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kowenicki said:

Nikon, Nikon, Nikon and Nikon.

Get second hand if you have to....

Nikon d3100 is an excellent entry level model.  It has depth for when you become more skilled and tons of auto features and settings to help. Anyone who tells you a compact or phone camera can match a good SLR hasn't got a clue. 

Especially in bad light conditions.

I have a pretty good panasonic compact, if it's a really sunny day I would say it can match a good SLR in most respects, although I do miss having a manual zoom and focus, compacts are damn slow if you want a top quality picture. Once you take it indoors or on a cloudy day though, compacts are not up to scratch.