Hot SLRs for the holidays

Nikon’s newest budget SLR is targeted at the photographer who is new to SLR cameras. The D3000’s Guide mode uses example photos to help you adjust the camera’s settings appropriately—adjusting an SLR based on your environment helps your pictures look their best.

For creative types, the D3000 includes several effects you can apply to your photos in the camera, without having to use your Mac. The Miniature effect makes your photo look like it’s a shot of miniature scale models. The Soft Filter effect creates a soft focus look. The Color Outline effect takes your picture and leaves monochrome outlines, resulting in a coloring book effect. Nikon also provides a set of retouching tools to edit and correct your photos.

The 10.2-megapixel D3000 comes with a 3X 18mm to 55mm Zoom-NIKKOR VR image stabilization lens. ($550 [Get best current price]; Nikon)

SLRs tend to look alike—it’s difficult to deviate from a technical design that works well and is familiar to serious photographers. But if you are new to SLRs and are looking to stand out from the crowd, Pentax’s K-x White will definitely draw attention. If the K-x’s white body with black trim can’t get your subject to smile, nothing will. If you’re truly daring, the K-x is also available in red.

Inside the K-x’s flashy exterior is a full-featured SLR. The 12.4-megapixel CMOS sensor has Shake Reduction to help neutralize any camera shake while you’re shooting. There are several scene modes (including Food, Sunset, Kids, Pet, Candlelight, and Museum) that set up the camera automatically for your situation. The K-x is also capable of recording 720p video at 24 frames per second.

The K-x is sold in a lens kit only, which includes a 18mm to 55mm lens. ($650 [Get best current price]; Pentax)

The Lumix DMC-G1 isn’t a traditional SLR. It conforms to the Micro Four Thirds specification, an offshoot of the original Four Thirds system used in SLRs by Panasonic and Olympus. Micro Four Thirds offers some important design changes, allowing for SLR functionality in a smaller form.

The Lumix DMC-G1 provides all the features you’d want in a serious camera—decent burst speed, priority and manual modes, Raw shooting, a thoughtful selection of scene modes, and more. You also get the benefit of using any Four Thirds system lens, though you’ll need an adapter.

The camera produces very good images and shots at high ISO settings (the G1 offers ISO 100 to 3200) yield images with much less noise than equivalent ISOs on a point-and-shoot camera. The Lumix DMC-G1 truly does produce SLR-quality images.

The 12.1-megapixel Lumix DMC-G1 comes with a 14mm to 45mm lens. Read our full review. ($800 [Get best current price]; Panasonic)

Though it doesn’t offer video recording features, Sony’s Alpha A380 is a lightweight and compact SLR good for first-time SLR users. The camera’s chunky controls and well-labeled buttons ensure that the A380 will appear less threatening to anyone new to SLRs.

The A380 uses a graphical interface showing key shooting information. As you navigate through the interface, an on-screen guide explains, by way of brief text speech bubbles, what the different settings do. Thus, this is a camera that you can familiarize yourself with without constant recourse to the manual, and such help can be deactivated via the menu system once your experience grows.

The 14.2-megapixel A380 is sold with an 18mm to 55mm zoom lens. It’s also available in a kit that includes the before-mentioned lens and an additional 55mm to 200mm lens. Read our full review. ($800 with 18mm to 55mm lens [Get best current price]; $900 with 18mm to 55mm and 55mm to 200mm lenses [Get best current price]; Sony)

The Lumix DMC-GF1 is a Micro Four Thirds camera—it has interchangeable lenses and features like a DSLR, but the Lumix DMC-GF1 lacks the pentaprism and mirror found in SLRs. This makes it possible to use a smaller, more compact body.

The Lumix DMC-GF1 features a 12-megapixel sensor and a My Color mode that has seven effects that lets you adjust the color, brightness, and saturation. The camera can also record 1280-by-720 HD video using the AVCHD Lite or Motion JPEG formats.

There are two versions of the Lumix DMC-GF1 available. You can get a kit with a 14mm to 45mm lens, or you can pick the kit with the Lumix G 29mm/F1.7 ASPH lens. ($900 with 14mm to 45mm lens [Get best current price]; Panasonic)

Canon’s EOS 7D is ideal for the serious hobbyist who’s interested in upgrading from a sub-$1000 SLR, or even for professionals looking for an affordable camera to add to their arsenal. The EOS 7D features 18-megapixel resolution, uses an APS-C-sized CMOS sensor, and is compatible with more than 60 Canon EF and EF-S lenses. The camera shoots at up to eight frames per second and touts a 19-point autofocus system and a new metering system that Canon calls iFCL (intelligent Focus, Color and Luminance). ISO speed settings supported range from 100 to 6400 (expandable to 12,800).

The EOS 7D can also record HD video. Video shot with the camera is at 1920 by 1080 resolution and can be set at 24p, 25p or 30p frame rates. You can shoot in 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios, using either the integrated mono mic or an external stereo mic to pick up audio.

Canon sells the EOS 7D as body only or packaged as a kit with an EF 28mm to 135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM zoom lens. ($1699 body only [Get best current price]; $1899 lens kit [Get best current price]; Canon)

Want to really impress the devoted Canon photographer on your holiday shopping list? The EOS-1D Mark IV makes for a very memorable present. This high-end professional DSLR features a 45-point Auto Focus system with 39 f/2.8-sensitive cross-type points, which provides a wide selection of focus areas across the frame. Canon also includes dual Digic 4 processors to help the EOS-1D Mark IV achive 10 frames per second and a wide ISO range (ISO 100 to ISO 12800 standard, ISO 50 to ISO 102400 extended).

The 16.1-megapixel EOS-1D Mark IV is available as body only. Read more about the camera. ($5000 body only [Get best current price]; Canon)

The D3s is a professional photographer’s dream. This SLR is filled with a ton of features, including a standard ISO range of 100 to 12800 and an extended ISO range of 50 to 102400—great for shooting in low light. The 12.1 megapixel CMOS sensor at the heart of the D3s has an improved dynamic range compared to Nikon's previous sensors. The D3s can shoot photos at 9fps while using the FX format, and 11fps in the DX format. To top it off, the DSLR is capable of capturing 1280-by-720 HD video at 24fps with a stereo microphone input jack.

The D3s is available as body only for $5200. Read more about the camera. (Nikon)