I want to buy a 1000-1500 usd slr digital camera. have an idea?

leica, panasonic-lumix, canon or nikon?

Depends. Will you be doing lots of portraits? If so, Nikon. Are you going to do alot of sport or fast action shots? Then Canon. Will you be using a lot of JPEG. if so Canon. Do want better flexabilty with lens? Canon and Nikon. Do you want better flash system? Nikon. The list can go on. Its a matter of opinion on which is better. If you perfer Canon get a Canon if you perfer a Nikon get a Nikon. My two top picks. Canon 30D is a great camera for sport photography with a fast FPS. Nikon D80 is suppose to be competeing against the XTi but thats bogus it costs just as much as the 30D. It has great imagine quality thats equal to the XTi but cost $200-300 more but if you have Nikon or like Nikon thats what you get.

canon is always my first choice

Canon or Nikon. If you need to have your copyright noted on your files, you will have to use the image comment feature on Nikon cameras.

Go to your local camera store. Not the camera counter in a department store. A REAL camera store. Ask to try some SLR cameras in your budget. If they're equally priced, they will be equally featured with equal abilities. Don't get drawn into comparing statistics and decimal points - that's not what photography is!

The camera that you love in your hands, the one you don't want to put down, the one that operates the way you think a camera should and makes you want to create thousands of pictures. That's the camera for you.

The only way to choose a camera is to hold it in your hands and try it.

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