I have had my Digital Rebel XT since May and I really love it. It's been a joy to rediscover photography with this wonderful tool. I hope it brings you the same pleasure.

Though I've never dealt with Abe's of Maine, they have an excellent reputation. Having said that, it's also important to check out your local retailers. At a good shop the extra cost will be more than made up for with insightful suggestions from the guys behind the counter. They work with the gear day in and day out and they simply know a lot more about it than those of us who own one or two cameras and surf the web for information. I'm not putting down Abe's in any way, but you shouldn't ignore the local guys when making your choices.

I have that lens too; it's a nice one. But you'll discover that it is too long for any close-up work. The kit lens really isn't as bad as people make out; I own both but recently have left them at home in favor of shooting with my new Canon 28-135 IS lens.

I have only two filters: a circularly polarized filter for bright sunny days outdoors and a neutral density filter for every other situation. Someone once told me that I should always keep a neutral density filter on the lens because a filter is a lot cheaper to replace than a lens in case something happens and it gets scratched. Made a lot of sense to me.

There are differences between the recording speeds of Compact Flash cards. I suspect this is true of all other media as well. The SanDisks are quite reliable, but not particularly fast. If you're going to be using the motor drive it could be an issue, but if you shoot almost exclusively one shot at a time (as I do) you might not ever notice the difference.

The screen protector is essentially a piece of flexible plastic with a mild adhesive on the back, very similar to the products which they sell (quite cheaply) to protect PDA screens.

The lens cleaning kit probably consists primarily of a microfiber cloth (eyeglass shops give them away for free), and a squeeze-bulb to blow air (get one for a buck in the baby aisle of your local grocery store).

Bottom line? This is an excellent camera with a nice lens for far-away shots, but you can forget shooting anything closeup without the standard kit lens. On the other hand, the kit lens can be found for under fifty bucks on eBay and if you really enjoy this you're going to want to upgrade your lenses in any case.

Seems like a good deal, but I'd also look at a local camera shop. Best of luck and enjoy yourself!

I have had my XT for about a year now and it is a great camera. You wont be sorry!

I bought my XT May last year in LA, and it cost over $1000 with a 17-85 lens, and a tripot and some other misis. It is a wonderful camera, though 20D is better equiptted with some other features. But as a regular traveler, and for some quick shots, I can tell no difference between the two.

Here is the site where I put some of the pictures I took in the States with XT.
http://usa2005cs.photosite.com

If you are buying online, ALWAYS check out the store you're planning to buy it at on http://www.resellerratings.com

Beware, there are many scam stores, they advertise (online or in magazines) with incredibly low prices, but when you want to buy something from them, they have all kinds of tricks to make you spend much more money than you intended.

Well-known tricks are:

1. Selling you the bare camera without batteries, software, strap, and all other things that are supposed to be in the box. They'll sell you all those things separately.

2. Charging exorbitant shipping and handling costs.

3. They tell you that the advertised price is for an "export version" of the camera, and that you really need the USA version, which they sell for a much higher price.

Etc.

I would recommend a used digital Rebel 300D previous model as you can find them very cheap on the forums. Its a great camera! The greatest values are one notch behind the bleeding edge. I sold two when I got my two 1Ds' and Im so glad that I had my Digital Rebel experience - a great way to learn. Get the 300D for about $400-$500 bux and put your money into lenses.

"Glass. Its where the light meets the road"
-Paul C.

Paul

www.chaplo.com
www.paulchaplo.com
www.imagestock.us

My XT is my favorite rig I bought it through BNH, Never looked back. I have used abes of maine and have had no probs just make sure you are not getting a gray market tool.
Happy shooting!

I didn't really understand the term "gray market" until the guys at North Tampa Photography explained it like this: The Canon Digital Rebel XT is a camera made for the American market. The Canon EOS 350D is the EXACT SAME CAMERA except it's made for the European market.

If you, as an American, buy a new 350D in the United States, you're making a Gray Market purchase. You'll save a few dollars. You'll also lose your warranty.

Hello, I am using a Rebel EOS XT Digital. I bought it in Feb. '06 and love it. I wanted to let you know Sears has it on sale this week for 899.99 with a 100.00 dollar rebate, making it $799.99 + Tax. It comes with a 18-55mm zoom lens. I just wanted to let you know.

Chips got a really good point, I ended up buying my camera at a local photo store. Sure I spent a little( ) extra, but I'd rather a face to speak to if a problem ever came up. Also purchasing at the store gave me the oppotunity to get an extended warranty, meaning I could bring in my camera in a ziplock bag in pieces in salt water and sand and I'd get a new one. So if something should happen prior to it expiring in the next 2 1/2 years(insert evil smily) I'll be recieving a new 30D said the salesman with a .

I bought my camera on base with the 17 - 35 lens at around $900 dollars. I love this camera but not sure what to purchase next. I want to get some more lens that are reasonably priced. I want a macro, large telephoto and a converter... Any suggestions

I'm of two minds on this. On one hand, I've had very good experiences with the lower-end Canon lenses. For $200, it's hard to do better than the Canon 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III EF Lens. It's nothing fancy, but it certainly does the job in a wide variety of situations - particularly in bright sunlight.

On the other hand, there's really such a thing as saving too much money. After all, in many ways the lens is the heart and soul of the camera. The Canon 70-200 F2.8 L IS USM EF Lens is simply spectacular, but it can only be described as "reasonably priced" when you look at the value it gives for that price tag. It costs more than double what you've already spent, but it really IS worth the money.

Probably your best bet is to do what most of the rest of us do - start off with the lower priced gear and step up to the better stuff a little bit at a time.

My current "everyday" lens? The Canon 28-135/3.5-5.6 EF IS USM - That Image Stabilization really IS worth the extra money.