Dispite having no sensor cleaning abilities, and a small review screen, the 350d is an great camera for amature photographers, able to receive a huge range of lenses. the 350d is user freindly, fast on the draw and has great range of adjustablity. I really like my 350d, although it may be a little dated as far as looks of the actual camera go.
Pros:
Fast action
Clear photos with the kit lens
User freindly

Cons:
Small screen
No cleaning sensor ability

I have had to fight with my camera to get things in focus. I have sent it back to Canon, they repair it and it works for around 2mths then it's out again. When this camera is working it is a great camera, crisp pics, easy to use. Not sure I would suggest anyone to purchase.

It great camera I have had it for 4 years. I love these camera i use
it for all type so photos. With these camera i use 5 other camera
lens. 1.Standard lens, 2. telephoto lens 50-300, 3 fish eye lens, 4
macro lens, 5, fix 50mm. I also have batter pack.

I've never owned a DSLR camera before...and I got a great deal at OFFICE DEPOT for $250. I can not believe the quality of photos that came out and the focus is absolutely gorgeous. i can post up pictures later.

The first time I used this camera was on a family vacation to Virginia. I left my film camera behind because I was so comfortable with this product. The pictures were amazing! The clarity of the images were impeccable. I could not tell the differance between film and digital pictures. It took a long time to decide on a digital camera and this a decision I won't regret.
The camera is light weight and user friendly. It is compatable from a novice to a professional. The options that come with the camera are plentiful and versitile. It is capable of printing directly from your computer or printer. I would highly reccomend this product to any person interested in high quality photography.

350D is excellent camera I have ever use.very easy to carry ,superb noise less image quality. I am always using ISO 400 for fast shutter speed for small aperture for nature closeups of insects.no battery charge problem with battery grip I am using 6 NiMh cells and grip is very comfortable when u shoot vertical compostions.low weight small body ,I am always with her in my all tours I like 350d more than my 30d.

I have had my digital rebel xt for around 18 months now and absolutly love it the pictures are always very crisp whatever I shoot whether it is portraits, fireworks, pets, friends and family always superior photos to anything I have seen from the Nikon d80 or d40 series of cameras.

I especially love my 28-135 is usm lens if you can get your hands on one do it you won't be disappoionted.

Replaced my EOS Elan IIe with the camera body. Very, very nice to be able to buy a high quality camera like this and salvage your investment in the attachments from the film SLR. I couldn't be happier.

Great camera for the price. Has worked flawlessly for me. No focus problems. Only use Canon lenses. 8 MP seems to be more than needed for most shooting. Only shoot in RAW format. Use Adobe's Digital Negative software to convert all of Canon's CR2 files. Archive both CR2 and DNG files. Have enjoyed shooting with the DSLR after years of using M Leicas.

Camera had to go back to the manufacturers. After many weeks They repaired it. But i am still not really happy. It's better but.... still not brillant

AMAZING camera, 3fps (in good light) and its SO easy to use. im a beginer on the digital Camera scene but this camera makes me want to get right in there and learn as FAST as i can

I went from point and shoot to slr digital. I do love the quality of the photos I get from this camera. I do have to purchase a flash that is higher on the camera so I don't get so much glare. I am going to be taking a class on line to learn how to use this camera so I can get the Best tout of it because I know this camera is capable of far more then what I do with it and the instruction book is not that detailed and doesn't give enough options for the settings.

This is without question the best camera I have ever owned, nothing negative to say about this awesome camera and if you are looking for a 1st class digital SLR that rivals cameras that cost almost twice as much ? Look no further, this is it !!!

This is my first DSLR camera . i like it alot .

It's the best DSLR for this price range and very good for part time photographers. Body is better than any other brand of this range.

It makes your shooting simple and shutter response is excellent.

Just got this camera and am generally very pleased. But I have a Windows 98 operating system on my computer, and the camera must have Windows 98SE in order to download photos. Was going to buy a new computer anyway, but would be sol if I wasn't. Exchanged some emails with Canon tech staff but they haven't even bothered to respond since I stated I had Windows 98...

I went from the 35mm Rebel to this digital camera. This camera made it easy to switch from 35mm to digital. Functions are fairly the same yet the quality is so much better. I would recommend this camera to anyone who is a beginner or switching from 35mm to digital.

I previously owned an Olympus 5060wz. That's a great camera too. It turns out that the difference between 5mp and 8mp is not really that big. The smaller sensor of the 5060 means that more is in focus than on a digital SLR at the same f-stop. But that also has disadvantages, eg. sometimes on a macro photo or a portrait you want a shallow depth of field so the background is blurred - that's more difficult to achieve with a non-SLR.

The advantage of 8mp over 5 mp is that cropping gives better results. Sometimes I take a photo, then realise that by cropping it has more impact. Better to crop an 8mp photo to 5mp than a 5mp to 3mp.

For those people having focusing problems... I think it's down to the 7 point AF. Try selecting the central focus point and just using that. The camera may be focusing on something else. I like to choose what to focus on rather than leaving it to the machinery.

The 350D takes great pictures. You only have to look at some of the photo blogs which use the 350D and you'll be convinced.

Why did I mark it down? The 18-55 lens is soft although it's still capable of great results. The Tamron 55-200 Di II is a good buy as long as you use it at f5.6+ (total bargain at ����80). My opinion is that to get the best from the 350D you need to fork out extra for a higher grade lens than the 18-55. Don't get me wrong, you won't be disappointed, but all the best photo's I've seen use the 17-40 Canon or the 10-20 Sigma. These add to the cost (not just by a few ����'s either). The same go for Nikon lenses too. The 18-70 Nikon is good but the pro lenses are a whole other level.

The upside of this is that if you want even better pictures you don't throw away the camera, you add a better lens. Also, if you do upgrade the body, the lenses can be used on the new body.

Noise levels are nice and low. I shoot at rugby matches at ISO1600. There is noise, but it's less than I would get at ISO400 on most other cameras. That means I can get shots I wouldn't normally be able to attempt. A good shot with a bit of noise is better than none at all.

Given the choice to "re-choose" I would go with the Canon again.

While I love this camera for sports action shots during the daylight hours, night shots are a different story. Even at the best settings and with the Canon Ultrasonic fast 2.8 lens the pictures still come out fuzzy. I called Canon Tech Support to verify my settings were optimized for night times action shots under the lights and I didn't have very many keepers, pictures have alot of noise and stop action doesn't compare to the daylight shots. You'll be disappointed with action shots at night with this camera. Other than that disappointment, I do like this camera in the daylight hours.

