Rebel XT owners, come on in :)

I have an XT, get the XTi very nice. Nothing Ive noticed really that I dont like about it.

We have the Rebel XT and it's fantastic. We had a Sony digital before the Rebel and the Sony doesn't even compare. The two big differences between the XT and the XTi are LCD size and megapixels. The XTi has a 2.5 inch LCD screen and is a 10.1 megapixel. The XTi is also about $200 more than the XT. If your going to buy one look online, you can get them much cheaper online than at say CircuitCity or BestBuy. We also have a 4gig Hitachi MicroDrive, and it holds well over 1000 pictures in high resolution. I've seen the MicroDrives online for as cheap as $130. It's well worth it. As far as lens go try to buy the camera as a kit, it will come with a 55mm lens, battery, and a neck strap. We also bought a 75-300mm lens for about $200, which lets you get really close up at the track. If you have anyother questions feel free to ask.

That sounds like a really good deal, I don't think your going to do much better than that. Do you know how many Millimeters that lens is? Because I would highly recommend that 75-300 mm lens. Up a NE Dragway we can get close-up shots from the top of the bleachers and it looks like we're standing right next to the cars. We got some great pics last year at the FFW.

For another $120 get the bigger lens, you won't regret it. As far as the memory cards go, depending on how many pics you want to take the 512 that comes with the kit might not be big enough. You also might want to looking into a spare battery too. It sucks when the battery dies and you don't have a spare in the camera bag. That happened to us and we missed out on some good shots.

where did you find that deal? spread your wealth of information

I have the XTi and so far, love the thing. I don't recommend purchasing memory cards that have moving parts in them... particularly if you like taking action shots with the burst mode. The flash cards I purchased are all solid state and I spent the extra $$ to ensure that memory I got was very quick.

For a first lens purchase, you would have one hell of a time beating the Tamron 28mm - 300mm (review here: http://www.shutterbug.com/equipmentreviews/lenses/1102sb_tamron/ ).

It's about the only lens you'll ever need for most shooting instances. No having to swap to this lens or that one while strolling through the Zoo or whatever. Point, zoom, and click.

About the only thing that I use the small kit lens for (the one that came with the camera) is shooting portraits etc. when that's all I'll be doing and don't need the additional weight of the Tamron.

I've also used the Tamron with a high quality lens doubler when I needed to reach waaaaaaaaaaay out and touch something.

It's not the end all in lenses. Of course better ones can be had for more money but it'll be a LOT more money and they won't include the versatility of 28mms all the way out to 300mm either.

Get yourself a battery grip too. These high falootin electronic toys take juice and battery swapping sucks when you're on the road.