Hi,

I am planning to get a DSLR camera for a relative who is interested in photography, but I don't know what to look for as specification. I don't want the high ends, just looking for a basic for beginners and could be upgraded (if possible) by adding some accessories. I don't wanna ask him   'coz it's gonna be a surprise gift.
If anybody can help me with some suggestions it would be great.
thanks in advance.

go for Nikon D5000

For really serious photo junkies start from manual film SLR and work your way up or else you wont learn anything because in the most recent DSLRs they have made it so easy that you wont learn anything at all because the camera does almost everything for you.

I started with an old Pextax manual film SLR with a manual 50mm lens and rolls of B/W film then I got Nikon F80 film AF SLR with basic AF lenses and color films. Then I moved to Nikon D70s DSLR and now I've Nikon D90 DSLR with pro class lenses.

Everything seems to be fine for Nikon D5000 for that price range but he movie feature is pretty horrific. I wonder why they decided to put movie feature in that model in the first place. "Rolling Shutter Effect" is very evident in the videos of Nikon D5000. Even the higher end model of Nikon like D300s suffers from the same trouble. 

I was going through some deals and found this

1. Nikon D3000 DSLR Digital Camera and 18-55MM VR Lens - 10.2 Megapixel, 3.0" TFT LCD, SD/SDHC Slot, USB, Black for $479.99

2. Nikon D3000DXD-SLR w/ 18-55 mm VR Lens + 55-200 mm Telphoto Lens $599.97

What's the difference except the 55-200 mm lens?

Is there any cheaper DSLR than these?
Help.

This video clip was shot using Nikon D90 with DIY (Do It Yourself) camera shake stabilizer. It shows clear evidence of "Rolling Shutter Effect" or "Jello Effect" whenever camera jerks vertically in addition to distorted vertical lines of vertical structures in the scene of the video clip.

I am really interested but need some honest suggestion which one is best with lowest price with max features. I am also new to SLR world..... learning

Pentax K-x. If I were you.

It's hard to choose one in terms of specification, so everything boils down to price.
Till now Nikon D3000 DSLR seems the cheapest one (with lens 18-55 mm).