I carry it with me everywhere. Great resource, very well written and I learn something new everyday. Congratulations to the author, he knows what the new owner of this fantastic camera needs to learn.

Easy to read straight forward information for a newcomer.

This book is a comprehensive resource you are going to benefit from throughout the lifetime of your camera. You don't need to read the whole thing at once- it has worked great for me to take chunks at a time and practice with the newly learned material. This book explains how to maximize the features of the camera for your needs, gives advanced techniques you might otherwise miss with your camera, and gives you the confidence to pick up your camera and know how to achieve what you want to achieve in your images. Especially for those who are technically challenged, this is a must-have.

this book is easy reading. gives easy understanding of useful tips & tricks. this is my second book for this camera and is much better with practical use of why and how of photography for this camera

This book is worth twice the price if you own the Canon EOS 40 D. I cannot believe how many times I refer to this book to help me with this camera. It is written in easy to understand language. The graphics are exceptional. He leaves nothing out. If you own the camera, you MUST own this book!!

I purchased this book based on the advise of a friend who has the same book for his model camera. In short, the book is excellent for someone new to DSLRs, such as I am. The book is great at explaning the functionality of the camera and the "why" we do things, not just the "how".

I'm a month long owner and give this camera a big wowww. I use to develop and enlarge prints in my own dark room 30 years ago but have been out of that creative loop for awhile. This camera has restored the creative juices in photography and appreciate canon's intuitive features. Out of the box picture quality and ease of use are highlights. I'm looking forward to using and learning as many features as I can. I can also recommend David D. Busch book "canon eos 40d Guide to digital slr photography". Easily read with good discriptions.

This book is probably almost everything you always wanted to ask about the EOS 40D, and didn't know how to ask. Clear step-by-step presentations abound and lead the reader through some strangely omitted matters in the 40D manual from Canon. Nothing like asking the person who owns one.
Compared to Charlotte Lowry's book on the 40D, this one is not as complete, but Lowry is often overkill. Busch's treatment of the camera and it's many levels of functions is, for me, much more accessible.
Frankly, I'm glad that I ordered both books.
Now if Canon could only step up to the plate and provide such easily accessible material, we'd be in good shape.

The material presented on the functions of the 40D was well presented, and I especially appreciate having reference material in a print face large enough to read without eye strain! The pictures of the camera controls and the prints of the various LCD and viewfinder screens were all helpful. I just thought the book wandered off topic when the author ventured into a discussion of lenses and managing light. Someone who has the skill set to want to purchase a fine camera such as a 40D most likely has a pretty sound foundation in lens selection, capabilities, and an understanding of focal length, depth of field, and aperture. Ditto for working with light. The subject of lighting should be left to a totally separate book and not be included with a book billed as a 40D camera manual, although covering the use of the pop up flash as a part of the 40D is appropriate, it should have been left at that.

This is a useful book for someone like me who enjoys complete, user friendly documentation which is easy to read and reference.

great book, gives details specific to my camera, in plain english.....tips on using my camera,with pictures of my camera, not a generic manual on digital cameras. he did his homework, and made learning my camera easier.

The book is thorough and well written.

It's a valuable source of information for those seeking to familiarize themselves with the Canon 40D.

Recommended.

If you own a 40D Canon SLR this is one book you must have. It not only explains how to use the myriad of features on this great camera but why to use them. Goes way beyond the owners manuel.

I chose this book at recommendations of book buyers as well as Canon forum contributers and am not sorry. I recently bought the Canon 40D DSLR from Amazon and bought this book at same time as an introduction to the camera's use. Factory manuals often are too brief and dry (okay for later reference). Mr. Busch's explanations are clear and concise. Thanks, David Busch!!
I'm "double happy"!

Wouldn't own the 40D without this guide. A must have! Esp for the amateur. Still advised for pro and amateur alike.

the book is very easy to read and understand, it is simple and covers everything you would like to know about this camera.

I own a Canon G5 and puuchased this book to see if the 40D is what I actually wanted and to get a running start if it were. I have studied some of it, read some of it, skimmed some of it, and have yet to read the rest of it.

It is well-written: for the most part clear and readable. It has fine illustrations, both in color and black-and-white. Glossy easy-to-read pages. An excellent addition to the manual, which can be downloaded free from the Canon web site. I would liked to have seen a much bigger (and less confused) chapter on available lenses for the 40D, since I am considering a purchase. If your money is already spent, this is not an issue for you.

