I am looking to buy a PRO DSLR. I currently own a Nikon d5000 with kit lens. Canon Mark IV is on my mind, but is costly. I am looking to shoot family pictures of vacation mostly and occasionly landscapes and night photography. I am not a professional photographer though. Can anybody suggest me a good DSLR and lenses for under $3000?
Thanks in advance!!!

 Btw, how is Nikon d7000? Is it worth to upgrade from d5000?? And what lens do you use to shoot at night?

I am a Nikon guy, I cannot tell you about Canon. By saying PRO, do you mean a pro level DSLR? Or just a full frame camera? Nikon D7000 is called semi pro and it is a high end DX Camera but I guess that is not what you are looking for. The Cheapest full frame camera in the market is Nikon D600, I own one. Agreed, it is not as great as D800, but it does the job.

Now, with your budget of 3K, I doubt if you could buy a D800 with a 'good' lens, you could certainly buy D600 with a 50mm 1.4G (considering you want a pro lens too),

My definition of Pro is following - D800 with a Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8. Now that will cost you close to 5K (including tax)

Camera don't make pictures, people with skills make pictures. D5000 is a fine camera, you just need to learn it inside out and learn more about photography. Yes, your kit lens can be limiting. Instead of shelling out 3K, why not buy better lens and try your luck. Try a 50mm prime lens (the one with the motor built in, since d5000 does not) for family portrait and night photography,85mm for headshots. If you're not happy with the quality of your kit lens for landscape, try tamron 17-50mm or if you want to go wider, try tokina 11-16mm. Becareful with wide angle lens for perception, distortion and closenes to the subject. Try a telephoto lens to zoom in subject closer, like 70-300mm. Experiment with different lens and feel the differences. Educate yourself about composition, lighting, creativity and post processing, those will take you a long way. Look at other people's work and try to find out how it is done, try to copy it, you'll learn a lot. For portrait, there is a universe of knowledge to learn about speedlights, strobes,umbrella, soft box and many many more.
Don't assume buying the newest will give you better pictures. For years, I had the D5000 and I used it to the max, I learnt a lot from that single camera. Trust me, I did better than friends who had expensive ones. I'm happy I didn't follow the latest and greatess. Limiting yourself will make you think outside the box when you've mastered all the possibility.
My 2 cents. Happy shootings.

 i have still an old d60 which is now 5 yrs old. but inbetween i have added lens, first prime lens and then a telephoto lens.there is so much thing to learn about. then i moved into flash, first woth single flash and then with multiple flashes. i used cheaper flash from yongnou.the point i am trying to say, unless u want to do it professionally i suggest you not to fork 3k in camera+ lens. instead diversify your skills, master first whatu have and learns things that you havent learn yet

 @behoove_me
I was talking about some professional cameras with full frame sensors. Thanks for your suggestions. I will definitely look into D800 and let u know any progess. 

@Rewire,
Thank you for your suggestions. Actually, I want to buy some prime lenses so thought to upgrade my camera as well. I am still learning about photography (compostions, rhythms that make pictures great), already playing enough on manual mode. I am looking to buy some pro lenses so I wanted to upgrade my camera too. D5000 doesn't have built in motor so I wanted to upgrade it. I will definitely learn about speedlights and other stuffs u talking about. Thanks again!!!

@sukuchha,

Thank you for sharing your experiences. What should i look into when buying a flash?
Thanks again!

 if you could do everything with an effing $400 camera why would nikon spend millions if not billions of dollar researching and manufacturing the high end cameras?? #brain[Disallowed String for - bad word]

 @behoove_me,

I am now planning to buy D600. I don't know if I am ready to pay that extra $1000 for D800. I got the money, but not sure if I need it. What lens would you suggest for D600?
Also, which store has a good deal? Apprecite your input.

 amazon.com and b&h

Get a prime lens furke 50mm 1.4G. You cannot go wrong with it. Also buy it from b&h like 28th mentioned, they do not charge tax and shipping is free.

 @behoove_me,

Thanks for your suggestions!!
I checked out Nikkor AF-S 50mm 1.8g & 50mm 1.4g and I don't see much of a difference in quality and what they can do. I could buy two 1.8g for the price of 1.4g. Which one should i buy? Can you share your personal experiences?

