What Digital Camera?

My first digital camera recently got stolen from my shop, I now have to look for a decent one. The first one i had was a sony T1 which is probably the worst camera in the world. I need something that can take good images to put on my website mainly for clothing and books. What is SLR? What camera would you recommend? My budget is under £500.
I also need guidance on how to take pictures of dresses on a mannequin as i always seem to get sgadows on the face or reflection on the mannequin face. I have two ligh stands with three powerful bulbs in each stand. I also have a pair of background stands in which i could attach a sheet if necessary. Would a bed sheet do or is there a special kind of material that i should be looking for?

SLR is single lense reflex. It means what you see through the view finder is what you are going to take a picture of, as opposed to regular digital cameras where you look at a small TV screen.
They work like the old style film cameras with a shutter, But without film. These are good because you are able to change lenses and filters. With £500 to spend i would definately look at getting a digital SLR.

A google search should probably throw up a ton of UK sites selling digital SLR's.

This looks like a nice one
http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xPO-Canon_Dig ... XT_18_55mm
But definately have a look around.

Definitely. I've found Cameraworlds service to be very good.

I have been looking around and seem to like the canon EOS 350 D with 18-55 mm lens which sells for around £450.
Would you recommend this model as an entry level SLR?
There are other equivalents such as the nikon d50 which i am not really sure about.
I am also having problems phhotographing mannequins. I have 2 light stands. when i face the light stands on the mannequin there is a reflection on the face and when i face them away there is a shadow on the face.What is the solution to this?

Canons are well-liked. See this review.

Professor thank you for all your help. Would you be having any idea as to how i should go about sorting my mannequin problem?

I'm no expert on lighting I'm afraid, but have you tried increasing the distance between the light and the mannequin to avoid the harsh reflection?

by da way, guys, can you tell me where is the chepest online store that you know?

and could you recommend me a film camera under 200 $ (pounds)
a mechanic one or whatever.

I managed to get a good second hand Canon EOS 300 of of Amazon for around £80 a couple of months ago. If you check sites like Ebay or Amazon then you can find some bargains.

The EOS 300 is a good camera. Easy to use which is ideal for beginners and the quality of images produced have been quite good so far.

with less than 500 pounds, I think you can look for a 2nd hand DSLR. I got a Canon EOS10D for just around 500 US$ and under pretty good condition.

Good place to check is via ebay for 2nd hand DSLR, at least that's where i get mine from

ok, thanks. i got a brand new canon350d right now and choosing new lenses. 50 mm to start

I really like the 350d. I just bought one the other month and some of the shots i have taken are pretty good when you compare it to a standard point and click camera.

hahaha.. yeah, its not for pointing & clicking....

yeah .. canon d350 is good, but i think that nikon d80 is better, because have 10.2MPX ccd, better body and image quality is surprise ...!
and is ideal for pointing and clicking ( have 8 automatic scenes)
its very good DSLR

for your mannequin problem you could soften the light in several ways. you could set up the lights behind a muslin cloth that is white in color and that will soften the light. you can get a shadow box to help soften the light. the use of softening the light as well as the use of a reflector to reflect the light to the spots that are showdowing. this will help. if you can send me a picture I will try and take a look at it and see what it is doing to help correct your problem. I have found the use of this site to be very good and helpful with lighting

http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/index.html

I would also try and pick up any magazine and open it up to a picture and look at the highlights and shadows to see how they are positioned to help you out.