Hi there! I'm no professional but here's my take on this question.
1. Know you budget.
2. What are you're interests (landscape, portrait, sports, wildlife, etc?)
And lastly, are you new to the concept of photography, or have you owned any Point and Shoot camera before?
I used a Canon Rebel for a few years when I first started in photography, and it did a fine job for me, so they are an inexpensive way to be introduced to the hobby and art. I can only speak from my experience, but pretty much almost all DSLR these days comes with a RAW function, so everything else is just a matter of what you want to spend. Unless you really dont care about going onto the hassle of post-processing, then you can always keep the P&S and never having to shell out $ on buying a DSLR. Auto mode is enough.
Also buying a kit is a good way if budget is really tight. Canon normally has the 18-55 IS and 55-250 IS bundled together witht eh body and they're actually pretty good. As you progress in the craft, you might want to upgrade to better lenses and body. The lenses are the ones you need to decide early on if think you will be going full frame in the future because it would be way more expensive to buy lenses over again. So know your budget and start from there.
Buying an entry level camera is a safe way in case you eventually decide not to dedicate a large part of your life to photography, then you don't have to waste too much money in buying gears and selling them off at a loss later. Hope this helps and do post your photos too once you have started to shoot.
|