My gut feeling is that any of the three will probably do, but your selection now will influence your choices later on if you decide to get more stuff. In particular, I would expect Pentax to have lenses equivalent to a good number of the lenses available from Nikon and Canon, but not to the special-purpose ones in both camps. (My statement may be totally wrong, as I haven't looked at the Pentax and 3rd party lens selection at all, but I'd guess it's fairly likely to be accurate.)
That said, it's easier to figure out what kinds of pictures you want to take by going out and taking pictures. :)
(FWIW, I jumped into the pool with an Olympus camera, but later on decided to jump for a Nikon, and the Olympus has been handed down to my brother. To be honest, I had no idea that I'd want to get additional lenses so soon after getting the Olympus; if I'd known that, I might've just stuck with a fixed-lens camera! But it's way too late to close that door now.)
One factor to consider: There's several places that will rent Nikon and Canon glass - what's the rental market for Pentax like? With all DSLR's, the investment is in the lenses - good glass will last you a long time - bodies will be obsolete relatively quickly.
If you want to save a bunch of cash, consider picking up a gently used body and kit-glass - a D80 or it's contemporary Canon equivalent. Spend the leftover money on a good speedlight. The D80 has the advantage that it still has the in-body focus motor so you can auto-focus with older lenses. Not sure if the D5000 has that or not.
Finally, don't go purely on reviews and price - with DSLR's how they feel in your hand can be a big factor - get into some place that actually carries them and try them out. See what fits in your hand the best, including accessing the various controls -- especially the aperture/shutter-speed dials *while in shooting position*.
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That said, it's easier to figure out what kinds of pictures you want to take by going out and taking pictures. :)
(FWIW, I jumped into the pool with an Olympus camera, but later on decided to jump for a Nikon, and the Olympus has been handed down to my brother. To be honest, I had no idea that I'd want to get additional lenses so soon after getting the Olympus; if I'd known that, I might've just stuck with a fixed-lens camera! But it's way too late to close that door now.)
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If you want to save a bunch of cash, consider picking up a gently used body and kit-glass - a D80 or it's contemporary Canon equivalent. Spend the leftover money on a good speedlight. The D80 has the advantage that it still has the in-body focus motor so you can auto-focus with older lenses. Not sure if the D5000 has that or not.
Finally, don't go purely on reviews and price - with DSLR's how they feel in your hand can be a big factor - get into some place that actually carries them and try them out. See what fits in your hand the best, including accessing the various controls -- especially the aperture/shutter-speed dials *while in shooting position*.
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