This a great deal for newbies like me just entering the DSLR world. As you are noticing in your research there are tons of options to choose from, which can be overwhelming at first. Overall, this kit gives you a nice broad selection that encourages you to really have fun and play around without having to spend a ton of money on the wrong equipment.

This is my first SLR and it only took three years of research and self-justification to finally take the plunge and so far I don't have any regrets!

I went with the 18-55 kit lens and the matching 55-250 lens to stay within a budget and even my worse pictures in automatic mode are optically better than my late model point and shoot.

Moving from a point and shoot to an SLR is a little overwhelming. Concepts like aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and how they relate do take some time to understand but once you get past that hurdle - all of the buttons just seem to make sense somehow. If you don't have a friend that can help you, I definitely recommend studying the basic mechanical concepts and reading up on composition tips - and then go out and shoot a ton of photos [just for fun] and try out some different things. Also, I haven't had any problems with the auto-focus issues that some have described - though now that I'm shooting in what's called Av or aperture priority mode, I changed my AF setting to use the center point instead of the all points mode and I get great focusing.

P.S. Don't try to shoot flying butterflies, it's not practical :)

I have had a Canon A620 for about 2 years before this. It was an awesome P&S, but it died after going through a whole lot of pain and agony that I put it through (sandy beaches, construction sites, oily garages). I decided to upgrade to a DSLR this time around and had been researching them for about 3-4 months. I was set on buying a D60 for a while and then the Rebel XS came out so I started comparing features and then saw that for a little bit more, I could get the XS which would have Live View, AEB and some other cool stuff. But at that point, the Xsi was only about 30 bucks away, so I dropped the cash and I must say I AM VERY HAPPY with my purchase. Nothing to really say about Amazon, their shipping was ridiculous as usual (came in exactly 2 days after I ordered - wish other places would mean 2-day when they say 2 day shipping). The camera itself is a dream to use. The Live View makes a big difference if you are sitting it on a tree stump or a tripod and composing with a little bit more stability. The camera feels solid in your hands and the lenses take a beating (actually hit the kit lens against a door once when turning around). The grips on the kit lens seem like plastic yet somehow feel rubbery - but in the end, my fingers love em and I haven't had any problems with prolonged contact while trying to get focus/zoom juuust right.

The rubber grips on the Xsi aren't exactly cushion-y, but the texture on the grips makes the camera body feel more secure in your hands (definitely worth the extra 30 or so bucks). You also get the proximity sensor for the LCD (turns it off if its close to your face) and the extra 2 MP (more cropping!).

That said, the camera strap leaves you wanting for something better. It looks nice, but its a little small if you are a big guy and its not padded at all so it feels a little tough on your neck - so factor in some extra spending money for a good strap and/or a good bag.

If you are buying this as a first time DSLR user, its a good investment (you can of course settle for something less... no problem with that, but you might as well drop the money for the best in this price range of DSLRs). Be prepared to get a LOT of bad pictures in your first couple of weeks with a DSLR as you get used to judging your shots on the review LCD after your take em, but after you do... the extra speed and better quality lenses are completely worth it.

P.S. Don't underestimate that wide angle kit lens - you get some amazing shots, especially when you are dealing with landscapes.

I am a semi-pro photographer who usually shoots with much more expensive bodies. Every now and then, however, I need to bring a smaller camera with me for whatever reason, and this is the one. Also, like a lot of pros and semi-pros I need to have an APS-C body in order to use the cult-followed Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens that only works on APS-C boides such as the Rebels.

In fact Rebels have been the one I go to to fill those needs for a few years now. A lot of semi-pros and pros criticize the performance of these cameras and/or the perceived weaknesses in ergonomics, size, and available functions. Is this a $1000 camera body? No it is not. Is this a $2600 camera body? No it is not. Is this a $6999.99 camera body? No it is not. I am hammering that point home because some people insist on comparing the Rebels to cameras like that. The comparisons are fine as long as price is factored in; if you leave price out of the equation then yes, this camera will likely lose out to a body costing more than a grand.

The following are some my random thoughts on this camera; I am not going to cover everything because others have done that well enough. I am going to address the issues important to me, a semi-pro photographer who sometimes needs to travel light.

ISO performance (this is most important to me in any camera for any price):

ISO 100: Outstanding

ISO 400: Great (and professionally competent) except for higher than desirable noise in the darkest shadows. Even shooting RAW and carefully post-processing, you will probably need to leave the shadows alone and not bring them out too much. I am nitpicking a little here for the sake of being thorough in the review; it is not by any means a terrible or "deal-breaker" level of noise in the shadows.

ISO 800: Usable for sure and better than expected, but noise certainly is apparent at this level--or rather the effects of noise reduction are apparent--and the in camera noise reduction is aggressive enough that some detail and sharpness is lost as a result of cleaning out the noise. Certainly usable but best at smaller sizes (8x10 or smaller) when printing and viewing.

