My thoughts were either canon 1200d or the equivalent nikon. Or a decond hand canon 60d. Or nikon 5100.
Whats your opinion
I recommend the Nikon D5100, if you can get one second hand. This will be hands-down the best body in this price range for landscapes --- the D5100 has a dynamic range of 13.6 bits, compared to the 60D at 11.5 bits. Why does this matter? Well, the D5100 will be better able to capture the extremes in light intensity, i.e., capturing detail in the sky (bright clouds) while still capturing detail in the shadows. The measured difference (11.5 bits vs 13.6 bits) means that the D5100 will capture in one shot the same dynamic range that the 60D will capture by HDR-combining two photos (one at same exposure as D5100, and another at a 4 times faster shutter speed).
Also, the low-light performance of the D5100 is slightly better than that of the 60D, which is nice for indoor shots.
But, on balance, you have to keep in mind that the 60D is a higher-spec body than the D5100 in terms of handling --- the 60D is closer to the Nikon D7000 in terms of handling.
The lower-end bodies are easier to compare: there is no real difference between the sensor performance of the 1200D and the D3100 (both use really old sensor technology, despite the recent release of the 1200D). The Canon 600D also uses the same sensor as the 1200D (in terms of performance), as does the 650D. The only "entry level" body with a modern sensor is the D3200, but based on a recent thread, this will set you back slightly over R5k with only a single lens.
Lastly, despite all details above, you will not go wrong with any of these choices. If you are sucked into DSLR territory, you are going to spend a lot more in the long run on lenses and other goodies ....
