WAHOO! Digital Rebel XT! Surprise gift!

[Betsy]

My darling DH just surprised me with a Canon Digital Rebel XT DSLR camera.

I have no idea how to use it.

I have no idea what lenses to buy.

Teach me, people. What books to help me learn? What accessories do you love? What lenses are your most used? Show me your cute camera bags!

We're expecting our first baby in a month, and he gave me this as my "push present" but wanted me to have it early so I'd know how to use it! Ain't he sweet?

[mamakimberly]

Ha, that is AWESOME!

I just bought one and it will be here on Wednesday! I can NOT wait!!!

[Hom74]

Awww...what a sweetie! You'll love it. Just take it out and start playing w/it. Even in the Auto settings you can tell the difference between P&S photos. Look HERE (http://www.digishoptalk.com/boards/showthread.php?t=5305), HERE (http://www.digishoptalk.com/boards/showthread.php?t=3055) and HERE (http://www.digishoptalk.com/boards/showthread.php?t=4284) for some lens suggestions.

I've also heard suggestions to get a Filter (http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php?form_keyword=hoya+58mm+uv+filter&topcat_id=&page_id=584&lo_p=0&hi_p=0). If anything, it protects the lens a little from dust, sand, little poking hands. Easier and cheaper to replace a filter than a lens.

I have a LowePro Toploader (http://www.ebags.com/lowepro/toploading_bags/category_search/index.cfm?N=20014250) b/c 1) I'm not a professional so don't have all the equipment more experienced photographers have lol 2) I feel safer carrying it around in a semi-padded bag when out on the playground w/2 small children that I have to keep my hands free.

[mamakimberly]

oh, as for accessories, I bought a bundle with mine:

http://www.shopsunshine.com/gallery/350d_1500_sun.jpg

I think that has everything I should need to start! Oh, and I got a remote control! :)

I've heard from several people that a tripod is a good idea especially if wanting to do portraits of kids.... so I had that on my "must have" list!

You're going to have so much fun! Have I told you how jealous I am yet??? Is it Wednesday yet???

[rmcabana]

Oh man Betsy! That is sweet! :)

[Lauren]

Congrats!! For the baby shots (congrats again) you'll want something that takes good portraits and that you can use in low light. The cheapest ($75) lens Canon makes is actually one of their best when it comes to this - the 50mm 1.8 Mark II. Get this as soon as you can as there's a bit of a learning curve when it comes to using lenses with this narrow depth of field and you definitely don't want to miss those newborn shots.

Crumpler make cute camera bags but I think Lowepro are the most functional. If you get a filter to protect your lens, you'll need the 58mm size for the kit lens and I believe this is the same size for the 50mm. They will say what size they need on inside of the lens cap and also on the front of the lens itself. A tripod and remote are essential if you're going to do any long exposures, but you can probably live without those for now. I actually left my tripod in Australia by accident three months ago and haven't missed it! :lol:

I also recommend to use it in P mode as opposed to Auto (green) mode until you're ready to move into the more manual settings - if you want to, that is. It'll still select everything for you, but allows you more control of the back end stuff, like the ISO settings and shooting in RAW mode instead of JPG. Oh, and I've never read either because I came from film SLRs so didn't need to, but a lot of people recommend "Understanding Exposure" and the "Rebel XT Field Guide" as good books for you to learn photography (more the manual side) and your camera (with some general photography sections) respectively.

[Betsy]

Thanks ladies! Great recommendations!

Is a 1 Gig card big enough? Should I get another? With my P&S 5 meg camera, I have 3 cards of varying size, but these files are so much bigger.

[Dani~B]

1G should be big enough unless you are shooting RAW I think. With my 2G card I can get around 500 pics on it, plenty for me!
I love this book: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT Field Guide (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764588133/104-1411275-9090333?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155)
Congrats! Have fun!

[Betsy]

I keep hearing about that field guide - may just have to go get it!

[Lauren]

If you choose to shoot RAW, a 1gb card will hold about 120 pics on it. Fine for day to day use, may want to pick up a spare (or two) for vacations though - and that goes for JPG as well.

[cheribear]

I might need to get that field guide too!

I just have the kit lens with mine and I love it so far. DH surprised me with mine and its just about the best surprise EVER. I didn't think he knew what a Rebel was. :lol: I haven't bought anything else for it so far except the case - right now I'm wanting to get a *smaller* memory card to have on hand when I forget the big one in the computer. I tend to fill the things to capacity and its hard to get a few pics printed off at Wal-mart when 100 people are waiting behind me - so I think I need a smaller card for that reason, too.

~Cheri

[Amanda McGee]

you girls have me drooling with envy.... ;) looking forward to seeing some of those baby pics, Betsy!