One of my relations has a desire to get the best camera he can....SLR....with video

Budget £500-£700 (say $1000)

What would be your choice ?

Thanks,

Stephen

Well I don't know if it's the "best" but you have the Nikon D90 that's very popular and that I know can shoot videos. I don't know about the quality of the videos but the images are good ! It has the same sensor as the D300. It costs around 1000$, body only.
But, it all depends on the lenses. If he only wants to spend 1000$ in total (or is it only for the body ?), I would suggest shopping for the lenses before then checking the bodies... What kind of pictures he does prefer to take ?

The video in the D90 is awful. I know I have one. I get better video out of my Lumix LX-3. If the video is important, I think Canon has better success with video quality. Not sure of the kit cost, but the new 7D has video. I work in a video medium professionally and we are using the Canon 5D some. It's pretty darn good for the cost of the camera and the ease and convenience.

The 7D is awesome !! but about 1850$ just for the body !!!

I second this, have one since 3 weeks and it's just fantastic!
But good lense(s) is at least as important as the body!
Better buy a cheaper body but better lenses - My old 400D/digital rebel also made pictures :)

Stephen,

this is one of the links I hope will help:

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/eng/DxOMark-Sensor/Camera-rankings

Camera with no video:
At www.samys.com
EOS Rebel XS SLR Digital Camera (Black) with Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS Lens -$469

Nikon - D3000 Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm VR Lens, Plus a FREE 2GB Memory Card -$499

Cameras with video:
At www.samys.com
Nikon - D5000 Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm VR Lens -$699

Canon - EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR Camera Kit with EF-S 18-55mm IS Lens -$699

Like I said before if the quality of the video is important, go with Canon! And this from a die hard Nikon fan...

Guys.....THANK YOU !

Whilst I have the canon 1Ds Mark II as my professional workhorse I don't
keep on top of all the new ones. Your replies have ben most useful. He is
so excited that he called me at 8 am and said he is going to the Sales....NOW !

I think he is going for a D3000 in a 'package' that includes 18-55 and a Tamron
70-300 plus a load of bits and pieces. So is giving up the idea of video for now...

Dinu......your link was fascinating....Clyde and everyone cheers !

Happy New Year

Stephen,
I am so glad you liked it and found it useful.
As for me, I believe the Nikon D5000 is quite interesting. No idea abut the lenses, unfortunately.

Happy Holidays to you too !

I think the most interesting low-cost still/video combo out there is the Panasonic GH1 (you can buy adapters to put just about any lens on it) and the videos I've seen from this little 4/3rds camera are gorgeous.

I gotta go with the T2i. Get some habbycam gear and you're all set. [URL]http://www.habbycam.com[/URL]