Pentax K100D (body with 18mm-55mm lens kit)

Pros: Solid feel, great images, relatively easy menu, good price, uses AA batteries

Cons: flash sync maybe a little slow at 1/180 sec.

Summary: I spent 10 years as a photographer for some small town newspapers, using strictly film slr's. I bought my first digital two years ago- a point & shoot Canon A60. I was impressed with the image quality coming out of that little 2 megapixel camera, but hated the lack of manual flexibility and the terrible shutter lag. The shutter lag became more of an issue as I started doing equine photography for my wife's horses, and then the occasional paid shoot. I finally decided to move up to a digital slr, and after two weeks of painstaking review, decided on the Pentax K100d. I couldn't be happier with my choice. I looked closely at the Nikon d50, and even though it got good reviews on shooting speed and image quality, I was turned off by the lack of RAW support, mediocre viewfinder, and lack of image stabilization and/or dust reduction. I liked the Olympus E500's value for the money, and it's dust reduction, along with its 8 megapixel sensor, but it had a pretty poor viewfinder, along with only reasonably good image quality. The Pentax k100d has a very solid feel, large, bright viewfinder that makes manual focusing easy, and the images I've gotten out of it so far have been crystal clear, sharp, and full of vibrant color. I've just scratched the surface with it as far as its controls, but it only took me 10 minutes to figure out how to utilize it's manual settings, including using the built in flash for fill. I opted for the body only, with a 28-200 Tamron zoom lense from Beach Camera. They were a pleasure to order from. They just took my order and sent the camera out immediately. No pushy salespeople calling me later with a "conformation call" trying to get me to buy the extended warranty or a camera bag. I honestly believe anyone looking for a high quality digital slr will do well with this model from Pentax.