Speechless...I have taken my first shot and the result was so good that i have to buy a frame to display it on my wall.

Using automatic focussing gives consistant BAD (unsharp) photos. It extremely annoying. Only with manual focus am i able to get sharp photos.

Be warned!!!

I recently moved up from a sony cybershot DSC F717 to a digital Rebel XT - what a huge mistake. The auto focus is absolutely terrible in any other than bright sunlight - but even in bright sunlight the photos just aren't crisp. I exchanged for another unit and it takes the same fuzzy shots. Doesn't matter if I manual focus, use the automatic AF point selection or select AF point myself, the camera just can't focus. I don't know what people are talking about with 'crisp' or 'beautiful' pics. Low light shooting with a flash produces washed out pics with horrible color. There are a few good features, but the two that matter most to me - image quality and accurate color couldn't be worse. I want to pull my hair out. Best Buy wants to send the camera out to their repair center - have fun.

This product revitalised my love of photograhpy. A superb camera and I have had nothing but success.

I have used a variety of SLR film cameras over the years and I was cautious about changing to a DSLR with a plastic body and small dimension sensor.
I bought just the body because I have a number of Canon lenses which I wanted to continue to use with the new camera and I had read that the standard lens was poor in resolution.
I am very happy to have moved to digital imaging; I have never experienced such an improvement in my own photographic skill; largely because of the ability to quickly capitalise on mistakes. Any experimental shots which I had taken with a film camera would be completely forgotten, as would their settings by the time the film was processed. The points made by previous reviewers here are, in my experience, valid. My reservations about the plastic body are unfounded in use and the old lenses are producing image quality (sharpness and colour rendition) un-experienced in their previous life on a film body. Exposure accuracy is very good, much more accurate than the EOS 30 film camera and the file transfer and catalogue software is excellent. I am still dubious about black and white imaging using a digital sensor: I think there is little to better the hues from silver prints, but this is not a fault of the 350D, it relates to the poor inks and dyes available in printers. My Contax G out performs the 350D in this department simply because of the medium used for rendition of the prints.

i have had 4 35mm film cameras over15yr's(2 pentax & 2 nikons) i too was fule of trepidation, but i am so happy with the rebelxt D!!! it takes great pix consistantly, and if i'm on my game, i get some realy nice photographs!!! I bought it because of the price diff' Aprox' 1/3rd the price of the compatition. i got the 18-55 lens with it and am still learning new stuff with it every time i shoot. i got some pix published in the local paper not long ago and was amazed with the clarity and sharpness for the size and type of paper! I'm very happy!!!! waaaaay haaaappy!!! hands down the best money i ever spent on a camera...EVER!!!!!!
thanks canon, the xt has opened so many doors for me, and it has renewed my passion for photography.The cost savings alone in developing fees have almost payed for the camera already!!! That alone should get the fence sitters off there duffs!!! My opp'...GO!!!GO NOW!!!!! and get one of these little beauties!!! WHY ARE YOU STILL READING? DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME? GO, I TELL YOU!!!! GO, GO NOW!!!!

I've had the XT for almost 6 months now (this is my first DSLR)and am very pleased with its performance. First, the size of the camera is great. Its lightweight too, unless you have a large lens.(I use a Tamron AF 28-300mm... lens, i recommend this lens!) Its size is also good for traveling with. I have read the complants from other reviews about it being too small and hard to hold but if it is for you, try buying the battery grip. It gives you more of a better grip. I have large hands but i've had no problems with holding the XT with or without the grip.

The picture quality of this camera surprised me when I went out on a small internship with my local news photographer. I got to use my Canon and the news's Nikon D2Hs. After the shoot I compared the pictures I took. The D2Hs's color quality was dull other than the XT's color, which had great clarity. After finding out that my camera performed better than the Nikon D2Hs, it made me feel proud to have bought the Rebel XT. I look forward to using this camera when i go to college next month.
This was a great buy for me and I got it at an afordable price. Great camera!!!

I've always been a big Canon fan. My 35mm was a Canon and all our video equipment has been Canon but when I wanted a digital SLR I bought a Nikon D70. Then a friend bought the 350D/Rebel XT and I was green with envy. So I bought one too - and it beats the D70 in every department. The Canon is lighter, smaller and much faster. The 350D is excellent value... Don't buy the 28mm-55mm lens with it - it is not a good lens. I bought a Sigma 18mm-200mm to replace it. Buy the XT body and another Canon, Sigma or other higher-quality lens. For convenience, you can't beat the PictBridge printing option directly from the camera - even my uber-luddite mother-in-law could figure out how to print her pictures. I found that the P (program) mode is a must for most pro-quality images as the newer features (from the 300D) are mostly only available in that mode. The 350D defaults to a pretty soft image and increasing the sharpness is a good plan. Overall, this is a camera that has the features and quality of a $1200 camera, only at half the price. It'll take a bit of getting used to if you like the solid (but heavy) feel of the Nikons (it feels a bit cheaper with it's plastic body) but once you get over that, you'll agree that you have bought the best value digital SLR on the market.
Also BIG kudos to Canon: all my video camera batteries, chargers and old 35mm lenses work with the XT - which has saved me about $1000 in extra purchases. If you own other Canon products, don't even think about another brand....

Now I don't have my XT yet it is coming in 2 days. So I really don't no how the camera fits into my hand but. For all thows people who have trouble fitting the xt in there hand, there is a simple way to fix it. Get the battery grip that goes on the bottom of the camera. It will add about a half of inch on to the grip.

I am just new user to canon digital SLR camera.I have been using nikon D 100 and Fuji S2 pro.I find it very user friendly accept as other review members have told .It is having very small grip.Unless yoiu buy separte one.As far as white balnce preset i found custom more accurate and giving me result close to analog.After using this canon body I stopped using analog cameras like Nikon F100.I am using with Metz 60 ct4 and dadicated TTL adapter for Flash photography.

I confess that I am challanged when it comes to cameras, but this is really a nice supprise. My first SLR and I love it. It takes great photo's with very little practice. I take mostly outdoor and sports photo's, and was instantly in love with it. I may never fully understand the camera, nor be able to use it to its full potential, but I know it will never let me down, and has expanded my photo taking ability to a much greater level than I have ever expected to be.,,,, Nice shot!!

I just got mine and have shot 2 family groups, an engagement session and a wedding with it... it is awesome... the quality if superb and the ease of use is great... i was nervous leaving my film behind... but well worth it.

The image clarity is amazing, it's lightning fast, and it has a wide variety of useful settings. Lenses like the 70-300mm and 28-135 IS complement it well.

