Any of Nikon or Canon's dSLR cameras would be great for someone just starting photography.

Here's the advice I think its important: Start out with one of their cheaper bodies and save your money for lenses. A good lens will stay with you for longer than bodies usually will. Buy the body only, buy a good lens (or two), then when you've learned some in a year or so, you'll be ready to upgrade to whatever the latest and greatest body is, and you'll already have some good lenses to go with it.

I am a photography teacher for beginners with dSLRs and I've been asked this very question hundreds of times. My recommendation 100% of the time is the Canon Rebel. Like the other person said, once you choose Canon or Nikon, you will be tied to that brand as Canon lenses do not fit on Nikon bodies and Nikon lenses don't fit on Canon bodies. As a hobbyist the differences between Canon and Nikon are so minute that you don't even need to worry about it. I am a Canon user and swear by Canons. But if you find a Nikon user, they will swear by Nikon. Regardless of all that, I firmly believe that the Canon Rebel is the absolute best camera for a beginner. Everyone who has listened to me and purchased the Rebel as their first camera has always come back to me with positive things to say. The Rebel will do everything you need it to do and more!

My brother started his hobby in photography two years ago. He often upload his photos on Facebook and Flickr so that we will be able to see all the pictures that he had taken. He immigrated in Canada 4 years ago and so we always look forward to the photos he had taken of his new home with his family.

My husband was also impressed with the pictures that he took. The quality of the images is great. I remembered my brother bought a Nikon D5000 and he was very pleased with the result. He also said that it is very easy to use for he is a beginner when it comes to digital photography. He was in College when he got interested in photography and he was using a Canon manual camera back then.

I tried to look for online reviews too for Nikon D5000 and I have read good reviews about it. DPReview has given it a very high rating. The camera controls are also well-laced and easy to navigate even for an intuitive and beginning DSLR use.

The user also rated the Nikon D5000 with 4.13 out of 5 while B & H Photo users rated it at 4.25 out of 5.