Many crop-sensor bodies are lower priced than larger, pro bodies. Some can be bought for under $500 with careful shopping. There are beginner, intermediate,and advanced crop-sensor models available. They can use the same lenses as full-frame bodies use. Kit lenses for crop bodies are small and light and inexpensive. Crop body cameras are getting better with each advancing generation. They DO produce deeper depth of field per picture angle compared with FF cameras, but that can be a good thing in many social photograhy and PJ/sports situations where the smaller capture format and correspondingly shorter focal length per picture angle gives the photographer 1.6x to 2.85 times more in focus area than with a FF camera.
The light little Pentaxes and Oly's and D60's and so on are inconspicuous,and do not draw much attention. A silver-bodied camera makes you look like just another snapper and keeps security people from hassling you.