Get it, you won't be disappointed.

Go ahead and buy this camera, unless you want to spend twice the money... I have had six Canon 35mm SLRs and this is my fifth digital camera. My second Canon Digital (first was a S1 IS). Best of both worlds. SLR versatility with the digital benefits. Adapter for the lenses from my AE1 Program made it all the sweeter.

Good camera when it works. Be prepared for serious expenditures on repairs when the camera fails. Canon neither backs it's products or warranties.

I am extremely happy with the Digital Rebel, unfortunately, I dropped it yesterday. It can be fixed, but it will most likely cost as much as the Digital Rebel XT body. The lens appears to be OK and I had the 18mm - 55mm lens at home. The lens a Quantaray 28 - 200 was attached, but it fell in such a way that it looks OK. Anyhow, I have taken plenty of great pictures and I also have an HP Photosmart 8750 (large format) printer that does a superior output from those photos taken with the EOS Digital Rebel. The price of the new unit Rebel XT is just right with the $100 Canon Rebate. You can't go wrong.

I haven't tried other focus modes, but I have been having a LOT of problems with autofocus. It appears it's only select models that have the problem, and unfortunately I got one of them. Never had a problem with my film Rebel, or older digital Rebel, but a large percentage of images are out of focus. My wife refuses to use the camera because focus is so consistently off, and she finds it annoying. Whenever I give it to someone to "just take a snapshot" of the family it's out of focus.

Just to clarify, the problem I'm experiencing is not that it doesn't focus correctly for the zone's selected, but that it's horrible at figuring out which zones *should* be in focus.

I get good results if I set it to only use the center focal point, but that's a bit of a pain, and impossible to explain to my wife, etc.

This was my first Digital SLR. I bought this camera with a tamron lens and the pics are terrible!
No matter what settings I use, whether basic or creative, the pictures are at best, very soft!
And need a lot of sharpening in photoshop USM
I have an old Kodak point and shoot, and the pictures it produces are far, far superior.
It makes me ask, what is the point or advantages of having an SLR?
I am returning the 350 as it has been a total waste of my time and money. The only thing it has given me is frustration.
This camera has strongly discouraged me from ever using a digital SLR again.

this camera is amazing some cameras only have some featues but this has it all!

I have over the years (as police forensics officer) used film cameras, 4 x 5, 2 1/4 sq, and 35mm. and processed all in my own blk and white lab.

After retirement and having my time with video, I decided to get a digital camera for vacation & family times, I owned an Olympus 2040 and then an Olympus 5060, and now my Canon.

canon was a no brainer for me, having used so many canon products over the years, but this XT takes the cake, it's simple to use with great results. one can ourchase put it on P, get excellent shots when you need the shots, while you experiment for fun with other settings and features.

I did not buy the lens kit with it, but opted instead for the body, battery holder and an 18/200 sigma zoom. I will be adding lens later on, likely a prime macro lens, and a long prime telephoto.

highly recommend this camera to starters and old timers alike.

Amazing picture quality at 50% of the cost of the new 30D. Thought about waiting and getting the 30D but took the money saved and bought a 24-105mm "L"lens. Great move. Awesome pictures. The body is a little too small but I mount the camera on either a monopod or tripod so it really isn't noticable while shooting. The small size is an advanatage when traveling and hiking.
I'm very happy that I got the Rebel XT with the "L" lens, rather than waiting for the 30D. Beach Camera is the place to buy it imho.

It takes very good high quality pics. I wonder why is it better than the Canon Powershot S21S?

Walked into my managers office and we'd been given three for the department. Borrowed one to use on jobs around central London. Standard lens is mediocre and I'd say even my Fuji s5000 is better. However we have extra zooms and Canon flash too. Lots of flexibility and much better for action photography. More versatile than even a big zoom compact. Buy a different standard lens. I'm going for the Minolta 5D myself.

After getting rid of my EOS 1 HS 5 years ago and going with Compact Digital I was tempted back to SLR's in the form of Digital.
What an absolute dream camera to use and get images with, simple Canon user settings and menu, a great standard lens despite the experts giving it a hard time and absolutely beautifully exposed and focused pictures.
Great software for mac is an added extra bonus with the Raw conversion program included in the kit.
They are not cheap but after using my 350D for a couple of days the cost is totally forgotten.
My interest in photography has been instantly rejuvenated by this dream camera.

Just go buy one now..........it will be a revelation!

I had arranged a trip to Namibia since the summer and I was looking for a Digital SLR. 4months of investigation and bechmarking reduced the choice to Nikon D70 and Canon 350D. As you can immagine I choose the Canon although beening a longti,e Nikon owner I wasn't sure i did the right choice as it was too close to call. Three main reason for choice came down to contruction/weight, price/performance, brand ... I decided Canon is ahead of Nikon on digital. My travel companion bought instead the Nikon and off we went.
The 350D has won by miles every time there where hard light conditions or we had to shoot wildlife. I don't consider myself a profesional but I do take some real quality pictures and I don't regret moving to digital. Added plus for all the divers out there is that it perform great also underwater (with the underwater case) ... haven't tried the Nikon. Overall I just wished I bought it earlier. Should you aim for wildlife pls take at least 75-300mm lens and not the 58-200mm you find as extra lens in most offers.

I have had so many friends ask me about my camera and my pictures, that I decided to create a site called (...) that you might find helpful in making your decision and learning about the basics of digital SLR photography. It's specifically for owners of the Canon EOS digital SLRs. Check it out for useful tips and research that will help you get started on this rewarding journey of digital photography! Either way you won't regret your purchase. It would make an incredible gift, not only for Christmas or a birthday, but for life. It sure did change mine.

I am a professional photographer, shooting nature/wilderness landscapes for sale in my gallery. I shoot mostly with medium and large format film but I did keep a Canon Elan 7 around for occasional 35mm use. A friend wanted to puchase my Elan 7 and I replaced it with the Rebel XT.

Initially I considered the 20D but it really was too heavy to carry along with a couple of medium format films systems on an extended backpack or hike. I have no regrets about the XT. The pictures, within the limitations of the sensor size, are superb. 13x19 prints look completely photographic and I now sell XT images (albeit not as large) in my gallery right along side those shot with my film systems. Don't go with the standard kit lens..it's of marginal quality in terms of contrast and sharpness and really not good for anything beyond a 5x7 or perhaps an 8x10 image.

