i was looking at this for my girlfriend a little while ago. she wanted something that could be used in a auto setting but also something more advanced. i looked at the others in my price range and decided with help from shops and my cousin that the canon 500d was a good buy. reasonably priced with good features. she is going to take a course to improve her skills.
a new lens is a must, tameron seemed to be OK for the money. my cousin who is a mediacl photographer said that it was a great starter, but would also keep being "up to date".
so the canon 500d is the camera i went for.