Kitty!

Hey Ali!

Megapixels don’t matter much at all, despite the hype, especially if you are a casual / hobby shooter. The only time MP will really come into play is if you want to get large prints made – and I mean LARGE! – otherwise, I wouldn’t give them a second thought when shopping around for a dSLR.

I am not sure what the best camera brands are, though Canon and Nikon are certainly the most popular and accessible. I wouldn’t put either brand over the other, it just comes down to personal preference. For me, I shoot Nikon because it was the first SLR I ever bought, so it didn’t make sense to buy other brands along the line since I already had a growing collection of Nikon compatible equipment. I would recommend going into a camera store, or finding someone you know who has a dSLR, and holding it in your hands, getting a feel for what you personally want in a camera.

With a budget of $1000, you should have no problem buying a great dSLR. Though I would also recommend ditching the kit and buying the body and lens separately, that way you could choose what lens you start out with. Most kit lenses are garbage.

Hope that was helpful. Good luck!