This is my first SLR and i have been very impressed. If you're an SLR armature (like i was) i would recommend buying the Digital Rebel by Charlotte Lowrie. It's a 250 page full colour book devoted to the digital rebel and the digital rebel XT. For those with focusing issues or operational complaints i don't think you're using it right because i've printed some sweet 8 by 10 photos with crystal clarity. If you buy the camera, read the book, take some notes, and do a lot of playing i don't see how you can be disappointed with the results.

There is clearly a mixed view on this camera but the majority of people give it a thumbs up, and so do I !!!

I would like to say the people who are complaining are clearly expecting too much or have not learned how to use this camera, as other people have already said. If you are switching from a point and click compact to an SLR it can be a bit frustrating learning how to use a camera like this - but stick with it the rewards will be clear to see!

Once you get to know the camera it comes alive and you can get the results your after. Most of my images have come out brilliantly, if they haven't it is usually my fault - there is a lot to remember settings wise (make yourself a checklist).

Obviously with all digital work you have to expect to do some post processing in photoshop to achieve exactly what your after. Digital photography does not end after you pressed the shutter of any camera, but I guess you know that!

I would recommend this camera to anyone after a introductory digital SLR, it inspires me when I have it in my hand and I trust it completely. I will be by my side for many years to come!!

Happy shooting people!

This is a great camera! Took it out for 1st time today in early morning and late afternoon. It performed much better than I had hoped for even with the kit lens. Can't necessarily tell degree of focus in the display. Looked not so good but when got home and looked at 100% size most pictures were sharp. Quality not an issue. Camera is of good quality, it is just light...which is good right. Feels good in hands, I like the slightly rough surface texture. Menu display was ok in bright late afternoon light (turned my back to the sun), but I can see where there may be problems in very bright light, as many reviewers have stated.

I bought this camera mainly because I wanted 8 Megs of resolution rather than the 5 Megs provided by my Nikon 5700.

I am very disappointed with the sharpness of the Rebel XTs pictures compared to the Nikons 5700. I bought the Camera body only as I have three Canon EF lenses that produced very sharp pictures on my film camera.

Is Canon producing a firmware patch to address the XTs soft focus ?

I have owned my 350d for about 6 months now and I have never thought of going out without it. This little baby packs alot of punch and the pictures are absolutely lovely. I'm now saving up for an L and will be getting my EX flash first. After that, I'll be all over trigger happy with my camera. It's a sweet deal, this camera. Unless you're the type who does not read manuals or have never handled a dlsr/slr before and complain about it being useless - I'd suggest you go back to the compacts. I say this because I have seen travelling photojournalists using the 300d and 350d - and i have no doubts that if it work for pros, it works well enough for alot of other things. Cheers and happy shooting to all proud owners of the 350d/XT!

I had the Digital rebel but ended up never using it because it was so heavy and bulky. The XT is so lightweight that I carry it everywhere and use it all the time. I gave the Rebel to my teenage son who does not mind the heavy weight. Also, the pictures are much quicker, and better quality than the Rebel. However, you do need to study this camera, and as others have noted read up on it. I broke the pins on the Rebel...apparently, Canon does not do a good job in this area and you have to be very careful when you insert your cards, hence you should always pay for a warranty. But I highly recomomend the xt for lightness of weight, and beauty of pictures.

This camera is great. It offers SOO much more than the older Digital Rebel. I love it. Great quality photos, and with the included software you cant go wrong. You can use it as your photoshoot camera, and sync directly with your laptop, and the sweet thing, it comes with everything you need to do it. Not to mention it does panoramic shots like never before, with photo stitch and more programs, that are all included in the Manufacturers Box.

I have a Canon D60 and 10D which produce razor sharp photos, so there is nothing wrong with my lenses. I have yet to get a sharp photo from the XT.All are "soft" focus, I sent it back to Canon for fear of getting another bad one from a dealer. I sure hope they get it right so I can sell my other SLRs

The Rebel XT is not a point and shoot camera, you must have some idea how to shoot and post process the images after you are done (which is the same with all DSLR cameras). With that in mind this is a great camera for the cost.

Excllent camera. 1.6 multi turns the cheap (as chips) 50mm f1.8ii into a fantastic portrait lens. recently Bought the tamron 17-35mm (£200 used) which together with the 350D is fantastic. Picture quaity is top notch, in my experiance indistguishable from the 20D.

Complaints:
1- ergonomics, too small, but the grip sorted that and gave a AA battery alternative for travel. Also small size is much better for unobtrusive photography. People tend to get scared when someone rolls up pointing a huge ass camera in their face. The 350D is too small, but it has advantages.
2- view finder is rubbish, but adaquate, just don't look through a EOS1.
3- no ISO in the view finder.

For those with focusing probs, check what focusing your using, I think mine was defaulted on AI servo or the other one that continuously focuses. This does weird things, I normally use One shot. You can focus, recompose (with shutter button half dpressed obviously) and the focus won't change. Do this on the other focus schemes and its any ones guess what it'll decide to do.

Also for the person who complained about the pictures looking different on the camera screen and when downloaded, one word, calibration. (ok some more) You have to calibrate everything camera to monitor, monitor to printer, and scanner to monitor or the images will always look different. This calibration can be expensive, but do a google search for alternative or try adaobe photo gamma in Photoshop.

It is a good camera, but you need to LEARN to use it. It will not take its best pictures out of the box as a point and click will. You need to learn to think about your photography, use Av or Tv and think about composition, apeture, shutter speed, exposure compensation and ISO and have fun. (sorry for those I've upset here, I obviously wasn't talking about you ;-) )

After reading some of the poor reviews here I was kind of shocked to see the incompetence of some people who base their review on a few pics quickly taken at the store when they have no clue what they are doing.

I have been using the XT for 2 months now and before that I was using the Rebel 300d, and this is a fine camera.

The image quality is on par with the 20d which we also own and the speed of operation is fast! I have absolutely no problem with the auto focus and I need a fast auto-focus for my bird photography. I can say that the XT auto-focus is fast and precise and I push its limits beyond what the camera is meant to do because I use a 400mm F5.6 L lens with a 1.4x teleconverter and that'S a total minimum aperture of F8, yet the camera still auto-focus fine.

I work in the field in harsh conditions and I am glad that the XT is light and small. That takes a lot of the fatigue off at the end of the day shooting in the field. The camera construction is excellent even if it is made of plastic, as the camera has an internal metal chassis. I use big heavy lenses on it and everything work very well and feel solid.

the menu shortcuts for changing the ISO, white balance etc do not disturb me as it is just a matter of getting used to this setup. I got used to it very quickly.

