What kind of DSLR camera should I start out with, if I want to become a professional fashion photographer?

An expensive camera is not going to make you a good photographer. A good eye, and practice will. I would recommend starting with the Canon Rebel series.

The answers above me are a complete joke. Nobody that shoots fashion seriously shoots a DSLR except for a Hassleblad which cost 10's of thousands of dollars. For digital anyway. So you might not have that kind of cash, OK, shoot film, the standard for fashion bar none is the Mamiya RZ67, it's a medium format camera that was made for fashion, it is the industry standard. All these Canon and Nikon camera's are great , but honestly they are not all that. If you want professional quality shots go with a great camera, not these consumer camera's that are in all the magazines and stuff. The consumer camera like the Canon and Nikon may be popular, but the RZ67 is for the professional, Go pro or go home Here is the kicker, these camera's like the Mamiya RZ67 are a lot cheaper than a great DSLR. The difference is amazing, you can pick out dust on an eyelash. NO consumer DSLR can make that claim. Expect to pay about 700 to 1000 for a set up with a normal lens (110mm), a comparable DSLR will run about 40,000 dollars I simply cannot explain how important this is. This the industry standard.

Canon, the reason is, they have the widest range of lenses, especially at the lower budgets. You can definitely get a brand new canon camera, plus two lenses for $1,000. Everyone has their own opinion concerning Nikon or Canon, but I prefer Canon for what I mentioned above. But, you need to go to a camera store, and see what feels right. Also, I would recommend finding the model you want, and then price it around online. Manytimes, especially with DSLR's, you can save $200+ by buying online. Good Luck.

Nikon D3000 there is no best brand. You can get a good deal at B&H Photo online/New York

I am primarily a Canon shooter, but for fashion, I would shoot Nikon. Several Nikon bodies offer a higher flash sync speed than their Canon counterparts. This is a pretty big advantage in fashion when you are using strobes on a very regular basis, It gives you a little more flexibility. I would consider a D90, you can get a used one for under $500 http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/syncspeed.htm

fashion photography isn't just about the camera... it is about the right lens, using the light, composition, angle... and a good photographer can use ANY camera to achieve their results... i got a lot a good results from using a point and shoot...

Well, both Nikon and Canon are excellent, it's a coin-toss between them for quality, really, but Nikon is still the "industry standard" in the pro photography business, for what it's worth. Good luck!...

I recently bought my first DSLR camera! I got a Canon Rebel XSI, (walmart online $579) it only comes with the once lens, but a nice lens is $300 at best buy. I love it! Good to start out on!

start out with a canon rebel. learn to use it on manual settings and dont use auto settings or you might as well be using a point & shoot. the xti and xsi are great to start with. canon also makes a 50mm 1.8 lens for about 100 bucks. it's a prime lens meaning it doesnt zoom but the quality of the images will be better than the stock lens. keep in mind since the xti and xsi have crop sensors so you'll get whats called a "crop factor" meaning your 50mm lens with look more like 80mm on your camera. but its still an amazing lens for this price!!! the maximum aperture of 1.8 makes this lens good when you have a low amount of light available, and it gives you more flexibility in your creative muscle because you can play with a shallow depth of field. whatever you dont understand in this answer, google it because it's all stuff you're going to have to know to use a dslr. feel free to email me if you have questions. i love teaching photography! nikon or canon? when it comes to their dslr cameras they're pretty much the same. it's really preference. just keep in mind once your invest in a certain brand, you're going to be stuck with it because all your lenses will have to be that brand. personally, i love canon :)