make some good lenses for it that will not break the bank - though you can still do that if desired.

[teko]

I agree with SpecialK. The difference between the D40 and the D40x is not much, even between the D40 and D60.

If this is your first SLR, I recommend getting the cheaper body and a better lens. In the future, when you eventually grow out of your camera, you can upgrade it. But the good lenses, you can always keep and use with the new body.

I also suggest that you visit a retail store that lets you play around with the cameras. Try out a Canon and a Nikon camera (or other brands), as they both feel pretty different in your hands. Go with something you're more comfortable with.

It would also help if you set some approximate budget.

[rdump]

Good lenses make more difference than the body, and are more expensive in the aggregate, so you'll probably want to settle on a lens mount (Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus/Panasonic, ...) as your first decision. Since there are good affordable lenses in all the stables, the way I did that was to try the user interface ergonomics for the various camera bodies in a local shop.

I was interested in the body's physical feel/size/heft to some degree, but even more interested in how well and quickly I could get the camera configured for various adjustments or tweaks on top of the program auto mode. The interface generally won't change remarkably between body models, meaning what I can get along with now will probably be OK with minimal re-learning if I ever upgrade the body.

I ended up choosing the Nikon D40 as my first DSLR over the Canon XS or XT or the Pentax K200. I liked the Nikon interface sufficiently better to outweigh the slightly greater opportunity for borrowing lenses from friends. (More of my friends own Canon than own Nikon lenses.) An additional factor for me that might not apply to you: I also still have and am starting to use my Nikon FE film body again, with its manual-everything prime lenses that will be fun to try on a digital body.

In the end, I found a good used D40x for sale at a reasonable price on craigslist, and 'upgraded' to the greater number (if not individual quality) of megapixels, all for less money than I was planning to spend on the D40. I've gotten good results shooting the D40x at a resolution similar to the D40's max.

It's a great learning and skill development opportunity, even with just the kit lens on it (until after Christmas :-).

[Rooz]

canon xsi is the best value for performance and features from those you listed.

[speaklightly]

Jeff noted that the Canon XSi jpeg photos were very soft and suggested going to shooting RAW.

Sarah Joyce

[AlexMonro]

Nobody's yet mentioned that if you want image stabilisation with Canon or Nikon, you're going to have to get IS (VR in Nikonspeak) lenses, because they put the stabilisation in the lens, not the camera body. Although they both have some reasonably good and not too expensive stabilised basic kit lenses, it does restrict your choice, especially if you want IS with wide angle or prime lenses.

Pentax, Sony, and Olympus have anti shake built in to the camera body, so it works with any lens you fit - though possibly not quite as well as in the lens with very long telephoto. Pentax also works very well with old 2nd hand film lenses, even manual focus.

[Turn]

Jeff noted that the Canon XSi jpeg photos were very soft and suggested going to shooting RAW.

Sarah Joyce

you can up the sharpness to +5 which does the trick for me

and you can always post process sharpen