High ISO photos are of good quality and on par with the 20d, although the 20d might be a tad better at ISO 1600, but not by a lot.

when I go in the field for my photos, I have the choice to take along the 20d or the XT since we have both. I pick up the XT because the image quality is the same, the speed is more than fast enough and the weight and size is more convenient.

I really like that little camera and I have no issue with it what so ever, it works very well.

I am only a student and not a professional photographer. I've read many reviews of many cameras rather carefully before judging anything. Seriously I think those who rated this camera really low has probably done something wrong or something that was warned NOT to do. e.g. the cf problems, bad pictures, etc.

Factory needs some quality control:
did you or your daughter insert the cf in a wrong way? the manual tells you that if you inserted the cf wrongly, it may cause damage to the pins or something.

Lousy Camera! Don't Buy!!!:
Seriously, IMHO, a compact camera outperforming an SLR? I don't think so. Are you using a wrong mode or something that is not full auto (a.k.a. point and shoot)?
PLEASE DON'T BUY ANY CANON PRODUCTS ANYMORE!!!!! << tell this to professional photographers around the world ...

lousy flash in low lighting, poor detail:
I really don't agree with this... my few early manual capturings were quite disastrous. After a few months I started to control stuff better. Have you tried reading about digital photography?

Don't buy a Canon 350D I did and what a BIG mistake:
hmm, even the 350D cannot focus that well in low light, I find the manual focusing rather satisfying...

Poor body construction:
The price of the 350D compared to other D-SLRs completely tells that it's a budget D-SLR camera. Why are you trying to get the same things as a much more expensive camera(e.g. the 20D)? If you've paid the same price for a lousier body, I'll have nothing to say ...

this camera is one of the best quality/price camera that i bought. Picture are awesome when you have good knowledge of photography. i bought a 70-300 sigma lense to go with that and i don't regret my buy.

I have owned a Canon EOS 650 since 1989. I have several lenses and was pleased to get an XT that could use my existing lenses. I have a Sony DSC-S75 3.3 mp point and shoot that I bought 3 years ago for $400, so the $900 for the XT was a good value for me. You need to set this camera up USING THE MANUAL! If you follow directions you will be taking great photos that can be printed up to 13 x 19 inches

I have been shooting all day. Focus has been no problem what-so-ever. Nails those images. Color is saturated and pops! My friend was awed. He thought the images looked three dimentional. I would like to see a camera where the exposure building up in a long time exposure was visible in the LCD. Does anyone know of a camera (dSLR) with an LCD that stays live over the time of exposure?

IMAGE QUALITY is my priority than other aspect.
I`ve owned pocket camera Sony DSC-P92, advanced camera Panasonic Lumix FZ-20 with 36-432 mm tele, and now Canon 350D (a.k.a Canon Digital Rebel XT). First Sony was damaged on it`s "CCD" sensor so the "LCD" many times show blinking (sometimes normal, green, or purple). If you take picture at the green moment so the picture result is greenish. I muist pay $ 100 to replace CCD sensor on Sony Service Center at Jakarta, main city of Indonesia. This happend to my Sony DCR-TRV22 too but thanks it was on guarantee coverage. My suspect was my Dry Cabinet that my fault I setting to "dry". (BE AWARE TO SET NOT TO DRY).

Then I buy Panasonic Lumix, the lens is Leica 36-432 mm tele. Leica is superb in tele, when you maximum zoom the tele at 432mm the picture is NOT become DARKEN like other camera lenses! Diafragma still can hold in f 2.8. This because when zoomed, the front lenses is fix so the light come into the camera without any difference, at other camera lenses system when zoomed the front lens will "GO UPHEAD" so it will reduced amount of light come into camera. One my dissapoint os this Lumix is performance at ISO 400 that not "DOT GRAIN" but "X SHAPE GRAIN". But overall this Lumix is fairly good compare the price.

Dissapointed with those "X" shape grainy, nowaday I test Nikon D70 and Canon 350D at my friends shop. I take picture of a local model. With the same time, the same f 5,6, (because some lenses is better at narrow diafragma and worse at wide open.)the same shutter speed at 1/60 sc. And for the fairness the nearest picture size (because Nikon D70 is 6 MBPixel and Canon 350D is 8 MBPixel). And then for the other fairness, Canon 350D zoomed average at 50 mm (kit lens for Canon is 18-55, Nikon max is 70 mm). The result, both Canon and Nikon has the superb SHARP IMAGES, so the skin texture of model is shown crisp. And yes, Canon and Nikon truly become more sharp with more expensive lenses. One thing I tested with "KIT LENS", the standart lens. I will not test with more sharp "L Series Canon Lens" since this not fair, L Series is too expensive for my pockect. As sharpness I felt difficult to judge since this Canon and Nikon is very sharp (Note the sharp and contrast parameter in this both camera can be your own custom set and may affect the result, I use normal contrast, normal saturation, and LOW SHARPNESS since high sharpness is software fooled with adding some manipulative colour in every edge of the object), but Nikon D70 and Canon 350D have DIFFERENT COLOUR TONES. This will lead to subjective matter. My friend love Nikon D70 colour tones, and I love Canon colour tones. This different colour tones may possibly due to very different sensor that Nikon D70 is CCD and Canon 350D is CMOS sensor. Nikon D70 colour tones is slightly more contrast, Canon 350D colour tones is something that smooth skinny.

About moire issue on Nikon D70 (moire is an effect like rainbow on heavy repeating texture like some cloth or else) yes that is true but difficult to see in everyday life, and this moire is easy avoiding, the trick is set SHARPNESS to the LOWEST. I always set SHARPNESS to OFF or "0".

I choose Canon D350 since I like the smooth skin tones, but I repeat, this is very subjective. Others may love Nikon`s colour tones.

ABout noise on low light condition : Nikon D70 and Canon 350D is better from any pocket camera at ISO 400 or above. Both have ISO 800 and 1600.

About Auto focus in low light condition : this not easy to explain. I test Lumix and Canon 350D. The test is to catch focus picture on a Computer Monitor that I set very low light. I create a thin LINE using photoshop and show it in monitor. The I change the brigtness of the monitor from bright to dark step by step until very dark as we cannot see anything in the monitor. Result is both LUMIX and 350D is the same limitations. Both the difference is Lumix has more wide area sensor to focus, 350D have 7 spot area, but the problem is each spot is too small. You must remeber METERING is DIFFERENCE with auto focus area. Metering is for auto exposure od auto white balance. AUTO FOCUS is on 7 small area (like DOT). In the day light if you shoot an area with 1 same colour and no texture like a big white paper, or blue sky, every camera will cannot focus. In low light make sure you shoot an area with colour difference or contrast difference. In low light take photo of stomach is difficult than take picture of eyes or nipple. Make sure to activate all of 7 spot area, and make sure the contrast area is catch by one or more "tiny" 7 auto focus spot area.I hope for future Canon make this tiny spot become wide. something sounds like 7 WIDE AUTO FOCUS SPOT AREA, not 7 tiny dot auto focus spot area.

