I want a DSLR. I have specific needs, though.
I need it to be FAST (I am passionate about shooting birds and wildlife.) I need it to be user-friendly. I need it to not be more than about $600-700 dollars. I need it to use sd cards (I already have several for other equipment.) I need it to come with a decent lense if possible.
Any suggestions that meet those needs?
Unfortunately, you seem to want everything on the cheap. Speed, especially, is anything but.
First off, how fast is “FAST”? The Nikon D40 is the least expensive DSLR on the market now. It’s easy to use and compact, but only shoots at 2.5 fps. A kit with a basic 18-55 lens runs about $500. Nikon’s entry-level DSLRs only autofocus with AF-S/AF-I lenses, and for wildlife you’re going to need something in the 200-300mm range. The Nikon 70-300mm AF-S VR runs about $500. It’s a reasonably good lens for the price. Prices quickly spike at these ranges for higher-end gear, though. High shutter speeds are going to be a bit difficult with that lens in lower light, but the alternative, like the 300mm f/4 AF-S, is a $1500 lens. You can get better deals with older model used equipment, but the D40 and its successors, the D40x and D60 have earned an IMO well-deserved beginner-friendly reputation.
By fast do you mean without shutter lag or a rapid burst mode? Pretty much all DSLRs have no shutter lag unless they are hunting for focus. For birding and wildlife an extremely rapid burst mode isn’t usually a requirement.
The camera isn’t going to be your main cost, it’s going to be the lens. You’ll need to go with a third party lens by Sigma or Tamron, nothing by Canon/Nikon/Olympus will be cheap enough. A high quality big zoom is expensive, so you’ll have to cut some corners.
You’ll want an effective focal length of around 400mm. On a Nikon or Canon that means you’ll need a 300mm lens and then factor in the 1.5x or 1.6x multiplier. You’ll probably want the cheapest Canon or Nikon DSLR and then shop for a big lens with the money you have left over.
Forget the SD cards. Flash memory is cheap now. Don’t let it limit your choices.
The Canon Digital Rebel is probably in your price range (barely). But if you’re passionate about birds and wildlife, you’re going to immediately be dropping an additional $500.00 or so on the 70-300 image stabilized lens. And probably another $100.00 or so on a Kenko 1.4 adapter. (You could go a bit cheaper with a $300.00 Sigma telephoto, but you’ll really want the image stabilization.)
The Canon comes with a 18-55 mm kit lens that’s actually fairly decent.
But realistically, if you’re on a budget, the DSLR is not the way to go. You generally have to buy a pretty large stable of lenses in order to get the same versatility as you’d get with a high-end point-and-shoot all in one camera. I wouldn’t completely dismiss the long telephoto cameras like the Sony H series or the Fuji Finepix S8100fd. The only thing I’d check on those cameras is the shutter response time which might not be quite fast enough for wildlife.
I’d have to somewhat disagree with this one. A rapid burst mode is very nice for shooting birds in flight, or wildlife on the move. Critters rarely are kind enough to pose for photos, so sometimes you just have to take a lot of pictures very quickly and sort them out later.
I have a D70, which is pretty ancient (4 years old). I did a demo for a group by having someone throw a wad of paper into the air. I could start with the camera off, and at my side, and turn it on, bring it to my eye and take a picture with the wad still in the air. More recent cameras are even faster. The Nikon D40 and D80, and the Canon “Digital Rebel” are all good cameras. I prefer Nikon, although I used to have an all-Canon system when I shot 35mm.
I just bought a used Pentax istD S, they’re about $250 on eBay and will work with any Pentax lens.
I’m a novice to this medium, and I LOVE this camera.
My Dad (from whom it was purchased) used it to take LOTS of wildlife pix and it worked really well for him. He photographed tons of birds. He also shot pix of jets at an air show - they came out so cool. I’ll post later if you’d like (gotta run now).
I second the Canon. I have the Rebel XTi, and the 18-55 mm lens (not the kit lens, but I hear it’s not horrible). Last summer/fall, our yard was overrun with monarch butterflies - they were everywhere! I got some great shots of them both sitting still and flying, thanks to the rapid burst mode. My only recommendation is get the fasted CF card for it that you can - you don’t want delays in shooting due to writing to the card.
I saw the XTi at Costco last month for $600-ish, with the kit lens, a camera case and a 2Gb CF card. Not sure if it’s still the same price, but worth checking out. Our local Craigslist has a couple listed cheaper than that, if you were willing to go used.
