Which SLR ???

[Steve_PD]

After having a play with my old mans 400d on the weekend I now want a camera

Do you reckon its worth buying a second hand one with a few accessories or stump the extra and get a new one?

[T_J_G]

Depends really, Warranty is a good thing to have IMO. I bought mine a few months before a new version was released and got a cracking deal on it (£50 saving on top due to Bluewater Jessops re-opening).

I'd be looking at the Nikon D3100

http://www.jessops.com/Directory/catalogue.ashx/$s=Nikon%20D3100?fh_location=//jessops/en_GB/isvisible=1/$s=Nikon%20D3100&tduid=48d16f9bc94b2b441c1c44bb689e7abb&urlRefer=http://www.jessops.com/Directory/catalogue.ashx/$s=Nikon%20D3100

Depends on your budget!

Another thing to consider is does you Dad have many lenses that you'd borrow, if he does it'll be worth getting a Canon.

[DubFan]

The obvious ones are obviously Nikon and Canon, but the normal price of these is much higher than Sony.

But going for either Nikon or Canon has a few of advantages:
1) lots of people have them so help is easy to find
2) it's more likely that you might know someone who also has one and is willing to lend you a lens to try out/borrow for an event or something
3) you can hire lenses for both Nikon and Canon if you need one for something specific
4) lenses and accessories are easy to find.

However going for Sony also has a few of advantages:
1) cheaper to buy initially
2) image stabilisation is built into the body, so this makes lenses cheaper and means you can use older lenses and still have image stabilisation (with Canon and Nikon it's built into lenses, with non-stabilised lenses being cheaper).
3) lots of old compatible lenses because it's the same lens fitting (mount) as old Minolta Auto Focus cameras (seach ebay for "minolta af") meaning you can pick them up cheap (I got a Tamron 28-200mm super zoom for £29 two weeks ago)

I've had two Sony Alpha SLRs (100 and 350) and really like them. I've tried a Nikon and didn't get on with it (D60) and have briefly tried a Canon. But it's all about personal preference. Go try them in a shop.
Whatever you choose remember two things:
a) once you start with photography you'll end up spending more time and money on it than you intended. Buying a starter SLR now is fine, add some more lenses over time, then upgrade the camera body later.
b) whatever brand you pick, be prepared to stick with it, because once you start buying lenses and accessories, it would be expensive to switch later.

[bobotheclown]

Good advice. However it's not the camera that tajes good pictures it's you. Have a look at some pictures and ask yourself do you like it and why? Some very basic knowledge of composition helps alot with getting good looking pictures.

Also I have found that taking a large slr camera and a couple of lenses on my holidays to be quite an effort. I have a canon 20d (1.77lbs), 24-105mm L lens (1.67lbs) and a 14mm sigma prime (1.2 lbs) for those landscapes and the weight was just so cumbersome. I now tend to uses a small compact camera (was canon s90 now a panasonic tz10) for holidays and parties and the slr for projects and dedicated trips. Some compacts have manual controls which can give your pictures an slr quality to them.

[DubFan]

That's true, it's the person that takes the photo and the camera only captures what you point it at. So you need to either know or learn about how to compose photos.

The camera is just a tool, but an SLR is a better tool that gives you more control over how you capture what's in front of you.

If you're worried about size and weight, you can look at the other options like the small interchangable lens cameras from Olympus (PEN series), Sony (NEX series) Samsung (NX series), Panasonic Lumix (DMC series).
These offer better quality lenses than compact cameras (that you can also change), quality that is on par with SLRs, but without the bulk.

A pro photographer friend of mine has a rather nice Fujifilm X100 for a small carry around camera, it's got a sensor the same size and quality as an SLR and a good lens. That said, it's the price of a very good DSLR.