There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
Set a budget, look at options within that range. Don't buy your first camera without physically touching it first if at all possible.
*Scanning is a bitch and a half OR obscenely expensive - it's by far the hardest part of shooting film.
My advice would be to start small. It's so, so tempting to read reviews of gear and get swept up in making your first camera purchase a big one because hey, if you're going to get really into photo, you might as well start big right? That's certainly one way to do it, but I'm an advocate of learning what about photo you like the most first, then building up from there. Especially if you're mostly going to be posting on social media, it's better not to get caught up on megapixels or sensor sizes.
Dr.McCoy made a good point in starting with whatever's available to you. Phone cameras are ridiculously good now, and are the perfect tool to practice composition and how to look for the best light. Once you feel like you need more control over your settings, I think moving to compact mirrorless is the way to go. They're light and portable, and many of them are able to be set to full manual.
DSLRs are fantastic machines, but they are big, heavy, expensive, and you may not like the attention they bring once you whip them out (i.e. Uncle Joe sauntering over with his Nikon D850, trying to chat you up about the latest greatest lenses he read about online.)
All in all, just have fun and enjoy it. Read up on how to improve your photography, practice it, and learn to edit. Most importantly, find what works for you. I started with a Nikon D90 DSLR, and I didn't discover how much I really loved shooting until I bought myself a little compact mirrorless Fuji X30. That heavily impacted my next purchase for my next camera which I know will be with me for a long time.
Lastly, invest in your lenses, not the body. The sensor plays a role, but your lenses are what will truly make your images shine!