Hey Bud,
I just got mine about a month ago with the stock lens.
Here's my advice on the camera:
Get the body for as cheap as you can, even refurbished. Get a warranty too! For the lens, it's not as great (except for the price), and I'm looking to upgrade as soon as possible. I'm looking to get this one: http://www.adorama.com/CA28135IS.html because the "IS" is amazing.
As far as other accessories:
Tripod - Get a good one, the first one I got had parts fall off of it while hiking. I'm not saying spend $300 on one, but probably expect to pay around $100 or so at least. Here's the two I'm looking to buy.
http://www.adorama.com/BG3000N.html
http://www.adorama.com/BG725B.html
For night photography you'll also need a remote. Here's the wireless one I use, and haven't had any problems so far.
http://shashinki.com/shop/canon-wire...l?currency=USD
Besides that just shoot a lot and try out new things. I'm a total amateur, and here are the shots from my last vacation:
www.DesignerScott.com/vacation

I know Tyger has a digital rebel. You might want to hit him up for some advice. You can see some of the stuff he's shot with it in the Photography section. Pretty awesome stuff, and I think in a couple of the threads he goes into what he used to get the shots.

Cheers, I've got a tripod, really pleased with it, £40 from jessops, 3 way tilt, quick release etc etc. The digi camera i 'have'(not technically mine, hence looking to buy) at the mo, is 8.4mp but is rubbish at night, too much noise.
I had a look at the rebel XTi, the kit buy is ~£150 more, but its 10.1 mp and has self lens cleaning amongst other things.

I'm gonna just try it out tomorrow i guess, see if the lens with it is any good.
Thanks for your help. Nice pics with the long exposure on your site btw.

My pics are in my flickr link below.

Edit : yeah i've seen a few of tyger's pics. From what i remember sounds like he's probably spent a fair bit on lenses. I'll try and dig some posts up. Cheers.

Nice pics scott!!! Great collection...

I just got my first Digital Rebel XT and I love it so far. Had it about 3 weeks and have taken about 3,000 pictures with it. I just cant get enough! I have a 28-90mm and 75-300mm lense and they are about all I need (or at least they've been good enough so far) I'd like to get one that can zoom a little more but the lenses I'm interested in are an arm and a leg - I'm not good enough a photographer to justify that type of purchase. for the Rebel I paid a little over double what I paid for my last camera (two years ago) which was a Sony Cyber-Shot T1 (5.0MP) which is a toy compared to this one.

Which lens would you say gives you the most flexibility in your shots? Eg macro to tele and do you lose much regarding close ups with the 75-300? Cheers

Well... the 75-300 is nice if you are planning on having some distance between you and the subject... But the 28-90 is more versitile - you can get a little distance and you can also get close up. I am pretty new to this so I dont really know the ins and outs of everything but I would say I use the 28-90 more, but that's because I'm a people person and it's hard to keep yourself back far enough from the action to use the 75-300. I wasn't really sure what to get either so I made sure to get a bundle with just about everything I though I would need.

Hey shade,

I've got an Rebel Xt too and I definately agree with Scott. Get the body but don't go with the kit lens if you can afford not to.

It's what I'd call functionally adequet. It does the job and it's cheap. But it's not fast enough for me and it's cheapy (not just the price). I'm looking at upgrading it also.

Try www.photozo.com if you have specific questions too, there's a lot of pro photographer there.

Hey Shade,

I too am an XT user and it is a great camera indeed. Be sure to hold one in person though because many people find it quite small. It's o.k for me as I added a battery grip to beef it up and get the extra battery life.

As the others have mentioned, budget permitting I would skip the 18-55mm Kit lens and spend a little more on another lens like the Tamron 28-75mm 2.8. However the kit lens is an o.k lens to learn on and I've gotten some decent results from it, if you are really tight it's a decent lens to start with but I promise you, you will be yearning for more.

So what is your budget? If you want to do macro you's have to get a dedicated macro lens or extension tubes. I have the Kenko Pro DG kit which I got from a seller from ebay, it's a cheap solution to getting started on macro with decent results. I use it with my 100-400mm which gives me great working distance but you have to manual focus...with extension tubes the tendency is to lose a stop or 2.

Do alot of reading (fredmiranda.com has a wealth of info there, great reviews) and personally handle the equipment and find what best suits your needs.

I've had my Rebel XT for over a year now. Love it. I don't use the lens that came with it. I bought a Canon 28-135 IS lens that stays on it all the time.

Click here to see some of my images on SmugMug - Favorite Images

Thanks for all the replies! I went into jessops today to try holding the camera and ask some questions etc. Definately need the battery grip but when it was on it felt perfect. Going to go for the Xti (400d). I can get the body with kit lens for £549 thanks to their internet price guarantee (got £70 knocked off!) and adding their offer on a Tamron 70-300mm F/4-5.6 LD Macro (Canon AF) (RRP £199), £99 when buying 400d. Add on the big grip (if possible for the 400d) and the total should be about £740.

I was shown some results from the kit lens and to be honest (coming from owning just a digital POS -- 8.4mp panasonic lumix --) the results were impressive. I was recommended the tamron lens partly because it was on offer, but apparently it's pretty good? I'm essentially getting it for £20!

My budget is at most around £700 or £800 if it can be justified. The Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 is kinda out of my price range really, but as i'm learning it could be one to get in the future when i'd appreciate the quality of the lens more.