just wondering what i can get new for about 250bucks

what sort of lense would i be getting, would it be pretty much all round?

or would i be better off saving up? or just going for a cheap digital camera?

thanks for the advice

Hey dude ; Im in the same boat ; But Most Dslr's are way over $250 ; looking around 700 i think ??

$250 won't get you anywhere. You'll need something upwards of $550 for a beginner DSLR like the nikon series.

I have sold an old 300D and a 10D for $270.00 and $300.00

You will get a good second hand camera for about that.

Buy my 10D + battery grip for $300!!

As the others have said, you won't get anything new. Will be able to get something second hand (10d, 300d)

For about $500, you might be able to get a half decent portrait lens (50mm f/1.8) but won't be able to get much else other than kit lenses that, as a general rule are a bit shit (in less than desirable conditions, ie lowlight etc) but can still pull off some nice photos.

I got a Canon 30D for $280 on eBay, second hand is probably your best bet. Although I just got my gf a Canon ICUS 100is for $290 shipped and the quality of the photos are amazing and it does HD video as well. If you're on a budget that low, you won't be able to afford any of the decent lens for a DSLR anyway, so might be worth looking at a point and shoot that has some form of image stabilisation.

Man, this is one of the age-old questions. I think you can get a reasonably-good DSLR for that kinda coin, obviously the more the better though.

Something like the EOS10D was the model that birthed the latest 'affordable' DSLR's but I think you may find Canon and Nikon are a little expensive for the extremely budget-conscious. However something like a Pentax *ist, which isn't a brilliantly performing camera - BUT IS STILL GOOD vs say a Canon D60, but the main point is, Pentax haven't changed their mount in aaaaaaaaaaages, which means MORE secondhand lenses and the other zinger is, the *ist and K100D/Super have "IS" built in to the body - which means better lenses are cheaper because there's no need for IS etc.. and it also means that the $200 POS zoom and the $2000 prime both have IS..

Something like the Pentax *ist or K100D/Super + 1 lens would be in the $200-$300 region no doubt and hopefully with a few accessories too (bag, filters etc) plus the K100D (unsure about *ist) can use SDHC cards via a firmware upgrade which means tonnes of memory for cheapcheap!

I can highly recommend the Canon EOS 350 and 400D, very good entry level camera - later on you can build your lens collection and buy a flash etc. The 400D has the sensor cleaner with a larger LCD, probably the way to go in my opinion.