 @28th amendment,

Thank you for informing about the stores. I am skeptical to buy anything from ebay and amazon because of a lot of knock offs and not honest sellers. If a seller sells me a refurbished claiming it new, I wouldn't know. So, I want to deal with inline stores like bestbuy, costco, etc.

b&h sounds trustworthy. I will check with them. Thanks a lot! 

I shop online because like behoove daju mentioned 1.amazon and b&h sells stuff at least $40-50 ( sometimes more)cheaper than bestbuy and frys 2.shipping is absolutely free. but before I buy gadgets worth
More than say $300 I go to best buy and get my hands on it just to make sure what to expect. ani I Do my online shopping with my american express which helps me to be on the safe side if the seller starts acting like an asshole!!

Furke,

Although the only difference is splitting hairs between those two lenses, 1.4G ensures 2/3 less f-stop and lets in more light. That is one primary reason why you pay more. Also, the bokeh is smooth and warm (a little bit better than 1.8G) and I have tried both lenses before I bought 1.4G and discovered it is much faster lens, the image is surprisingly sharp.

So if you ask me if double the price is worth it, probably not, but if you really wanted to buy a full frame DSLR, 250 additional dollars shouldn't matter much to you.

 I have not used a DSLR in last 3 years and I am in not condition to give you suggestions about what camera to buy. But as you already mentioned you want to shoot ocassional family, landscapes and night photography, you should base your decision in what is most important to you.

If you want to shoot mostly family pictures and as you said you are not a pro photographer, why don't you instead stick to your own gear for now, and invest on lens instead. If you are really into portraits of your family, why don't you buy a lens that suits for it, for eg. Nikon 85 mm (f1.8 or f1.4 g) or even cheaper option Nikon 50 (f1.8). If you are really into landscapes, why not some wide angle lens? lets say, 10-20mm. Also, why not invest some of money to buy flashlights as the other guys suggested above, try using off camera flashes in your portraits and try all new world of strobist (strobist.blogspot.com/)? 

If you are really into buying a pro level camera and you think that would change your results drastically, think about accesories you have now (for eg., flashes, remotes, lenses). If you are using nikon now and want to switch to canon, those will be worthless to you, so you will either have to sell them cheap on ebay or throw them out of window. 

I am suggesting you to invest more on lenses and flash, because, then you will find out more about photography in general, and those accesories will be usable, if you want to upgrade your gear later on. You will just have to buy a camera body, and voila, you will have all the accesories you need to show your magic on that new camera.

Best of luck in whatever you do, and enjoy taking pictures. 

 @behoove_me,

Thank you for your suggestions. I heard that d600 has dust and oil accumulation problem in the sensors, have you experienced anything like that? I hope it is due to users' mishandling than the manufacturing defect.
1.4g definitely helps on much lower light conditions than 1.8g and I also found the bokeh is more smooth in 1.4g. The only thing that worried me was if its worth double the price. But now I know, it is much faster and produces sharper images, I won't mind paying that extra premium. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 @juggy 

Investing on lens for now is a good idea. I will order the 50 mm 1.4g nikkor today and some wide angle lens after a little while and see the results with my d5000. Then I will think about the body. D600 is on my mind, since it is affordable with $2000 price tag and it is a full frame camera. I will also have some money left to buy good lenses. I am not thinking about switching to Canon easily, just wanting to hear from Canon users, and compare. I have very little knowledge about external flash. What should i look into when buying one?

Thanks for your input.

 @furke

The D5000 is a fantastic camera but I can understand it's limitation.

With your budget and your goal - I would suggest you go with D7000 which is by all means as good as the new full frame D600 but for fraction of the cost. And invest the remaining balance on some good glasses depending on your need. For me, the camera is only as good as it's lens.

- AS
angsherpa.com

Furke,

I do not have an issue with my camera even though it has been widely claimed that dust problems do exist in D600. I blow and clean my sensor periodically so I am unaware even if such issue is present.


Ang,

Could you tell me all the lenses you use? I have 24-70 2.8 and 50mm 1.4G, I will purchase 14-24mm 2.8, 70-200mm 2.8 and 85mm 1.4G for classic portrait sometime this year. Are they enough for 'complete' photography (that means portrait, landscapes, wedding etc.)? Also, I have been planning to purchase a speedlight, which one do you suggest? Do you also suggest buying a 2x teleconverter for 70-200mm?