DSLR Recommendation

I'm looking to get into an Entry level DSLR camera. I've never owed one before so this will be my first time using a camera with manual settings, changeable lens..etc

Couple people have recommended the Nikon D5000 already. I've also heard its better to get a decent body and save the extra money for good lens.

I will be shooting mostly outdoors, wildlife, pics of the dog and kids, and maybe some sports stuff (nothing professional).

Budget will be hopefully under $800 or so.. says the wife [Coffee]

Let me know what you think

You can't go wrong with Nikon or Canon. I went Canon because most my friends shoot with Canon, so I can borrow their lenses. That was my deciding factor.

Canon has a program where you can get 20% off a refurb by sending in a broken/used/old canon camera. That's prob your best deal for Canon.

kwando - if you dont mind me asking, which Cannon did you go with?

I am in the same boat with you oneshot. My budget is a bit less than yours, so I have been thinking about the canon t1i. they come up on craigslist all the time for around $350ish

There's an ad on craigslist in denver for a canon rebel t3I with 2 lenses for $700 and he's looking to trade for "things that go bang".
I bought a sony hx100v for my hunting/outdoors camera. Not a true "full" dslr since you can't change lenses but had all the "pro" features I wanted at the time plus an outrageous zoom (up to 120x). All the standard dslr stuff but you don't have to buy multiple lenses. The zeiss lense is pretty awesome too.

While I have been extremely happy with my sony, I wish I would have bought a canon. They take great photos but best of all, there is a hack out there so you can add custom firmware. Looks like you can do some pretty cool things and add features the camera didn't come with.

I'll see if I can find the ad again...

Here it is

http://denver.craigslist.org/ele/3425844467.html

I've always been a Nikon fan personally. I loved my D80 and I've heard some pretty good things about the D5100. I'm seriously looking at the D7000 as a Christmas present for the wife (read: almost kindof for me) if I don't find a deal on a gun she likes. If I get hit by a tour bus and sue the company and get a million dollar settlement, a D3x is on my short list.

I upgraded last year from a D40 to D7000. Very capable camera...far more than I am as a photographer.

I went for a hike and saw some really nice bucks and tried taking pics with my camera phone and missed some really good opportunities to get some good shots...after I showed my wife what I was trying to get pics of and what the quality of the phone pics were... she was convinced we needed a good camera.

I looked at the T3i a bit online and it seems like a good entry level camera and it gets really good reviews. So does the D5000

I think i'm just going to have to go into bestbuy or something today and pick a few up and see how they feel in the hand.

Don't forget about editing software too. Almost everyone uses photoshop but I prefer paintshop, easier to use and you don't have to take a class or read a huge book to learn how to use it.