I have had a Canon T1i since Christmas, when my husband gave it to me as a gift with the explanation, "This has to be both of ours because it is so expensive." Well, I can't really picture swapping the same camera back and forth during photo opportunities - it is SO HARD to get them just right to begin with, let alone having someone standing at your shoulder saying, "Give it to me! Give it to me!" SO...... we just ordered a SECOND T1i (a motivated woman can find money, TRUST me!) for him, with overnight shipping, in hopes that we'll have it by his next day off (Saturday).For Christmas I had asked for a DSLR camera for Christmas. My father taught me how to shoot a 35mm and do macro photography when I was in high school, and bought me my own SLR camera as a young adult. When I couldn't afford my own darkroom, etc., over time I finally went to digital point-and-shoots because they were affordable - no film, no developing. However, when I went to do macro with a point-and-shoot, frequently it would aim behind, or before, and I would have to go out to normal, switch back to macro, try again... taking macro shots of small flowers, etc., was aggravating and ruined my fun. After two different summer vacations with float trips and a total lack of good macro photography, I sadly admitted to my new husband that all I REALLY wanted for Christmas was a DSLR camera. Since we're older and have to be more careful (we only do purchases like this cash) with finances, I actually shopped cheap, even finding a close-out several years old never sold by Wal-mart Olympus and began researching it to see if I could work with it. Hubby encouraged me to learn a little more about DSLR's with internet research and I read him some highlights and once again suggested that he divide up whatever was budgeted for ME for Christmas amongst our grown children or the grandkids.Hubby, unfortunately, is a bit of a Luddite. He never figured out his Blackberry before it DIED and then went back to a Nokia brick phone. This makes me a LITTLE worried about him having his own T1i, because it might NEVER get out of automatic mode, but at least he'll be happy and leave me alone with mine. This, however, contributed to his choice of camera. He went to Wal-mart and bought the most expensive DSLR they had in stock (LITERALLY).He couldn't have made a better choice (sorry for the long intro - wanted you to know where my point of view comes from). Opened it up Christmas morning and did NOT have time to read the manual before Christmas day went crazy (I knew he got it - he handed it to me, with receipt, for me to wrap it - men are romantic that way - at least it gave me a chance to take the battery out to have it ready for the morning!) so I just put it on all automatic, in hopes that the pictures would turn out well.It was a great day! Got wonderful candids of my grandson and his parents (they dote on him and he believes he is the center of the world), and it only took explaining where "the button" was to my hubby's father and step-mother (both in their 80s) for them to be able to use the camera easily. No - the pictures didn't always have only natural light, but the TTL control in the flash also helps reduce the "this is a flash picture" look unless things are really dark. On automatic, it worked really well.Then I went home and read most of the manual and switched to the programmed modes. They work pretty well, too, and once again, don't require a whole lot of attention. The most likely settings are chosen for you, and you then pretty much just point and shoot.A caveat - I don't like how high this thing prefers to default the ISO if given a choice. I'm going to switch to tripod a lot more and choose my own ISO - just like in the old film, you add a lot of light sensitivity and the noise (graininess) gets worse. Your best pictures are in your lower number ISOs, and if possible, never above 400 (though 800 actually isn't bad).The kit lens, I think, might be painted as more of a villain than necessary. The various "photo style" modes change sharpness, etc., and those possibilities need to be addressed too before you announce the lens itself is too soft. I've noticed that I can sharpen images afterwards in processing and haven't gotten to the point I'm messing TOO much with the image quality in photo style yet - it's on the list for the next few days.As someone who has been away from SLR cameras and film development for more than a decade(only had a brief window of developing in my life, but loved it tremendously), I have been surprised at how much things have been coming back in the past month. The interrelation between aperture, shutter speed and ISO came back pretty quickly, and aperture and depth of field control was almost immediate. I believe, though, that the simplicity of the controls AND the way that you can slowly "take over" more of the control as your comfort level improves, is AWESOME. It allows a user to start at the most basic level of photography - get what you want a picture of in the viewfinder and press the button - and move up from there, all the while actually preparing them to realize there are differences required to MAKE better pictures with various subjects.At this point I've started taking RAW plus JPG (and there is an immediate clarity difference between RAW and JPG before you change anything in the RAW files - wow) and am starting to work with the bundled software to try to figure out digital processing. I found a video tutorial for the software on the internet as well as the manual which came WITH the camera in its box.If you're someone who has NEVER had an SLR camera and/or