Instead of going to the high cost of the "proper" SLR why not go for what they call a hybrid SLR.
Hybrid SLR camera sit somewhere between the small compact cameras and the top end SLRs.
"proper" SLR cameras come with only one lens, and if you want anything outside the range of that lens you have to buy other lenses, which can be very expensive.
"hybrid" SLR cameras come with a lens fixed to the camera, but the range can be huge, between 28mm to 300mm for example, so you would probably never need another lens.
Below for example is a FujiFilm FinePix S6500FD at only �150 pounds, which is an absolute bagain.
Unless you are doing absolutly high quality pictures you will probably not notice the difference between a picture taken with that and a "proper" SLR.
It has almost all the settings of a proper SLR, allowing you to choose the ISO rating, apeture priority and so on.
You say yourself you dont know much about SLR cameras, so why not spend �150 on the Fuji to "learn" more about photography, and progress to a proper SLR in a year or two when you know more about them.
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