One cons I little dissapointed : at low light 350D have no AF illuminator LED light like Nikon D70 or many pocket camera, but Canon use "pre flash" to illuminate the object. So in the low light if you want to take picture then flash will flash it several times at high speed rate may be 3 or 5 times, blup, blup, blup, then 350D will now cacth the focus and take the picture. This will make the person you take picture blind for a moment, this is weird and not funny. So the solution is you must buy the Canon flash that have LED lamp AF illuminator, so when focusing camera use the LED red lamp on the flas unit, not the internal flash it self.

So this camera is good, and sharp enough. For more better, buy good lens like 28-135mm IS USM that crisp in the center and edge (75-300mm USM is soft in the center of image result). Or if money is ok, buy L series lens that is very very SHARP, and for low light focus better ability but for Canon Flash EX Series with little red LED lamp illuminator.

i would just like to offer up a professionals critique here as i think some may get dissuaded from some of the reviews previously posted..

one must keep in mind that many of the reviews that rate the camera as poor are ppl that are new to dslrs and have not gotten over the learning curve.. they are used to the bright almost fake looking pictures from their compacts.. that is simply not the look that you will achieve with a dslr.. canon and all other manufactures purposefully turn down the sharpening and saturation/contrast on their dslr models.. they do so to allow you the consumer to take control of your images and bring out the sharpness and colors in post-processing.. doing it this way allows for better image quality with less artifacting..

to get the most from your dslr.. you need to know a little more about photography concepts than with a pointnshoot.. so if you are disappointed in your images, its time to do a little research and figure out what you did wrong..

when used properly, this camera is capable of results that near those from professional level cameras that cost many times its price.. i have used them all from canon and do not feel hampered at all when using the rebel xt.. enjoy

This is my 10 digital camera and by far is the best, I agree with the lack of flash and I bought a super flash to use when needed. I have taken over 3000 pics so far and just love everything about it. Quick response (shutter)Etc,,,....
I also had a lexar memory card but the problem was NOT in the camera so don't blame them... I sent it to Lexar and they sent back a updated card and have had no problems since. I have the 28-135usm is lens and the 75-300usm and I wish I would have paid the extra for the is on the 75-300. Even my wife likes to shoot with it and that is something since she has no experience with cameras.. Worth the money and time to learn it.. Read and read and READ...!!!!!

Having converted from a point and shoot to the 350D is like suddenly winning the pools! I cannot belive the photos I am now taking.

I bought the kit vesion added Ultra 1 gb card. I've owned and used Minolta SRT101, Canon AE-1, Olympus Stylus 80 and 120. This is the camera that is as versatile and useful as "old School" SLR that is at a price point that justified my purchase. I do not regret it. Focus is excellent and faster than doing it manually. Viewfinder can be a bit brighter using a better trapdoor reflexive surface. Performance of stock lens is above average. The download process is very simple. Aftermarket lens purchase is necessary when purchasing technically superior camera like this. At least I can buy top quality opticals- not possible with these quasi-SLR looking $500 cameras.

Just bought the Rebel 350,3 weeks ago, I now noticed that focusing was a problem using Creative Zone. More than noticeable off-focus. Thought it was just my hands shaking. Used a tripod with timer and problem still persists. Using the Basic Zone instead the focusing was correct. Did someone else observed the same thing?

The Rebel is a great camera. I have been using a Olympus OM-1 for years and decided to go to digital. I could not have picked a better camera. the photos a clear and crisp. It allows me as much or as little input as I want with each photo. GREAT camera.

This is an excellent camera. The BEST of the Best!

Finally switched over to a dSLR and don't regret it. The camera is great, light, compact and easy to use plus I could use my previous lenses. To use the camera to it's fullest you must experiment, experiment, experiment and that's the best way to learn. People expect it to be a point and shoot camera, which it can be. But there's also the creative side of the camera. If you don't have the patience to learn then I don't recommend this camera and just buy a really good point and shooter.

I just got back from a week adventure through the New England area, and going through all of the pictures (1600 or so), I am AMAZED at how great they are.

Before I get started, I will say that I opted out of the kit lens and bought a Canon 28-105mm f/3.5-4/5. ($220)

I bought the camera, a bit wary of the "don't listen to the good ratings...", but I assure you that they are the best pictures that I have seen come from a camera. No point and shoot that I have ever seen can even compare to the quality, depth, crispness, and sharpness. Along with us, we had 3 p&s's to compare with. They took great shots as well, but in comparison, there really is none. Factor in 8MP to be able to crop, and you have a complete package to alter distant shots that you weren't prepared for.

About 300 yards off of our boat we had a humpback whale breach out of the water. I quickly go my camera out, set it on auto-sport shot and waited. The next time it jumped out, I held the button down and zoomed in (all at once). The pictures proved to be incredible, and the zooming in while shooting was no problem whatsoever, the pictures are crisp, clear, and detailed.

Now, I will say that the camera took some pretty crappy pictures, too. But, that was me playing around with the settings... I would say that if a bad picture came out, 90% of the time it was user problem, 5% was light (rainy/cloudy/etc), 5% was unknown.

LEARN TO USE THIS CAMERA.

If you are the type that will expect the BEST picture from AUTO, then do not buy this camera. Buy a nice quality camera with a 10x plus zoom and good shutter response(Olympus C750 is a great choice, imo). On the XT, Auto provides for great pictures, but if you really want to experiment, set it to Av or Tv to play with apature or shutter, the camera does the rest.

Bottom line:
Great Camera, Great Pictures, Great Speed, worth every single penny

Wow, how can so many people be so WRONG?

The 350D is an outstanding piece of equipment.
I bought one after trying the 300D, and I was impressed. The image quality is excellent, and the autofocus (on shorter lenses, mind) is extremely fast rarely getting it out of focus.

The one place that I found this camera falls down, is in low lighting conditions. Fair enough, it's an "Advanced amateur/Semi-professional" camera, you wouldn't expect it to be able to operate in such harsh light. For that sort of durability, get a Pro-SLR, or a 20D.

The pictures are nearly always sharp and I would say to anyone that is getting continually out of focus shots, that they are failing to use the camera correctly.

