Nikon D3000 Excellent entry level DSLR with room to grow

Nikon D3000 is a great camera for someone stepping up from even a sophisticated point and shoot camera. I moved up from a superzoom P&S camera primarily because it was too slow and awkward for action photos of my kids. The Nikon D3000 solves all those shortcomings by providing, no shutter lag, more accurate and faster autofocus, and oustanding light metering.

In one afternoon I took well over 300 pics of downhill ski racers and virtually all were well exposed and in focus. In post processing I heavily cropped the pics and they still looked fantastic. This would not have been something easy to do with my point and shoot, and many of the shots would have been impossible with a P&S camera. While the low light capability of Nikon D3000 is not best in class, it is superior to any point and shoot.

I also bought the 55-200 VR zoom lens as well.

What I really like:
* Optical viewfinder is large and bright
* 3" display is nice
* Menu system is user friendly and there are help prompts available for each menu item
* Auto focus & light metering are excellent
* Fast - no shutter lag
* 3 frame per second is virtually unlimited in jpeg mode. This is great for action shots.
* Like all DSLR's it's great to be able to zoom with your left hand and release the shutter with your right hand.
* Excellent image quality
* Great ergonomics and fits nicely in my hands

While there isn't anything I don't like, it's important to note:
* No Live View - you need to look through the viewfinder to take pics. Taking action pics through a viewfinder is superior to using an LCD, so I don't care about no live view.
* No video mode.
* Any DSLR is going to require commitment to learning