I am strongly considering upgrading my wife's Nikon D40 to something newer. I notice there is a huge jump in price between the "advanced amateur" D5600 model and the pro models. I found a review that noted that the D5600 had all the same features as the pro models but was a bit less rugged.
Do any of you have experience good or bad with this model? My wife is a talented amateur photographer but won't likely be belly crawling through a forest to get nature pics LOL.
I would appreciate any information

The most important part of getting a dslr is learning to use apeture, shutter speed, and iso. If the camera will be left on auto then all you have is an expensive point and shoot. I'm sure that the 5600 has a good sensor and will provide a quality image. I'm not aware of any dslr's that are rugged

Thanks squaretimber.
Anybody else?

LENSES...an average camera with a great lens will take very good pictures, however, an average lens and a great camera will typically take lesser quality images. Also, the higher dollar cameras do a lot better in low lighting and can be shot with higher ISO allowing for a broad range of times and better images in low light. Depends on how much you want to spend...IMO get the best camera you think she'll use and strap a high dollar lens on it. Same as a rifle.

This^
I have a canon t5i. About the same quality camera as the nikon 5600. Got the kit lens when I bought it. I seldom use that lens. Get good glass with that Nikon and she will be very happy with it. Also these cameras are not "RUGGED" whatever that means! LOL

I researched that camera when I was in the market and ended up with a D500, really never heard anything bad about the durability of the 5600. D500 was faster and had a lot more options though it’s really overwhelming if a person has never used a DSLR.
I’ve seen very professional photos taken with the 5600.

Thanks guys. I was a bit confused by the talk of durability myself, that's why I asked here.

I have a cheaper camera with a lens make by Leica. The lens is amazing. Once took a picture from the center field fence of a catcher throwing the ball to the pitcher. When going through the pictures at home, I zoomed in on the ball, called my daughter down to see if she could see the same thing as I did and yup, although it was a bit pixelated, you could identify the brand of ball.

The usual recommendation is to pick a brand of camera so when you start buying lenses, they will all fit the same camera. The whole megapixel thing isn't all that important unless you're going to be making wall-sized posters. My camera is 12 megapixels and I've make posters 2'x3' with them. There is software (ON1 Resize, for one) that will allow you to make a pretty big print from a smaller picture.

Unless you are shooting sports, there is a good chance you'll be wanting to make manual decisions on the camera settings. If you're serious about your photography, you'll want the ability to easily change those settings without going into the menus. A camera that makes it easy to set aperture and shutter speed is nice. Typically, these features are in the more expensive bodies as novice users tend to always shoot on manual.