have gotten "spoiled" by some of the higher-end digital point and shoots, I want to give you advance warning. The kit lens will NOT zoom far enough for you to be happy with it, especially if you like taking pictures of wildlife or sports, etc. For hubby I already purchased a Sigma 50-200mm zoom with optical stabilization (similar to Canon's IS) for less than $150. When he gets his camera it will be his. I'm going to try the Canon 55-250mm and see if there is an appreciable difference (besides the range) in color saturation and clarity. For the price, the Sigma was about the cheapest zoom lens I could find with optical stabilization (hubby and I both have shaky hands - one of those lovely things about aging). Hubby, after taking two pictures with my T1i with its kit lens refused to let me buy him ANY DSLR unless I already had a zoom lens to go with it. It is THAT frustrating if you're someone used to being able to zoom whenever you want to.I would recommend one of those two lenses or possibly looking for a "walk around" lens like one with a 28-200 or 28-300 range. Remember, though, that zoom lenses have some trade off on optical quality, but if you're used to a digital point and shoot, you won't be disappointed by the quality, especially if you pay attention to the settings you are using.I love this camera. Loyalty and love to my father makes me refuse to call this my favorite camera or Christmas gift ever (since both were Christmas presents and nice cameras), but if it weren't for that, I probably would call this my favorite. It has reawakened or maybe better allowed my passion for photography and to share the art in every day. To use this camera to its full capacity (not including lenses, filters and those choices, just to learn features and software) is going to take me at least another month or two.Remember when you choose a camera (as a lot of the more informed people in here will tell you), you are buying into a "system." If you have an existing one, it's easier to continue in that product line. It will be exciting for us to have two alike because we can swap some things we won't use quite as often and/or get extras that can be shared (extra battery packs and the two-pack-at-a-time AC/DC charger, for one; and lenses that are more specialized). Canon says that their newer Rebels (including T1i) have an estimated 100,000 shutter release life before the assembly fails and needs replaced. To me that means this camera will last me two years, three on the outside (but unlikely), which is plenty of time to continue to acquire lenses, etc., and improve on what I have AND let the nicer technology get into my price range so I can afford to upgrade to something that is even better than this (who knows WHAT DSLRs will be like three years from now!).This is NOT a "professional" level DSLR, but what I've done with changing the various settings on the camera plus options available in the software allows me to create MUCH nicer images than I would with any point-and-shoot, and the ability to switch to lenses which work better for certain subjects as well as having absolute control over how my image is created is absolutely great. It is a camera that allows you to move on, a little bit at a time, as you grow to understand both photography and how its functions work.I CONSIDERED offering to get a Rebel XS to save money and give him my T1i. The biggest differences were the amount of megapixels (but 10.1 megapixels can blow up to a very LARGE image), speed of the processor (Digic III vs Digic IV), size of screen... I looked at a lot of these things and figured they didn't really matter. I also believed that the thing that would frustrate hubby MOST from the XS was the fact the screen doesn't have the nice "auto shut-off" feature where it turns the screen off as you bring the camera up to your face, which keeps you from having the glare from the screen distracting you as you look through the viewfinder. From what I read and what I know about photography, I believed I could get fairly equal images from either camera, but the T1i had a few easier features and I worried that I loved it too much to actually enjoy the XS after a month with the T1i.I ended up not pushing him into the XS because I realized that the fact there were VISIBLE differences it would seem to him that I "sold him down" and kept "nicer" for me. That and I think that one little thing - the screen shutoff, would REALLY matter to him (and the MP count, though it is really irrelevant at those levels for the kind of photography he does).If you're interested in a good camera that has a well-respected company behind it and a large array of 3rd party accessories to keep costs competitive, I would really recommend this one. I have been surprised at how fast I've remembered what I needed, and how the controls have felt increasingly intuitive the longer I've used them.Also - though there is an admittedly small shutter lag (more than 3fps in burst mode, by the way), it feels like an "old-fashioned" camera when you take pictures with it compared to the digital point-and-shoots. You point at what you want a shot of and if you've got auto-focus on and everything was already set for where you were aiming (I do a lot of bird pictures), you usually can get your shot when you expect to. I can't speak to seeking for autofocus, because that will be lens dependent and wouldn't be a fault of the camera itself.If it were ME I wouldn't upgrade from an XS or XSi to a T1i; there aren't enough major changes yet. Earlier models though, or migrating from point and shoot cameras - those situations make the T1i a very good value.

