What dslr camera would be the best?

You didn't mention what kind or how many lenses you have for your Minolta.

If you have auto focus Minolta lenses, they will work with any Sony Alpha dSLR. But if they are manual lenses, or you just want to move away from Sony/Minolta I don't think it really matters what brand you go with, it's all about how high up the chain you go.

While dSLRs are getting better every year, and they are certainly much better than they were 5 or 6 years ago, some of the things you want are simply going to cost you more money.

If you want to take photos of people in low light, fireworks, people or things lit only by candles etc the entry level dSLRs from Sony, Canon and Nikon might not take that clean of a shot in low light. You can help things a bit with faster glass or glass with larger aperture, but again, it's going to cost extra bucks.

I shoot Sony Alpha, but if I had to choose between Nikon and Canon I'd go Nikon every time, the controls just seem more intuitive and they use Sony image sensors. All dSLRs can change their lenses out by the way so it's all about what you want to shoot and how much you can afford. Also, every dSLR from Canon to Pentax will give you full manual controls, full auto and just about anything in between.

Shooting in good light is cheap, getting great shots at night that are clean and sharp that costs more and requires more skill on your part. I think the bang for the buck with Nikon might be the D3100 or D5100. If you could swing the extra money, Nikon's D7000 delivers the cleanest photos in low light for the dollar hands down. Right next to that would be Sony's Alpha dSLR the A580, (Nikon's D7000 has the same Sony image sensor) but Sony's camera is about 300+ bucks less than the Nikon.

It loses the mag alloy body, some weather sealing, rear control dial among other things to bring the price down. The Sony A580 is about 800 bucks body only, if you have any Minolta auto focus lenses, you won't have to buy glass! But of course you can always by different lenses down the road.

The EOS Rebel T3 is a budget DSLR from Canon that offers a 720p HD video record mode. The camera certainly doesn’t have the same video features or performance as Canon’s more-expensive Rebel T3i, but the quality of its video mode wasn’t bad for a camera with a sub-$600 price tag (including kit lens).

DSLR cameras start at around $500 brand new. For secondhand, $250 will get you a decent one. Just make sure you inspect it thoroughly before handing over your precious cash.

All dSLRs are great and they are all basically the same. More expensive ones have more megapixels, larger rear LCD's, more range of controls and easier control access. It's just a matter of getting used to what you have or can afford.

Canon EOS Rebel T3 camera takes amazing photo's! Clear, crisp, true color.

It's very easy to use, right out of the box.