A few months ago I finally made the leap to full digital with a Nikon D7000. This comes with an 18-105 zoom kit lens, although it is available without if your friend would rather buy a prime lens instead. With the kit zoom it's just about creeping under the £1,000 mark. For me this is the latest in a series of 3 Nikon cameras starting with an FE in 1976 then adding an F3 6 years later. Both are still functioning well, although the FE can't use a flash through the hot shoe. Having said that I did drop it from the balcony of the Free Trade Hall in about 1979. The flash worked for 30 years afterwards before finally giving up the ghost.
The D7000 may well suit your friend as, among other things it has two memory cards. The second one can be used for 1080p video, as an overflow from the first, or, which may be important if a move to professional status is on the cards, as a duplicate, or back up if you like which reduces the risk of losing images. There are all the usual range of Nikkor lenses which are excellent and there's even a Nikon dedicated magazine, Nphoto which, incidentally is not funded or supported by the manufacturer.
Although I've only had the D7000 for a few months and therefore don't really know what it can (or can't) do. My old film bodies have undergone a number of trials, apart from the fall from height, the FE has been on several RAC rallies and on one occasion ended up smeared in frozen ketchup and onions. The F3 one day was accidentally left on the parcel shelf of a car in Charleston South Carolina in 105F heat for 10 hours. No light entered the body and it still functioned perfectly.
One additional benefit is a lack of obselescence. All my manual Nikkor lenses, 28mm, 50mm, 135mm, 200mm and Sigma 600mm Cat all work perfectly with the new camera.
