Canon Digital Rebel XTi 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Black Body Only)

After taking thousands of pics of my two year old and my new born with my HP point and shoot, I finally gave up. None of the pictures were of the 'moment' or 'expression' I was trying to capture. I was always taking pictures of their backs or their looking away or xxx. Anything but what I wanted. Then the quality of the pictures were never quite right unless I took the picture in full blown day light.Finally decided to splurge. After extensive research on the Canon XTi vs the Nikon, I ultimately opted for the Canon. I bought it along with the portrait EF 50mm that seems to be highly rated by many. I later purchased the EF 28-105mm. Upon receiving the camera, I went to town taking pics of my little ones. What I found:Pros:- Fast. Very fast. Wow. I've yet to miss a shot.- Outstanding pics. Pics with the EF28-105 good. Pics with the EF 50mm, outstanding. Many look like they were taken by a pro. Trust me. I am no pro. I'm a working mom looking for some good pics to put on their website and send to Grandma and Grandpa. On average, with my point and shoot, I'd get 1 out 20 that were worthy of that. Now, I average 5-6 out of 10 at a higher bar of course.- Versitile. I can play around with different settings and Canon lenses. Fun but expensive.- Battery charges fast. Battery life outstanding. I honestly don't think I've had to charge the batteries but 2-3 times since I bought it five months ago and have taken thousands of pics.- The 4GB SD card keeps more pics than I could ever want.Cons.If you are a working kind of mom like I am and just want an awesome camera to take awesome pics, you've found it. However, there is one big downside: it's bigger...way bigger than a point and shoot. It's not as easy to throw in your purse and go out for a splash day. I have found myself leaving it behind because I just didn't want to lug it along with the diaper bag, a toddler and an infant...car seat, snacks, toys, bottles, wipes...etc. The bag is heavy enough. But, those pics are priceless as far as I am concerned and will sacrifice more often than not and find myself glad for having done so.LENSES. This took me longer to figure out than which camera to buy. I searched for a month before I committed. Given the affordability of the 50mm and its reviews, I opted to do without the kit lens.Admittedly, I regretted it at first. What!? No zoom. As you can tell, I'm a serious amatuer and didn't know what I was getting into. But, despite the one time I wanted to take a group pic that required me to step clear to the other side of the house to get them in, 99% of the time, I'm trying to get a good close up of my kids...many pics by default at this age tend to be close ups. Then, there is a subtle difference between the pictures I have taken with this lens and the 28-105--crisper, cleaner and outright beautiful color.The 28-105 is actually not bad especially if you use it with the hood. The zoom is about what I figure I will need at ball games and ballerina recitals when I don't have to worry about lugging a diaper bag and keeping after a climbing/crawling baby. For the price, I figure it's doable.There you have it, Amazon shopping Moms. I hope this Review was helpful. I found many of the reviews targeting semi-pros so it took a while to sift through it all!

I've used Canon cameras since the days of the original Canon AE-1, in the 1980s. More recently I've owned several Canon digital point and shoot cameras. This is the first Digital SLR that I've owned and it's just a wonderful camera.As soon as I switch the camera on it's ready to go. I'm using lenses from my Canon EOS camera of a few years ago and they work wonderfully with the Digital Rebel XTi. The only difference is that the effective focal length is slightly larger, so a 35mm lens on the Digital Rebel is the same as a 50mm lens on a film camera.There are a LOT of controls on this camera that make it easy to change film speed (up to ISO 1600), focus points, and other settings. I spent the first week playing with the camera so I can get used to making changes quickly. I also bought the book Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D Digital Field Guide and read through it to learn more about the camera. This was MUCH better than just the user manual which came with the camera.The camera is FAST at taking pictures, even when using the flash. The flash is high enough that I see a lot less red-eye. I've tried using lower resolution settings and find that even the Medium setting produces super sharp pictures with lots of detail.The Digital Rebel goes into a low power mode when left on, and is ready to shoot as soon as you press the shutter release. I've left it on for more than 2 days and still find LOTS of power left in the battery. So far I've been able to leave the camera on and shoot over 300 pictures without running the battery down completely.If you're going to use this camera to shoot in Raw mode, you'll need a BIG memory card. I bought a Kingston 2GB CompactFlash Memory Card with the camera, fast and fairly large capacity. When I'm using Raw mode, the camera takes a Large format JPG picture together with the Raw one. With a 2GB card you'll have enough room for about 100 pictures, versus over 550 with just Large mode alone. So you may want to consider the 4GB Kingston Compactflash Card.Colors from the shots are really nice with great skin tones, even when using the flash. The Rebel has a lot of different photo modes, but I'm mostly sticking with P where it chooses both aperture and shutter speed. I can use the small wheel just behind the shutter release to easily change these for more speed or better depth of field.I'm really glad I chose this camera, and I'm looking forward to many years of happy picture taking with it.