What DSLR camera is best for me?

Help! My parents said I could get a DSLR camera for my birthday but I don't know what cameras to look at!

I'm quite into photography, and I often take the opportunities my school gives me to take pictures, a.k.a.yearbook. I'm the one who takes pictures of the sports teams, school events, even just everyday students in the halls. I do a lot of sports/subject-in-action type photos. However, I also take a bunch of portraits of me and my friends just fooling around. So I guess I need a camera with fast FPS and shutter speeds, but also various effects so I can get creative.

I have looked at numerous Nikons, Canons, and Sonys, but I haven't found "The One". The three cameras that stick out are the Nikon d5100, the Canon T3i, and the Canon T2i. I have also look at cameras like the Nikon d70, d7, (etc.) and the Sony a55, a35, a65 (I'm not sure if these are DSLRs, and that is A MUST).

Please help me! I know I probably wrote a lot, but I really need help.

The Rebel T3 and Nikon D3100 are your best bets. Go to a local camera shop and try them out.

Don't look at them, pick them up.

The Sonys aren't true SLRs, relying on electronic viewfinders - and the Jury's still out on how effective they are.

Effects come on the computer afterwards at this level, not on the shots themselves, but if, after handling the cameras, you still can't work out which one you prefer rest assured that all of them will do the job.

If worst comes to worst, let your parents choose - since they're footing the bill.

The Sony cameras you mentioned (and all of Sony's current line) are not technically DSLRs but SLTs. In terms of functionality, however, they are exactly like DSLRs. The only difference is that the mirror on an SLT is translucent and doesn't move, while the mirror in an SLR is mechanical and silver. For this reason an SLT camera also uses an electronic viewfinder instead of an optical viewfinder, because the translucent mirror can't reflect enough light for a bright and usable optical viewfinder. Some people prefer the optical viewfinders and some (like myself) prefer the electronic viewfinder. The EVF shows you the image that's on the sensor while the OVF will show you what's through the lens. An EVF allows for extra features in the viewfinder like 100% coverage, and ability to display levels and grids in the viewfinder, view settings, menus and review shots in the viewfinder.

If you shoot a lot of action, an SLT like the a55 or a65 can be a great advantage to you because they shoot a very fast 10fps which is something you would have to spend a lot more money to get in a DSLR. They can also continuously autofocus and autofocus much faster than SLRs. Sony cameras have a lot of very cheap Minolta Maxxum legacy lenses out there, such as the 70-210 f4 (aka the beercan) for less than $200. You can't get anything close to that lens for Canon or Nikon at that price point.

All the cameras you listed will do what you have described that you want though. You just need to go to a store and try them out for yourself. Bring an SD card so you can go home and see what the shots look like.