I'm just an average guy who's trying to break into the professional world of photography... I've been eyeing the Canon 50D and was so close to buying one when I heard of the T1i. So I compared notes and found the T1i was nearly identical to the Canon 50D minus a few things I couldn't really notice (or care about) since I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about photography.After reading what few reviews there were on the internet because this item was new, I decided to take the plunge and buy this camera and lucky me, I ordered it the day it was released to the world so it came quickly!The results? I LOVE IT! But before I say more...Now, if you're a big guy like me who has BIG HANDS, YOU WILL WANT THE BATTERY GRIP that is extra. TRUST ME... It's a no-brainer... get it because it will make the camera feel so much better and make it look even more professional!That, and the battery grip comes with 2 extra 1800mA batteries which will give you a total of 3 batteries all together. I've been playing with it for several days and still haven't made a dent in draining these batteries!How's it operate? GREAT! Let me go into more detail...It's got several settings that I will sum up for you in Regular English, not Geek speak because I wish more people would speak this way instead of beating around the bush...It's got old fashioned digital camera settings (you know the little icons of the flower or mountain, sports guy, etc) so if you know how to use these settings, you'll be able to use this quickly and comfortably.It's got a full auto mode (which I like to call "No Brainer Mode") because this feature is a no-brainer! You just shoot and let it think for you! It will do EVERYTHING for you and do an incredible job! (NICE :-D)And it's got the Advanced Modes so if you are a pro or want the controls of a professional camera (you know, to change the ISO settings or F-stops, etc) You can do that too!They really put a lot of thinking into this camera and its nice, inside and out. One of the things I've discovered that's extra credit is the software that comes with it called Digital Photo Professional.If you've read some of these reviews that talks about a picture maybe soft somewhere or the ISO noise (for whatever reason)... Digital Photo Professional has some sweet settings that will get rid of that for you and enhance your pictures to STUNNING!There's so much potential in this camera and remember, it's made by the same folks who made the 50D and all the other versions! So what if its got minor tweaks that others don't... the bottom line is that this is an incredible camera!I'm not crazy about the "Rebel" name in it because it makes it sound Amateurish... This should be called The Canon EOS AWESOME T1i because it looks, feels and is just that!Even better is the High Definition Video you can record if you want to. Sure its not equal to a dedicated HD camcorder but its nice to have if you want to record something important and look sharp too! Personally, I can't tell the difference between the 1080p and 720p so don't let these little nit-pickers bother you.Go with your gut and DO GET A GOOD LENS to compliment the one it comes with. Your next best bet is to get a 28mm to 200mm LENS so you can do those zoom and up close shots.With so many lenses, it will just open up all kinds of creative things you can do. I hope my review answered your questions! I'm glad I bought it and look forward to all the possibilities! So if you're looking to be a professional, this is a great start! If you're looking to have a nice camera that you want to enjoy as a hobby, this is also for you!As I said in the title... the best of both worlds! :-)UPDATE: While I've had it for about a month now, I'm very impressed with its performance and battery life! And to the person who commented, I'm a happy customer who's good at wording. I don't work for anyone but myself. Check my website in my profile if you want proof. I just call it as it is. :-)