What digital SLR is good for portrait shot?

I want to get a digital SLR for portrait shot, which one is good and inexpensive/economical?

I want to be able to create those portrait shots I have seen on Flickers - shallow depth of field (blurry background) and soft image. My current digital camera doesn't produce soft image, it makes the skin texture way too sharp, you can see all the bumps on the skin. (Sometimes it even exaggerates the imperfection, i don't notice that manys bumps and dots on the person's skin with my naked eyes, but the pictures show a lot of imperfection I don't usually see with my naked eyes), it's just not good for portrait.

What other equipments are must have to create great portraits? Do I need a light box or anything else to take great portraits (even if it's for outdoor shooting)?

As far as cameras go look at these two cameras
Canon Rebel XTi
Nikon D40
Nikon and Canon are the best on the market.

To achieve the effects you are looking for.

Shallow DOF: You will need to shoot with the aperture wide open (lowest F number). The fastest lens you have will give the best results. For portraits with the above mentioned cameras I would get a 50mm F1.8 or 1.4 depending on your budget. The F1.8 is about $100.00 for either Canon or Nikon.

Soft Image: If you mean that flawless smooth skin look you will need to use Photoshop or some other editing software. The proper lighting will help but you can't make someones skin have no pores with a camera.

You can get Photoshop Elements for $100.00.
You can also try Gimp it is free. I have never used it but people say it is pretty good.
www.gimp.com

canon eos rebel is good
for entry level

1) It's not the camera so much as it's the lenses.
2) You have to post-process the image to get the softness you're talking about.

So, get these things:

A) a basic SLR like a Nikon D40.
B) a really good portrait lens, like a 70-200mm f/2.8 AF-S VR lens
C) A copy of Photoshop CS3
D) some basic Internet searching on how to use CS3 to smooth out skin without losing too much detail (hint: Gaussian blur, layers, and the healing tool).
E) Practice. Lots of practice.
F) Good lighting, which can be natural light with reflectors.
Practice will show you how to work the light.

try nikon.
i have a d40x. i get really amazing portrait shots.
but then again i do good portraits with my plastic diana+ camera.

its all up to the photographer, really...

Any of the current entry level DSLRs will produce great portraits.

http://photography.suite101.com/article....

Lenses in with focla lengths in th erange 70mm-135mm generally are the preferred choice for portraits as they will produce the shallow depth of field effect required.

Lighting is important in portraits. A good starting point is an external flash with a moveable head so you can bounce it off walls and ceilings to produce a diffused even light.

The harsh direct light from flash units built into the camera tends to produce those unwanted details.

I suggest the Canon Rebel XTi. It's a great entry-level DSLR. It's available for about $600 right now.

50mm lens are great for portraits. With the 1.6 crop factor on the XTi it's equivalent to an 80mm lens. It's always nice to have an external flash as well. I suggest either the Canon 430EX or the 580EX II.

I would recommend Canon XTi or XSi with Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 or 100mm f/2 lens. You can obtain shallow depth of field with this combo.

However, if you want to get smooth skin effect, you may need to use Photoshop to edit your pictures.