Some very good advice so far.
For very good Nikon reviews and advice,
Thom Hogan's Nikon Camera, DSLR, Lens, Flash, and Book site. Hogan really likes the 4/3 cameras.
What camera to buy, like buying tractor, depends on the usage. DSLRs are computers to which lenses are attached. Lens technology moves at a very slow pace compared to DLSRs. DSLR's are adding functionality at a rapid rate while lenses pretty much stay the same. I have lenses from SLR's I bought in the early 90s that I am still using on my D800. I bought a new zoom lens a few years ago which covered the range on a prime lens I owned. I think I payed $700 for the prime lense in the mid/late 90's and I used it as a trade in for the D800 DSLR. I think I cut about $450 for it as a trade in. I might have gotten more selling on Craigslist. About the time I bought that $700 lens I bought a F100 SLR. I think I paid $1200 for the F100, but when I sold it, I got $200. I should have sold it much sooner since I would have gotten more money for it.
I just sold a D700 that was three years old to buy the D800. I think I got about $1500 for the D700 but I believe I paid $2,500 for the camera when new.
Cameras will drop in price/value very quickly. The value on a lens, especially pro quality lenses, drop very slowly.
I don't like Canon. They burned me and my father years ago which is why I used Nikon today. If I had bought Nikon back in the 80's, I would still be using the lenses I bought back then on today's DLSRs. However, other people will swear at Nikon like I swear at Canon. :laughing::laughing::laughing:
Nikon released some less expensive F/4.0 lenses that seem to be pretty good if a F/2.8 lens is not needed. Canon had/has a better F/4.0 set of lenses compared to Nikon.
I only have two zoom lenses and three primes. Primes are light and cheap compared to zoom lenses. It used to be that primes also provided much better image quality but on today's top of the line zoom lenses I don't think that is always true anymore. Over the holiday, I used all of my lenses except one AND I used a rental lens. Two of those lenses I bought back in the mid 90s to use on an SLR. Depending on your wifey's needs I would seriously look at prime lenses. They are much cheaper, lighter and provide excellent image quality.
You might also want to consider renting,
LensRentals.com - Rent Lenses and Cameras from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Leica, and more. I have used this company a couple of times this year and they have impressed me. You rent the equipment, I always buy the insurance, and they ship it to you with a return label. You use the equipment and when done, box the equipment back in the box, slap on the label and drop the box off at the shipping company. Pretty danged easy.
Besides a camera and lens, you need to consider photo processing software. When I first moved to digital, my photos were ok. No worse than film. When I FINALLY figured out to use my photo software, I was very happy. Which image processing software to use, causes bigger "fights" than Canon vs Nikon or Green vs Blue vs Red tractor colors. :laughing::laughing::laughing: I use Nikon Capture NX 2. It does what I want it to do for the most part but it has not had a major upgrade in years. People are worried that Nikon will not provide an update but who knows. Nikon has always been and still is very secretive about future products. The lens I have been renting is very long in the tooth and it is shocking that the lens has not be upgraded. I searched some photo websites and people were swearing that the lens would finally be updated in by Christmas. Christmas of 2009! :shocked:
Rumors this year were the lens would be updated by XMAS 2012. Still no lens. :shocked:
Anywho, which image software you use is important too. Photo editing can make or break an image.
Image quality on even SmartPhones is pretty danged good if the equipment is used within reason. What camera to buy really depends on what problem is being solved. I worked on a photo project last spring and one of the best images was taken with a very cheap consumer all in one camera/lens. The lady was in the right place at the right time.
What does the wifey want to do with the camera?
Later,
Dan