Yeah, like that! I want to be able to focus and shoot before whatever it is I’m looking for is out of the frame, then be ready to do another shot, pronto!
Okay, I don’t need it to use sd, but it would be nice. I do *need * it to be user-friendly, though. I’m a beginner when it comes to SLR. I’m a good photographer with my p&s Olympus C700, but I want something newer, faster, better. I know I’ll need to buy more lenses, but if it came with something that zooms at least as far as my C700 (10x optical), I’ll be happy enough to start with. And I can go a little more expensive, but that range is where I’d be most comfortable, knowing I’ll have to invest in lenses and filters and stuff.
Just my 2c because IANA expert photog but that might actually have more do with skill and shutter speed than the camera being used. But I think you should try out various models and see which you’re most comfortable handling. The D40 is pretty light and small (not sure about Canon because I don’t use it) and you probably could get it secondhand.
As for the lens I really don’t think the 18-55mm standard kit lens is sufficient for closeups of wildlife but on a $600-700 budget I don’t think you may be able to get much more than that (unless you get a really good deal on the camera body). You probably will have to do your best with the limitations of your lens. In any case this site has a comprehensive listing of the various lenses out there and you can do a price check on those you’re interested in.
You want fast? You must invest in glass.
Where you want to go, you can’t be as user friendly as your old camera.
That speed trick need to be preplanned for tge type of shot. can’t grab and shoot if the wrong setting are in there and get the quality you like.
Need to do lots of testing and know what settings you should have preloaded for where and when you are …
Gonna be bigger and harder to pack around.
Image stabilization and BIG glass… Put your $$$ there.
Increase your budget before you even start, you are too low.
I want copies of the pics of course. They go in my screen saver with your others ones…
Hmph - nobody’s into Pentax, eh? 
Well, I went ahead and uploaded some pix he sent me, they’re linked in my profile. The images are kind of small, but I think you can tell that he managed to freeze the propeller blades. He mentioned they were taken at 1/4000 of a second.
Anything you want, Gus. 
So, if I go with, say, the XTi (or another brand’s semi-equivalent), with the 18-55mm lense that comes with it, what is the minimum additional gear I need to get?
Oh, good photos! And your paintings (I assume)? Fantastic! I love the coke bottles!
Oh happy dance, thank you!
I’m very into Pentax 
I have a K10D and have previously owned a K100D, but Pentax would proberly not be my first choice if speed if of the essence, though I would argue that it’s not as important as the OP would belive. Keeping inside the OP’s budget, you won’t get EOS-1DMKIII machine gun FPS anyway, K10D is max 3 FPS.
What you will get with Pentax is SD cards, in-house image stabilization, dust and rain proof houses (K10D, K200D, K20), very good ergonomics, compatibility with just about all Pentax (and other manufactures compatible) lenses ever made and a fantastic price on the K10D now that K20D is on the marked.
3 fps would be fine! I’ve been looking at cameras on the web and there’s so many to choose from–I’m getting a headache.
Any camera can freeze propeller blades in good light. That’s simply a matter of a fast shutter speed which any DSLR (or P&S) can do. Putting a fast lens that takes in enough light at 300mm is important when shooting in low light, like under the trees on a cloudy day.
My comment about burst mode was meant to differentiate between the big Canon that will shoot 10fps and something like the D40 which will shoot 2.5fps. Either will be good enough for most wildlife photos, IMO.
Any serious shooting of birds requires “heavy artillery”, big fast (i.e. large max aperture) telephoto lenses, which can easily cost an order of magnitude more than the allotted budget. A 70-300 consumer-grade zoom isn’t really long enough for shooting birds unless we’re talking backyard birdfeeder type shots, and at f/5.6 isn’t fast enough to work well with a teleconverter (you won’t have enough light hitting the autofocus sensors - it would take pictures but you’d probably have to manual focus). My advice would be to buy used gear - probably something like a Canon 20D (Canon’s big telephotos are cheaper than Nikon’s) and an older 300mm or 400mm fixed focal length lens with f/2.8 or f/4 aperture, and a teleconverter or two for extended reach. I have no idea what sort of price you’d be looking at.
The other alternative would be something like a D40 with a Sigma 50-500 zoom, but that lens is f/6.3 at 500mm iirc. Buying used you might get that combo 1200 or so.
www.dpreview.com is your friend.