ISO 1600: To me it's out of the question. I do have a higher standard than the average consumer as a semi-pro, so keep this in mind. I would use this setting only in such a dire situation that ISO 800 would be completely unusable. The noise reduction in ISO 800 is too aggressive, but it does result in the elimination of a great deal of noise. It seems they didn't even bother in ISO 1600. There is noise all over the place in ISO 1600. I haven't used a camera that I can remember that had such a huge difference between ISO 800 and ISO 1600. So, bottom line, IMHO you should stay away and only use in a pinch. I can't see printing anything larger than 4x6 with this setting. If that's your bag then you will probably be fine.

I do want to say regarding my opinions on the ISO handling that I did not buy this camera for high ISO performance. If you are planning on doing that I would think twice. Is it better than the Rebel, Rebel XT, and Rebel XTi? Certainly. Does that make it a good performer at high ISO? Not necessarily.

I do the vast majority of my shooting between ISO 100 and 400. I use fast lenses and I typically shoot during the day. This is especially true of the times I am using this camera. I don't go to a camera like this for high ISO performance. For that I grab the 5D. I go to this camera for the few times the 5D is not best for the situation. This camera delivers an outstanding image quality at ISO 100-400 and a usable one at ISO 800. To me this is all that matters. a 12MP DSLR with outstanding image quality for a little over $500 is what this is. You throw a nice Canon lens (nicer than the kit lens) on this and you have professionally acceptable results. I wouldn't use this camera if it didn't provide those results.

The only way the aforementioned 5D will outshoot this is (in an image quality respect) is if you are making enlargements or shooting higher than ISO 400. If you are using good glass, shooting RAW, and setting the ISO manually (which is what I do) this is an awesome camera. I don't care if anyone says otherwise, either. I don't have to--and won't--argue that point because I've seen the results.

Now, if you have never used a Rebel I do have to inform you that it is much smaller than the 20D, 30D, 40D, etc. bodies that you may or may not be used to. It is much harder for me to keep a good grip on this body than, say, the 40D. Again this is OK with me because I am not buying this for ergonomics. Again, I am buying this for value. Price combined with performance is how this arrives at a place of value. I need to keep repeating that because for some reason people always feel the need to compare cameras that are incomparable. If you are looking for the best performance in a DLSR combined with best price, it is my firm opinion that this is the camera.

Lastly, I want to say that if we are talking strictly image quality and nothing else like ergonomics and construction, IMHO the IQ from this camera is just as good if not better than the mildly overrated 40D. Given the vast difference in price of the two--almost 100% different actually--unless you are an ergonomics stickler I think the decision is a no brainer. You buy this and save the $500 for better glass, or just save the $500 for no reason other than saving $500 is cool. What I am looking forward to doing down the road is comparing the IQ from this to the IQ from the 50D. Again it equals or bests the 40D if we are talking strictly IQ. I returned the 40D last year after using it for 2 weeks. It just wasn't worth the price. The 40D to me is simply a Rebel XTi (XTi; not XSi) with better ergonomics.

Marvelous feel to this body with the BG-E5 grip. It's now my only body, given its light weight, the quality of its images, and ease of use -- and I've had 30D's and a 1DsMKII.

HOWEVER, I can't recommend ordering this type of equipment from Amazon if you care about decent, or at least adequate, packing. There was one strip of 3 deflated plastic air bags in the shipping box, providing no isolation of the camera box whatever. Being that the shipping box was twice the dimension of the camera box, there had to be some serious rattling going on during transit. I feel fortunate the camera is functioning. In the future, I would order an electric toothbrush from Amazon, but I'm through with ordering camera bodies and lenses from them.

I had never used an SLR or digital SLR prior to buying this camera and I love it. I thought it was fairly easy to get up to speed (the Canon on-line tutorial is great). I have had the camera for about a month and just returned from an East African safari and the pictures we got are unreal...I am so excited and happy with the camera. It worked well in so many different situations (low light with gorillas in the jungle to full sun on the African plains). I would buy it again in a heartbeat (and this coming from someone who had never used an SLR and now would never go back for a trip like we just took). LOVE IT!!!

We also bought the Image Stabalized 70-300mm lens and this is the one I used most on the trip but I would use the lens that comes with the kit for most of the shots I take with family/friends and around the house.

I think most new users upgrading from a point and shoot (the Canon powershot G6 in my case) will be stunned by the improvement in the sharpness of their photos with the kit lens no less. I was a little anxious to find out how much better the photos were actually going to appear on both a computer monitor and on 4x6 prints, and I was just delighted. Even my wife was very impressed and she was very skeptical as to why I would be paying $800 for a camera.

This camera is basically very easy to use, and very light weight - important considerations for amateurs. The manual is not so hot, however, and I recommend David Busch'e book, Canon EOS REBEL XSi to avoid the frustration of trying to figure out how to change any settings.

To obtain the sharpest photos, I found it important to use the default auto exposure and focusing modes. When I tried manual focusing, spot focusing, or an exposure mode other than "evaluative", the results were disappointing.