This camera is definitely the best in this category, fast autofocus, many manual options and the option to hold the shutter open all lead to this camera being exceptional value for money.

I purchased a rebel xt for my daughter and sent it to her (she is at work about four hours away). She called to say that she was getting an error message regarding the memory card. She came home this weekend and I took a look. THe card was very stiff to put in and take out. I took it to a repair shop where the tech looked at it and told me the back of the slot was warped and the pins would not slide into the holes in the card. I spoke with Canon who told me I must send it in for repair. You would think that before it left the factory, someone would check to make sure the camera worked before sending it on for sale. This was my first Canon purchase and I suspect my last.

This camera is everything the experts say it is, and for the people who submitted the bad reviews, maybe you should learn how to use it before you talk about it like it's some piece of crap. Hundreds of experts cannot be wrong. It is the best camera on the market for that price. Just because a camera doesn't have what you describe as sturdiness, that doesn't mean it cannot take better pictures than a sturdy camera. The kit lenses are not the greatest, but that is why they are kit lenses. Buy a real lens and then talk to me about quality.

I've had this camera for about two months, and honestly, it disappointed me at first. The focus with the kit lens was inaccurate, and the resulting pictures came out soft, with the center of the frame being the softest part of the image. I tried the automatic mode, and the results came out like I described.

Color was fine, and when I did use the manual focus, pictures were sharper and more accurate.

I borrowed a friend's 17-40mm Canon USM lens, and what a difference! Accurate focus, better sharpness in the entire frame, and faster automatic focus altogether. He also let me use a 50mm prime from Canon, and again, better clarity all around.

As I've read in some "professional" reviews, you may want to consider getting just the body for the Rebel XT, then a separate, higher quality lens. I wish I had done this...I could've saved some money.

Also, try utilizing the manual functions. As for the flash, it's not the best. My Canon S410 seems to have better coverage than this one. But if you're taking higher quality/professional pictures, you may want to purchase a bigger flash anyway.

This camera is wonderful - easily the best digital I've owned. There's little to add to the other good reviews, but I did want to shed some light on all these missing pictures: the camera will allow you to "burst" shooting pictures (for lack of a better term) where you can take a dozen or so pictures in rapid succession before it needs to slow down and copy them to the memory card - which essentially gets around my biggest complaint with cheaper cameras, which simply take entirely too long between photos. HOWEVER, if you switch the camera off immediately after taking a shot, you may lose a picture or three if they've not had time to finish copying to the memory card. Solution? Just remember to look at the blinking red LED (which, I'll admit, is far enough down on the back of the body that it's easy to miss) and don't switch it off until the LED stops blinking. I dropped a few in my first week before I realised what I was doing. PEBCAK, I believe they call it. Cheers.

I have shot over 2500 pictures with the XT and at first I thought it was just my rusty SLR skills but I am beginning to think there IS a auto focus problem with this camera. I would guess that only about 1 out of 20 to 25 pictures are what I would call crisp clear and sharp focus. I keep experimenting with different setting and nothing seems to work. I bought the body only so I could avoid soft pictures with the cheap 18-55 lens kit and bought the 28-135 IS USM lens with the thoughts that a better lens gives better pictures. Does not look that way. Funny thing is when it does focus properly it is outstanding. It just does not happen very often. Even when I try to focus the camera my self I have problems since the viewfinder is somewhat dim. Would I buy this camera again if I had it to do all over.... not sure. Most likely not. Too many people are having the same problem for this not to be a real problem so I hope Canon realizes it and can fix it with a firmware fix. I might try RAW one of these days but that sounds like too much work.

I already own the Digital Rebel, but just wanted to upgrade for the added pixels, and the features that have been added. I love the quality of the pictures, and you can make some great enlargements from the large-size files you can get. Highly Recommended! Great Price.

I don't know what the problem is with the other reviewers' cameras but I suspect "operator error." I have owned both the 300D and now the 350D. The 350 is superior in every aspect in my view. The 8 megapixel CMOS sensor produces rich, lovely photos, superior in my opinion to the competition. Color and sharpness are subjective matters and can be easily adjusted via the camera settings to suit any photographer. Don't like autofocus? Set it for center sensor focus or focus manually. My favorite 'Parameter' settings are +0 contrast, +1 sharpness, +2 saturation. See my results at: http://www.pbase.com/sbowen

In our studio we use 3 Canon mini-DV video cam's and so I chose this one to move from film 35 mm SLR for personal and casual studio use… very happy with it after some heavy sessions. A complete SLR feel, superb quality so far, and all my EOS lenses work like magic with it.

I'm from the Philippines and I just bought this camera last April 2005. I thought it's the perfect camera but after just one day I've discovered that my old 4 megapixel Kodak camera was better! I felt being robbed. It was my hard earned money. I want to return it to Canon people. Your camera is very lousy!!!! PLEASE DON'T BUY ANY CANON PRODUCTS ANYMORE!!!!!

Don't use the Rebel XT with Lexar's 80x compact flash cards. I've now lost over 3G of pictures due to the cards just not working after shooting lots of pictures. Lexar has been little help, and tells me no one has lost so many pics. Cannon says it is not their fault. We still don't know if its the camera or the cards, and no one has been able to find our pictures. Besides, Lexar replaced a brand new 2G card with a used model after they could not find our pictures. Stay away.

I took around 500 pictures in 3 weeks and I am astounded by the image quality !
This camera is very quick. I use a 2.2GB microdrive.
I also bought the handle kit with an extra battery.
Also a 60mm macro f2.8, wow.
For the price nothing come close, I feel bad for those with D70 with only 6 Mpixels.

Have had this camera now for three days. Thinking i was getting more for my money with the canon, i was clearly mistaken! the auto focus gets confused very easily and often misses completely. if that wasn't bad enough the 350d has a strong tendency to over expose, meaning irreversible washed out images. The images are sharp when in focus but are cold and slightly flat. I have a friend with a Pentax ist ds. The images produced with his camera are in comparison warmer with much better exposure along with a a good level of sharpness. The Pentax also has a far superior 11 point AF which hits the spot every time. The 350 is going back to be replaced by either the Pentax or even possibly the Nikon d70s depending on finances.

Camera meets all my digital photography needs plus more!!! Just the best camera out there! Recommended with total trust

Owned the camera for three weeks. I purchased the expensive flash, lens, and so on. The camera took horrible pictures in low lighting situations, and there was no consistency with exposures. Much different pictures on screen compared to when you downloaded them. They were much worse.

