Nowadays the market is full of cameras by many different manufactures. There are for example the two most popular ones Nikon and Canon but also many others. An other manufacture that has become pretty popular in the last time is Sony which I personally haven’t used so far, so I can’t really tell you much about it. If one day I get the opportunity to shoot with a Sony, I can write you a review about that as well. Until now I can just recommend Nikon which I personally use right now and Canon which I’ve also used already.
I think at first place you should declare what your budget is because you shouldn’t spend more money than you have. I wouldn’t buy the cheapest of everything because I can tell you that when you start with photography that might be fine but you wont be happy for long with it. But what I think is that good lenses are more important than a good camera, but about that I will tell you more in my next article what lens to buy.
There are two main types of Cameras. Cameras with 'full frame' and 'APS-C’ sensor. The APS-C sensor is smaller than a full frame. That to you means that if you put a lens of for example 50mm on a full frame camera you get actually 50mm but if you put it on a camera with APS-C sensor you have to multiply it with a crop factor, which is 1.6 for Canon and 1.5 for Nikon. So on a Nikon APS-C camera the 50mm will look like 75mm and on one by Canon like 80mm. Now there are different ways to think about this crop factor. If you want to zoom in a lot then this can be very helpful for you but if you want to shoot wide angled then this is a disadvantage for you because you can’t get as wide angled as it would be on a full frame camera.
Now I would say 95% of you when buying your first camera will buy one with an APS-C sensor because it is way cheaper than the ones with full frame sensors. Cameras with full frame sensors start about $1000. Full frame cameras are mainly used by professional photographers or by those that the hobby is so big that they want to invest more in their hobby. But if you are starting now with photography then I wouldn’t suggest you to go with a full frame body because who knows how long you will be doing it. If you have a lot of fun with photography then you can still buy a full frame one day and also with an APS-C camera you can shoot great photos!
An other thing you need to consider is the ISO. Do you want to often shoot in low light? If yes you should get a camera with an high ISO. But take care high ISO causes noise. So for example if you’re shooting landscapes I would suggest you to shoot with a tripod so with slower shutter speed. If you will shoot mainly in a studio or during the day then you also don’t need a high ISO. But if you now don’t exactly know what you want to shoot then its good to have an higher ISO.
Now all the rest are personal wishes what you like about a camera. Like display size of if you want a vari-angle display. This is different from person to person.
What I can suggest as a beginner camera is a Nikon D7000 or a D7100. These are very good cameras for a very good price! Especially the D7000 if you buy it used now you will be able to get it very cheap.
Buying used camera equipment is also a thing I can recommend. I’ve been buying pretty much all of my equipment used and I’ve never been disappointed. If you want to be sure then read the item description closely and contact the seller if you have any doubts. I always check the ratings of the seller so that I can see if he is trustable. I wouldn’t buy a camera from someone for example who doesn’t have a sale yet. Which of course doesn’t meant that there is something bad about it. This is just what I do to make sure.
After all I can say that there isn’t something such as a perfect camera for beginners. You should go in a store and test different cameras. See which ones you feel comfortable with. Try to think about what you want to shoot before you buy and then decide if possible based on that.