I'll start by saying that this is my first SRL and I'm hooked. I liked taking pictures but I never was "into photography" until I got this camera. My wife used to have a film SRL and kept wanting a digital one, which eventually led to this purchase. No regrets whatsoever. I have had the camera about 9 months now.
Uses: I use this camera most frequently to capture moments from get-togethers with family and friends. It's great for taking pictures of children who don't sit still. I've taken lots of pictures of my dogs. It makes them look sweeter than I think they are. : ) The majority of my pictures are indoors but I take a large number outside too. I'm the official family photographer now.
Children: It is great for capturing personality and expressions of my young daughter. Often, I just point the camera at her and hold down the shutter release and let the continuous mode capture all the poses and expressions. I have gotten so many priceless pictures that never would have happened with a point and shoot (P&S) camera. Family and friends are always appreciative of me taking great quality pictures of their children as well. My pictures with this camera are usually better than what they have taken.
VS P&S: Too many times, I would grab my P&S, see a photo op, and take the picture only for the moment to be gone by the time the picture was actually taken. The speed of this continuous shooting mode on this great. The FPS of continuous mode is one of the main points that would get me to upgrade to a "nicer" camera. Lack of money and time (to really learn the DSRL) are really the only reasons to stick with a P&S.
VS Video: I think it is a personal preference thing but I prefer great pictures to video. Video is good to capture moments but there is just something very special about a great picture that I do not get from watching a video. There is a reason for the saying "a picture speaks a thousand words."
RAW vs JPEG: I tried going RAW for a while but every time I showed my wife the RAW I had tweaked in Photoshop Elements vs. the JPEG of the same shot, she almost always picked the dang JPEG so I'm almost always shooting the highest res JPEG these days. I do still plan to do more RAW in the future though. RAW gives you more options but takes more work.
Kit lens VS others: Hmm, this is always an interesting debate. I'm a visual guy but I'm not always the most detail oriented. I rarely use the kit lens though I like the focal length it provides for indoor pictures. My most often used lens is the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM prime lens. I'll be writing a review of that in the future and posting some pictures too. I'm thinking about getting a high end zoom in the next 6 months to a year. Basically, I want the quality and speed of that prime but the convenience of a zoom. That combination costs about a grand. I just have not decided to let go of that much money since I'm not a professional and do not receive any money for my pictures. I got the EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom as part of a package deal when I got the XSi kit. I really like the focal length, especially for outside nature pictures. 250mm on this camera (1.6x crop factor) really reaches out. Having said that, it still makes me want more at times. There are some wildlife (mostly bird) pictures that I wanted that needed some extra reach. I got some pretty good zoo pictures with it. This camera's resolution with take advantage of the high end lenses so my wish list has gotten quite pricey.
Lens wish list - these are all expensive, maybe even crazy-expensive for an amateur:
EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM (macro photography is just fascinating to me)
EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM or the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Standard Zoom (both have pros and cons)
one of the EF 70-200mm L series lenses
longer reach 300mm-400mm lens
Ease of Use/Quality of Pictures: I am combining these two qualities because basically, with a DSLR, it comes down to how easily can you take really good pictures. I think it is a combination of luck and skill. You are not going to magically start taking the best pictures of your life just because you buy an expensive camera. It still takes work. I have a couple of coworkers who got a Nikon D90 around the same time I got this XSi. They have taken good pictures, but both have make comments that it is hard to take tons of really good pictures with a SLR unless you spend time learning about the camera, photography concepts, and practice. I think this is a great camera, but that 5 star rating doesn't mean it hands awesome pictures to you. I've seen quotes of the % of "keepers" that good photographers expect to have from a photo shoot. It isn't a very big number. I just want perspective buyers to know that it takes some effort to get consistently great pictures out of any SLR, especially the more varied the conditions and setting you are photographing.
Accessories: I've spent more on accessories than the price of the camera. Is that required, no. But it sure helps. : ) That is a main reason why I'm glad I didn't start out with a more expensive camera. It leaves money for other goodies. I got two lenses in addition to the kit one, a backpack, remote, tripod, several books, Photoshop Elements, and a couple of SDHC cards. Oh yea, I spent a pretty good chuck of change on the Speedlite 580EX II Flash too. It's great but can be harsh and startling to those being photographed if you aren't careful. I'm trying to take more natural light pictures instead of flash, hence some of my lens choices.
I hope this long review was helpful. I have really enjoyed this camera and starting photography as a hobby. It has opened up a whole new world to me.Get more detail about Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Black).
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