Originally Posted by fureshi
you can always buy a used dslr. i believe nikon D50 are going for about $300 nowadays with low shutter actuations. i started down the dslr path with a D50 two years ago. it has all of the basic controls that the higher end cameras have so you can spend a lot of time learning on it. i'm itching to get a D300 but truthfully, i don't know how to use all of the functions on the D50 yet.
I think he means WITH a lens under $300, which this doesn't fall under.
This is going to be tough, man. Used original Rebel, or D50 are probably the best choices, since they can take the best lenses (Canon and Nikon, respectively). Maybe a used Olympus E-Volt 330, though I don't know how good that is as I've never used an Olympus dSLR.