I use this camera 6 days out of 7 working for a news paper co. in the Advertising Dept.
The camera is ok for this but I would not buy this camera for myself because Auto focus does not focus where you want it to so you have to select a box in the viewer...I choose the middle and leave it their most of the time. SHARPNESS ! Huge disappointment when you view your Image at full Pixel size ...I have not Printed an enlargement yet to see how noticeable it actually will be.
Can not get my Canon 2 x converter to work with my Canon 100 to 400 Image stabilizer zoom Lens.
The Image is black with a extremely faint Image showing. Tried all sort of different settings.

I have only owned this for 2 weeks, so am no expert. However, so far I love it. Easy to use, fast start-up, almost instant response & great quality photos. I have seen other comments about poor autofocus & the only time I have had trouble was trying to photo my black dog at night!

Only criticism is that Photoshop CS does not support the 350D RAW format yet. Looks like I'll have to upgrade to CS2!

I have had none of the problems, so far, of some of the reviewers. Pictures (primarily waterfalls) are crisp, even with the inexpensive "kit" lens, hand held and wide open or nearly so, with shutter speeds primarily about 1/100 sec. I have made several 11" x 16" prints on my Canon i9900, and they look quite good.
While the camera does not have the very solid construction of the 20D it is reasonable.
I will soon be testing my newly arrived Tamron 28-75/2.8 and send a follow-up review.

At first I thought this was a perfect camera for me- light, easy to use and with good results. It is now sitting in the box-I am taking it back to the shop where I purchased it as the cf card failed to work and then deleted the images. I thought it was the cf card so the shop exchanged the card(a2gig Lexar). I used for a wedding at the weekend and 40 images were lost when I changed the card and today when I tried to reformat the card it refused to play.
Maybe it 's just a faulty camera????

I had a Canon 300D and fitted a 1.4F USM lens, the results were perfect. When I saw the 350D I thought it only be better, lighter, faster and more features - I was fooled! What a sad fool too, I sold my perfect 300D to my father in law and bought the 350D - In 3 weeks I have never taken a picture as good as my 3 year old kodak 4mb snap camera! This camera is a joke. All features and no quality. I read this week a review in a UK mag. that confirmed my experience and that was it. I quickly bought a 300D again from the limit stock still on sale. Don't make my mistake, this camera takes photos which are poor quality , often out of focus and even when focused so soft you wonder why you wasted your money.

This is a really incredible digital camera, and I'm glad to have bought one, but what use are 800 methods of autofocus if none of them work? That's not completely fair -- they all seem to work acceptably up to distances of a few metres, but they die (badly) with distance shooting. I'm actually a fan of manual focus, but I'd really like to be able to hand my camera to someone else the odd time and not have to explain manual focus in detail. Maybe they'll fix this in a future software patch/update, but unless you're fine with always using manual focus (or waiting for that elusive update), this is not the camera for you.

On the plus side, the camera does everything else flawlessly, from ultra-sharp 8mp images, to ultra-fast response (ironically including autofocus), to AdobeRGB support and an almost insultingly simple menu interface (powerful, but very simple, so very good). The LCD could be a bit brighter for daylight shooting, but it's extremely good otherwise. Canon's MacOSX software's a bit disjointed, but Photoshop and iPhoto both work fine (still working out which is best for everyday use, probably Photoshop CSv2, of course).

I am in the market for a dSLR. For me, it has to be a small, light budget dSLR for my semi-professional filming/photography business. I almost went out and bought the Pentax *ist DS (as it's much better at photo taking than the 300D) and then the 350 D was unleashed by Canon! I was immediately interested and went to Jessops in Birmingham to try it out. To my horror, the pictures in auto and manual white balance mode were washed out in the store. I know this can be amended in Photoshop, but to be plainly fair, paying 700 Pounds for the kit should produce good/excellent pics without too much post image processing. The other MAJOR problem with the Canon 350 D is its auto focusing - its terrible. I had all sorts of problems, only two pictures out of the eight I took at the store were in focus. I was extremely disappointed with the results when I took them home to view on my monitor. Although quick to focus, its no good when the autofocus consistently gets it wrong. I then tried a different photographic shop in Coventry near to where I work. They too had the Canon selling for the same price. I again went into the shop and took images with it. This time I took indoor as well as outdoor shots. I took pictures with the Canon and the Pentax *ist DS and then compared them at home on my monitor. Again, the Pentax images were far superior in terms of exposure and more importantly, sharpness. The Canon is lighter than the Pentax and slightly smaller. But I have solid proof to show the 6 megapixel Pentax is far, far superior than the Canon. DO NOT BUY THE CANON UNTIL YOU HAVE TESTED IT! THE PICS LOOK SHARP ON THE VIEWFINDER, TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT HOME, ZOOM IN A LITTLE AND THE IMPERFECTIONS WILL SURPRISE YOU! ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING THE CANON FOR SEMI-PROFESSIONAL USE - STAY AWAY! You may be wondering why I haven't mentioned the best camera in this group (Nikon D70) - well, its just a bit too large for me. Pentax *ist DS for me thank you very much.

Bought the black body--which feels sturdy, solid, expensive and comfortable in my hands--with an EF 24-85 1:3.5-4.5 zoom lens. I love this, my first SLR, camera. It's fast, takes big bright sharp pictures and has more features than I can imagine using right now. I'd recommend it to anyone looking to upgrade to an SLR from a point and shoot. Obviously, a pro would be limited by this camera, but not, yet, a regular user like me. My only beef so far is a minor quibble: custom white balance is a 5 or 6 step process I haven't mastered yet.

I was really excited to be one of the first to purchase the new rebel xt (silver). After getting it home and spending time checking out the features I was really disappointed with the feel and weight of the camera. I was not impressed with its plastic body and felt It had the same quality as a $200.00 camera from a discount store. I think that Canon could have invested a little more resources in the construction considering the $1000.00 they are getting for it. The camera just feels cheap and the quality could be better. I Should have bought the Nikon D70 or Canon 20D. They feel like a sturdier better quality piece of equipment even though the Nikon is also polycarbon.

I do not have one of the new XT's but we sell them at Best Buy so I have had the opportunity to use one over the last week. This camera is incredible. When I first heard about it I did not believe that they could make it any smaller but they did. The camera takes 3 frames per second which rivals most film cameras and will shoot 14 shots in one burst. I am going to assume that they were able to boost its performance by adding some sort of cache as it takes a little bit of time for all of the shots to go on the card after you are done with the burst. However, I was using a junk 32 mb card, not a CF II that I should. All in all, this is an unbelievable camera that is very easy to use at an unbelievable price. We carry them at Best Buy for only $999. I have started saving for my own. You will love it.