nikon d40 and canon gl1, auction shopping you can get both used for around $1000. whatever you first cam(s) are you are going to break them under heavy use, abuse, travel, and pov so dont spend much out of the hole. i have gone through 2 or 3 of each of the above myself.
tips: dont use offbrand tapes (like maxell) as they have different lubrication etc, i jammed the carriage of my first canonGL1 this way and bugged it up... and for your still cam dont rely on the strap that comes with it. get a heavy duty strap. those motherfuckers will break at the wrong time and there goes your lens... and now you also got a stuck shutter on your cam body. also dont buy "new" cameras from soniccameras.com or any other discount online "new" camera store. they are grey market imports and when you break your shit like me the first time, you will find nikon wont honor the warranty card of a grey market camera with a "usa warranty card". if you gotta buy new get it from a real retail store.. but then again, why buy new anyway
