Hello, I was looking to purchase my first SLR camera to do some beginner photography.
First off you are not buying a camera sop much as a system. The system will have as a minum two parts a lens and a body. Over time you will add parts and replace some parts but the system will have a long life. Iv'e bought four Nikon bodies of the years (one being a 70's vantage F2, the latest a newer DSLR) When you buy a system you will be tied to a specific brand. So pick the brand yu are going to want to stick with because after you have bought a few lenses and so on switching brands is expensive.
Look at the lenses and bodies and prices and decide what you might want years ahead. The trick is to plan ahead. or example Nikon makes some nice stuff and latly their prices are good too. But if you think yo mightwant a 50mm prpime lens the Nikon D40 is not for you, so it does pay off ti look ahead.
Also, if cost is an issue look at the used market. lenes last nearly forever and old ones work well at much lower cost. Same for bodies except the technology inside bodys is moveing fast so you don't want a very old one but llens tachnollty is mature and moves slow.
In the end any of the entry level bodies and their "kit" lens is a good starting place as long as you've done the homework to see that you have a nice growth path planed out. For people and landscapes you will not need a lens much mover 50mm, 70mm at most.
For landscapes sometimes people like to make very large prints. If you are wanting to make prints larger then 10 or 12 inches wide then it is going to get expensive and you might be better off using film. So what are you going to do with the images? Display on a computer or TV sceen? Make huge prints?....??
The best thing you can get right now are some big coffee table size photo books. Just look at the pictures and find out what you like. The technical end of photgraphy is easy