How did you choose your first dslr camera?

I'm liking the look of the Nikon D5000… I wanna go with nikon cause of its good optics… But to be honest i have no idea what to look for right now cause i'm new to this… I'm just gonna start with the Nikon D5000 and then get another one in a few years, when i have some experience and know what to look for… How did you choose urs?

Added (1). Well i just read that there was a massive recall of that model… So i'm at the D3100 now…

Added (2). Well i'm back to square one… I don't like the D3100 now i did more research…

as for my reasoning… I hate the constant turn around and cause i don't know what i'm looking for it is confusing at times… Hence y i just want to just buy one and go from there…

Added (3). @fhotoace yea i was looking over it again and wondering about it… Still not sure though…

Added (4). @ Caoedhen i did check other brands… E.g. Pentax, sony fujifilm (after finding out fuji stopped making DSLRs i stopped with them though)

to be honest i'm not bias to any brand, i'm just going with what my research has said… As for price range… I do some yearly jobs for some ppl and i made a big buck last year, now there's a new branch to my business so i have estimated the best and worse case scenario so i have two price ranges… I'm btwn the D3100 and D7000 depending on how much money i make…

Weird reasoning to arrive at an even better camera.

I'd narrowed it down to a nikon d50 and a rebel xt with a preference for the nikon because I already owned a film nikon.
Picked up the canon, felt like something designed and made by mattel. Picked up the nikon and it felt like a camera. Easy choice.

While the Nikon D3100 is probably the best camera for you, it is NOT because of any massive recall of the D5000. The D3100 has much more advanced features and costs a little less than the D5000.

That recall happened nearly a year ago and only effected some of the first ones out of the factory. All those have been repaired or replaced. Any D5000 you would buy now is perfectly fine.

I had a Canon point & shoot, and was very satisfied with it, so I did some research and then went to Ritz Camera and talked to a sales person. Got some good information and tried out the camera. I liked how it felt in my hands and the way the pictures looked.

What you should do is go to a real camera store and do as I did. Talk to a sales person and ask lots of questions. Try the cameras, and see how easy it is for you to go through the menu and also to reach the buttons. You will know the one for you when you hold it in your hands.

Try both Nikon and Canon. They are both excellent cameras. And if you buy it at Ritz, you get free lessons on how to operate it. Definitely worth it.

Nikon D3100 and Canon 550D both are good Entry Level DSLR…

I did this a little differently…

I had a budget of X dollars. I looked at every body available within that budget, not just Canon or Nikon. There are others, although too many seem to forget that.

Once they were all sorted out, I bought the camera with the most bang for the bucks I had at the time. The Sony A300, with the price point of the (then current) Nikon D60 or Canon XTi, but the bells and whistles of the D80 or 30D, plus more.

For some people, starting with a specific brand in mind is OK. If you have film gear that can be used with digital, then it makes sense to stick with that brand. None of my Nikon film gear is good with digital (Ai and E lenses), and my Minolta film gear doesn't work with digital at all (SR mount).

Start with a list of requirements, set a budget, and then sort out which cameras meet your requirements. Then you can begin to narrow down the list.