You've probably been thinking about buying an SLR camera for a long time. The many choices and price ranges can make your head spin. I'm going to help you pick out the best SLR camera for under $1000.

There are really 3 major players in the SLR camera game for under $1000. Canon, Nikon, and Pentax. Some players are seasoned veterans, others are relative newcomers (but shouldn't be discounted)

Canon SLR Camera

Canon has 3 contenders... the EOS Rebel T1i, the EOS Rebel XS and the EOS Rebel XSi. We're going to focus on the T1i as I think it's the best under $1000. The other 2 are certainly great for the budget conscious, but offer less features.

Canon EOS Rebel T1i offers 15.1 megapixels (highest in the under $1000 crowd) and a great Creative Auto mode which teaches you how to take more manual control of your camera. There are also 60 lenses available that work with this camera and it shoots 1080p HD video.

Nikon SLR Camera

Nikon also has 3 contenders... the D5000, the D90 and the D3000. I like the D90, although the D5000 has a tilt and swivel LCD monitor which is a great feature if you've ever used one.

Nikon D90 offers 12.3 mega-pixels and 720p HD video. Nikons perform great in low light and indoor scenes. The best part is the integrated auto-focus motor... meaning you can use more Nikkor lenses and still have auto-focus.

Pentax SLR Camera

Pentax is a relative newcomer to the SLR scene, but user reviews are pushing their cameras to the top. It's top contenders are the K20D, the K200d and the K2000 . Pentax is definitely a price conscious brand with tons of features. I like the D20D (cheaper than both the Canon and the Nikon fave).

Pentax K20D has 14.6 mega-pixels and is noted for it's dust and weather resistant body. A rugged camera that is backward compatible with all Pentax lenses (some require adapters). But best performance comes their lenses designed for digital cameras. Lenses marked "WR" have additional protection against the weather as well.

So now you have a good handle on the best SLR camera to buy. The only thing you have to decide is whether you want to bump up your price range to see what's available in the $1000 to $2000 range.