PROs: I am thrilled with this camera. After doing some research for a couple of months between this camera, the nikon d80 and the prestigious canon 40d, I decided on the XSi for my needs. Best overall price to my performance needs. Image quality is fantastic, even though the kit lens is at best, good. Going to purchase a 50mm 1.4, 70-200 4L, and a better walk around lens as soon as I get completely sick of the 18-55 IS kit lens, but for now its a good starter lens. Though I honestly think the nikon d80 and the 40d are better cameras for experienced and serious users, primarily I am loyal to Canon (best brand) and the 40d is just too bulky and expensive for me. I don't need all the extra bells and whistles provided by the 40d at this point of my life.

If you want a light, easy to use and learn (for first time users), long lasting battery (about 500 images), nice clear LCD and fairly cheap price to performance ratio this camera blows out all nikons, pentax, and sony's out there for the beginner/transitioning to intermediate shooters. I chose this camera over the 40d because its more suitable for me and most importantly I can use the price difference between the XSi and the 40d to get my 70-200 4L for free basically.

Cons: Again the common gripe over the grip, but honestly its not that bad if you have small to medium size hands. you will adapt quickly as the pro's of the camera immediately mask any cons present. No better kit lens option out yet.

Overall: Fantastic lens for beginner/beginner-intermediate users as the vast majority of professional reviews have stated...

Note: Please get a nice memory card I recommend the 4 or 8GB SanDisk EXTREME III (it's worth the extra $5-10) or any SDHC that is class 6, save a little change for some other lenses as you will fall in love with this camera and will be compelled to buy more lenses, and lastly buy some decent filters as you will appreciate the image quality and protection they provide. the RC-1 is a nice accessory. I hope this was helpful for you as all the other reviews were helpful to me.

Buy the kit with EF-S 18-55mm IS lens instead. The new 18-55mm IS lens is a gem and the kit only costs $60 more. This lens is much improved from the last generation and is even optically better than the Canon 17-85mm IS lens that costs many times more. Even if you decide that the kit lens is not for you, you can resell it for much more than $60.

So why only four stars? Well, It seems that the latest Canon digital SLRs have a little bit of problem with dead pixels. Mine developed one after a few hundred of shots. Given that there are 12 million pixels, one dead pixel is very hard to see unless you really zoom it in. I mean this is like locating one red-head person from the Tokyo population. Nonetheless, it is annoying when you know that there is a dead pixel. Fortunately, Canon's manual sensor cleaning function also has a firmware program to detect and mask the deal pixels with information copied from an adjacent pixel. You just have to turn the camera into the manual sensor cleaning mode for enough time (30-60 seconds) for the program to checkout the whole pixel map. It fixed my dead pixel problem like a charm. That is why, only one star is taken away.

This is my first venture into buying a DSLR and I have a college budget so I made sure I was spending my money on the best camera possible. I had been reviewing DSLRs for months and months before finally deciding on the XSI, and I could not be happier with my decision! From the moment I took it out of the box I have been taking better pictures than I ever thought I could.

I have some photography experience from a black and white photography class my first semester, but I am still quite green when it comes to the finer points of photography. It didn't at all matter with this camera. Right out of the box it didnt take me long to figure out the controls and which buttons did what. I love that there was a dedicated ISO button, white balance button, metering options button, AND shooting mode button. The worst thing is when you have a great shot that wont last long (think kids, animals, nature) and you have to dig through menus to get what you want. This camera eliminates that worry.

The lens that came with this thing is also much better than I expected in a kit lens. The image quality looks amazing while doing both very close up shots and landscape. I am not an expert on lenses, but I used one of my fathers lenses that cost several hundred dollars and there REALLY was hardly any difference in picture quality. Especially for a kit lens, I was quite impressed.

One last thing I love, THE LCD screen! This thing is HUGE and has very good image quality. It is great for reviewing your shot, right up to the fine details. It really makes it easier to see if you got the shot you wanted before you take it all the way back to your computer and see you screwed it up. As for the live view, I wasnt real sure when I would use it, but I found out the other day. There was a nest of hornets low to the ground and I sure as heck wasnt sticking my face down there. I convieniently used the live view feature to get the camera close and compose the shot while keeping my body in position to run :)

Really the only thing that has annoyed me so far is how you have to smush your nose and face into the LCD when using the viewfinder. I am all the time having to wipe smudges off. But really, after having this camera for a week and all I have to complain about is smudges on the LCD? That really is hardly a complaint at all. I would recommend it for anyone from complete newbies, to people like me with a smattering of experience, to those that actually know what they're doing. This camera is amazing.

Also, to anyone interested. I posted some of my first first pictures on my Flickr account. These are pictures from a guy who has basically forgotten most of his photography class 2 years ago, and has had little time to do much photography at all. The XSI went a long way in covering up my inexperience. At least I think so :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29479673@N07/show/