Canon Xsi Rebel - Love The Canon Xsi

I've been a frequent user of point and shoots (Canon), and knew I wanted to upgrade. First I thought about the Canon SX200, switched to the Nikon P80, but then realized that I truly wanted to upgrade and become the best amateur photographer I could be!!!

I purchased this camera out of a local electronics department in April--surprisingly on sale cheaper than Amazon!!! I knew before purchasing that the zoom on the kit lens wouldn't be enough for me, so I had the Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC AF OS (Optical Stabilizer) Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras on It's way to me from eBay and also the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens that everyone touts on the digital photo forums. I sold the kit lens to offset the costs. Rule #1 to upgrading to SLRs: Once you learn the excellence of SLRs, be ready to spend, spend, spend!

The Canon XSi Rebel helps me on my journey big time. Upon purchasing this camera, I had no idea what f-stop meant, why exposure was so important and what the heck was bokeh and DoF. While pondering what in the world I had gotten myself into, I went out and started snapping away. This camera, while intimidating at first easily let me transition from the Auto quickness of P&S into careful planning with Digital SLRs.

New to SLRs, I had to learn that "live view" was something that I as a P&S consumer had gotten used to, not something that truly belonged on a camera. I had no problem whatsoever transitioning to looking in the peephole. Taking pictures gets addicting with this camera. It has an easy-to-understand manual, and tons of digital photo forums/reviews to get one into the groove of using this camera. I mentioned earlier that I tossed the kit lens, but that doesn't mean it's a bad lens. I've seen photos of the kit lens, and I've seen photos of L lens. Depending on the photographer, they are excellent photos!

I first started taking photos on the "P" mode, not really understanding what it stood for, but just knowing that I could use that mode w/o enabling the flash (more of the flash later). The "TV" and "A" modes are also good to use, but for me it's mainly P or Manual.

I've attempted to use live view a couple of times, but for me it just gets in the way of trying to take a good photo. I'd rather take a few test shots and then tweak the settings.

One thing I've learned on photography is that the actual camera is only a tiny percentage of taking a good picture. Depending on who you ask, it can vary from 1% to 10%. For me, it's about 20% because of my amateur skills. The rest of a good picture depends on the lens used and most importantly, the actual picture taker! That said, potential new Canon XSi Rebel (D-SLR) users, please do not purchase this camera thinking you'll become a pro overnight. If you take the time to understand the elements of basic photography (exposure, depth, etc.), then you will most likely be fine with whatever you're using now. If you want to boost your skills and know for a fact that you are limited with P&S, then you are ready to upgrade and the Canon XSi Rebel is a likely candidate.

A note on equipment. Before you go spending countless dollars on lenses and equipment, figure out what you are going to be using your camera for and what the majority of your photo subjects are. Do your research on the forums and all the reviews and then make your decisions. If you take tons of photos of your babes and are frustrated with the blurriness of low light or washing them out with the built in a flash, then a faster lens is for you along with an external flash.

The built-in flash is not great. I plan on adding a tripod and the Canon Speedlite 430EX II Flash for Canon Digital SLR Cameras to my setup. Most of my pics are taken during the day or where plenty of light is because of that very reason. Also, because of the lack of a good flash, the few night shots I do take come out extremely grainy because I have to increase the ISO way high. Cool for some photos, but not for every single night shot.

I can go on about this camera, but my star rating says it all. I don't plan on upgrading until they come out with another SLR comparable to the Canon 40D that uses SD cards (my memory of choice), so it may be a while. Until then, the Canon XSi Rebel will be my new photo road dog. That along with my two lenses, makes this camera the ultimate in beginner SLR photography.

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