If money is the most determining factor for choosing what DSLR you get, you will have to purchase either a brand new
entry-level consumer DSLR like the D3200, or any older/used DSLR, preferably one with an auto-focus motor.
Entry-level cameras don’t have auto-focus motors in the DSLR body, so only lenses that have Auto-Focus motors inside of them can be used with them. Having no Auto-Focus (AF) motor in the camera isn’t that big of a deal if you are first starting out because you will most likely be using a kit lens that comes with the DSLR body anyway, which is perfectly fine.
If you have a little bit more money to spend ($800-$2000), start out getting any DSLR that is in the gray highlighting. These cameras will either be an advanced consumer camera (they typically call these prosumer DSLRs), or better yet, a compact professional camera
(ex. D300s, D800, D600). These DSLRs will be able to use almost all lenses available, have cleaner image quality, shoot more frames per-second, have more auto-focus points, and the physical body will be more robust.
If you have even more money to spend (more than $2000), you can get a
Professional DSLR that has a full-frame sensor (as indicated by the green highlighting in the chart) and at least one full-frame lens to go along with it. The lenses you put on a full-frame DSLR body need to be high-quality (i.e. expensive) in order to make use of the high quality full-frame sensor.
Lets put things in perspective by contrasting the levels of DSLRs:
An
Consumer level D3100 camera costs ~$450 with an 18-55mm lens included.
A
Prosumer level camera, like a
D90 or D7100 will cost around $1000-$2000 for the body, and another $2000 for 1-3 lenses, depending on which lens/lenses you get.
A
Professional DSLR (like a crop-frame D300s, or full-frame D600, D800, or D4) for the body only, will cost ~$2000-$10,000 and $2000 for a standard zoom lens. Most pro full-frame lenses cost ~$2000, so if you wanted to get 2 more zoom lenses, you would be at $6000 for lenses. Prime lenses are cheaper.
These prices are subject to change dramatically due to various factors such as technology getting cheaper, inflation, buying used vs. buying new, buying right after the release date of the DSLR/lens, etc.
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Mark James
Christchurch
http://PhotographyMadeEasy.net