Ultra-NOOB.... what have I done?!

I too have the XTI and agree about the grip....Where did you order your camera from?? hopfully a good reputable place like b&h.

a bit of advice--GET YOUR BETTER HALF INVOLVED--it will help both your pics and your relationship
on our second trip to Ecuador this year-to hike around, shoot birds/people/scenery-but mostly birds, I wound up shooting with my new 40D and 100-400 lens.While I was looking up, my wife was looking down, and using my "old" 30D body and 24-70 lens she took leaf litter and plant and tree photos that simply blew me away-an eye for detail and composition I'll never have---for her it was a revelation--first time she'd ever tried to use such a good camera, and she loved it---and now that she's seen the viewfinder of the 40D, I may have to sell the 30D and get her one too!!! But the point is that if you make photography a joint venture, you'll both improve and have that much more to enjoy together. Let her play with the new toys-odds are she'll see things very differently....

Welcome! You did a great job in choosing equipment. Now shoot a ton of pictures. It is the only way to find out if you want to take this futher and get more equipment. This is a great place to learn with some top notch photographers that have helped me a lot. Post some pictures for us to enjoy when you can.

Well, not for learning about photography but as far as the finances, yes! She is INCREDIBLE at managing money- a God send. After this long in the military, finances can get crazy and was always nice to be able to go to sea and not worry. Not many of my shipmates could do the same- hell I couldn't with my 1st wife! We occasionally can purchase nice things because of her money management, not my paycheck!

I actually purchased everything from Amazon.com. I have had excellent results from them for all sorts of purchases and all of the major items are from them vice a 3rd party supplier. The only item I'd be worried about from another supplier is one of the lenses (17-85mm) from "DBROTH" but they seem to be rated well and Amazon has always been good to deal with IMHO.

Everything SHOULD be here tomorrow except 2 items; a lens hood and (of course) the darn CF card! We have to head out of town Thursday and wanted to make use of the new camera so not getting the hood is no biggie, but the CF card is a bit of a show-stopper! I can't blame them; I screwed up the order. I just called them and I have ordered a different card (4GB Sandisk Ultra IV) that had overnight available. I will just return the Extreme III when it gets here or keep it as an extra/back-up. I had no intention of getting the IV CF card (doubt I'll ever need the additional speed) but it was available for immediate ship and even shipping it FEDEX, it was still cheaper than buying it locally.

Now if I could just spring for the flash..... The wife is going to wind up killing me!

By the way, I just paid closer attention to your user name - Welcome aboard from an ETCS(SS), retired. There's quite a few of us Navy types around here.

I am in the same boat as you - I bought my XTi about a month or two ago and love it! I'm very much an amature - took a few photography classes in high school 20 years ago, but other than that this is my first introduction into the world of SLR type photography. The XTi is loads of fun to use. I have yet to post my pics to this site, but I think I have a good start using this camera. Best of luck and have a good time with it!

My wife is also the money boss - but after she saw the pictures I took, she wants one now too! I think I've created a monster.......

Gee, I hate to rain on the parade, but I started with the 30D (still my walk around body) and the EF-S 17-85. I quickly realized that the image quality from this lens was slightly less than I wanted. My current walk around lens is the 24-105 f/4. The images from this lens are head and shoulders above the 17-85. I also like the longer reach of 105mm (approximately 165mm equivalent on a 1.6x crop body), as my main subject is aircraft, and they are never close enough.

My second lens purchase was the 70-300. That lens has been sitting on the shelf since about 1 month after it was purchased, because the image quality at full zoom was just not up to par. I now use a 70-200 f/2.8 and a 1.4x teleconverter to get up to 280mm. This is certainly a much higher cost solution, but in my experience, the lower quality lens just didn't give me the image I wanted.

Having said all of that, you have a great kit now. Beats the pants off of any point and shoot out there. Now we all just want to see some photos.

Good shooting.

I've seen mixed reviews for both the 17-85 and the 70-300. My main starting objectives were to make an improvement over the 18-55 "stock" kit lens and add something to give a bit of zoom. Adding IS was a priority now since I am a noobie (well, a nothing actually until the camera shows up!) and I do drink a couple of pots of coffee a day!

As I gain some time with this set-up, I may well shift to some other lens options; I understand there are MUCH better options out there but this seemed to give me the most flexibility and quality I could afford for now. If I find one or the other lens is not up to snuff for what I want to do, I can eBay them and upgrade later.

My biggest problem right now is I don't know what I don't know yet!

As a PS, I just noticed I screwed up with ordering again.... when I ordered the new CF card, I didn't take the 580EX II flash and the diffuser out of the cart so they are on the way too! That mean Guinny woman I love and adore was annoyed but it may be easier to keep them than return.

I'm a bad online shopper.....

RMC_SS_LDO wrote in post #4051575
As a PS, I just noticed I screwed up with ordering again.... when I ordered the new CF card, I didn't take the 580EX II flash and the diffuser out of the cart so they are on the way too! That mean Guinny woman I love and adore was annoyed but it may be easier to keep them than return.

I'm a bad online shopper.....

Yeah. Sure.

"It's much easier to get forgiveness than permission."

-js

number six wrote in post #4051708
Yeah. Sure.

"It's much easier to get forgiveness than permission."

-js

"Sorry Chief, I don't know how that happened!"

You must be prior-service too!

Heh. Ten years in the Army National Guard.

-js

If you've upped from a PnS digital cam you need to know those cameras have built-in sharpening software that automaticaly sharpens your images...and THAT CANON HAS A FILTER IN FRONT OF THE SENSOR THAT REQUIRES YOU TO SHARPEN THE IMAGE
either by the settings in the camera for JPEG images, or AFTER you download the RAW images to the PC (using Unsharpen Mask in Photoshop for example)....
You could sharpen the JPEG images AFTERwards, like the RAW images, but most people do so in-camera...knowning this will save you a lot of disappointment.

The XTi is an awesome camera to start off on. I'd suggest getting the grip for it, and a 430EX sometime down the road. The grip makes a world of difference.

The XTi is a fine camera. You'll get some great pics with it. Now all you need to do is practice, practice, practice. BTW, this forum is habit forming.

Welcome aboard Former Navy myself.... IC2 when I got out in '97