wrote:

I'm new to SLR cameras and photography but would like to get involved
and soon develop my own pictures and so fourth later on. I am also
going to be taking a class soon as well to help but right now I need
some help picking out the right SLR camera to buy.

I don't want to buy bottom of the line camera but also don't want to
buy the top of the line since they can be expensive. I'm looking at
spending no more than 500.00 on the body.

What I want to be able to do is take pictures at baseball games where
I'll need to be able to take multiple pictures quickly to get the
right shot of a ball being hit off a bat or in mid air being released
from a pitcher. I will also be taking everyday pictures of outdoors
wildlife and indoor pics of people.

Your help and recommendations are extremely appreciated.

Jim

Most major camera manufactures (Canon, Nikon, Konica-Minolta, Pentax)
produce very high quality 35mm SLR's, and now with digital
photography's popularity, one can purchase an excellent mid-level 35mm
SLR at great prices.

Besides the Canon models already suggested, I would also recommend you
look at the Nikon N80. It's definitely the best value among Nikon
SLR's, quite reasonable in price and more than capable for all the
photographic endeavors you have listed.

I would also recommend if your planning to shoot extensively baseball
games and other events where having a very long telephoto lens would be
highly desirable, that you purchase either a Nikon or Canon body. Not
because Konica-Minolta or Pentax do not make good long telephoto lenses
(they do), but because if you live in or near a major metropolitan
area, you can readily find a pro camera shop that rents out the large
Nikon and Canon telephoto lenses for daily or weekly use at a very
small fraction of the cost of buying the lens outright. Also a number
of modern Canon and Nikon telephoto and telephoto zoom lenses now have
image stabilization (IS) / vibration reduction (VR) technology built
into the lens which results in sharper images when shooting from a
monopod or handheld, a very nice feature that Pentax and Konica-Minolta
lenses lack.

- Peter