I took away one star because there is way too much space spent comparing this model to other cameras such as the 30D, not only in an appendix, which would be okay, but tediously included throughout the book. Who cares about the 30D? I doubt that many 30D owners are likely to purchase a 40D so soon. I want to know about THIS camera not another one. These comparisons are useless. This objection about the wasted space should in no way be construed as a suggestion to not purchase this book. It is otherwise an excellent book worthy of your consideration.

I really can't say enough good about this book. I have several of David Busch's books and they're all really easy to read with everyday, easy-to-understand terms. This book leaves no stone unturned as it explains every facet of the 40D and it's successful operation. I've gone from taking just average photos before reading this book, to taking outstanding ones by the time I was finished. It makes the 40D much more fun to operate and allows me to expand my creativity. It's so good, it should be purchased along with your 40D!

... you don't need this book. It's a waste of money. The canon controls are intuitive enough, doesnt need to be explained to you as if youre so dumb.

What should have been the focus is to teach the factors that came in to taking pictures, point to where the dial is (unique to the 40D), show the result (the picture), illustrate why that happened. We can always refer to the manual included in the camera if we get confused in the menu and lost where that input should be set.

I bought this book thinking that somehow it will fuse operation to result. For example, explaining saturation, perhaps Busch will show the differences it will make to a picture. And how exactly to make livelier pictures... starting from the dials to the result. What I got instead is a book with a rather biggish font (so publisher can increase number of pages?) and very minimal picture examples. Pictures that occupied bigger spaces are those of the camera dials!

Busch also wasted some ink and paper on something like " this is not a manual, manual shows you this, but I will make it like this, etc." instead of throwing away a sentence on this indulgence, then get on to the business.

A photog book should contain tons of photos, and explain it. Busch doesnt even illustrate f/stops, shutter spped, and ISO combination anywhere. I dont know if he held back so we should buy another book of his.

I think the audience for this one are those that truly cant read manuals. I think Busch wrote this one in two weeks. Didnt even bother to take pictures much with the 40D.

Not recommended. (I think I should have bought the one by Lowrie, and just withstand the Catholic propaganda in it. As long as there's pictures used to teach... to illustrate).

This book was very helpful to me.Since the 40d was the first DSLR that I have used, I found the owners manual somewhat awkward and confusing to use. You have to keep flipping back and forth between pages which can be a pain.
This was a well written, easy to follow,and concise guide to the 40d.When used in conjunction with the owners manual I found almost all of my questions answered.It has a good index and is arranged in a logial sequence.
The one short comming I found was not enough information on how to change focusing screens and set up the camera to use the newly installed screen. I found this step by step guide to changiing screens on the web here.. http://digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/showthread.php?t=10566 . I feel I got good value for my money. Now, if someone would only publish a good guide on using the software that comes with the camera.

This book is well written and contains very helpful "how to" information from the basics to advanced operation of the Canon EOS 40D. It also explains how to use the accompanying software for downloading your photos to a computer, as well as editing and organizing your photos. There is also a lot of useful general digital photography information contained in the book.

Long story short: 1st Choice Charlotte K Lowrie, 2nd Choice David D Busch,
3rd Choice Rob Sheppard.
Now the long story: This is my first book by Busch and certainly not my
last. This book is in color, with large print, and pictures the menus just like you see on the 40D screen. The book is easy to read with straight forward logic, just as if you were working with the camera. There was reference to a quick command dial which should have read quick control dial. But all in all the book is excellent and a must have for the 40D owner.

This book will give you an easier path to learning your camera than the factory enclosed manual. I am only about two-tirds through the book, but so far I am impressed with it. I have upgraded from the 30D to the 40D withouth ever learning all the features of the 30D. I think with this book, I will probably learn more if not all of the features of the camera faster and easier.

I must admit that when I initially flipped through this book after receiving it and then started reading the first two chapters, I was expecting to eventually write a 3-star review for it. Overall, as an experienced EOS 30D user, I would probably still give it a rating of 3 or 3.5 stars, mainly because its target audience seems to be more oriented towards totally new to intermediate users of the 40D in specific, and also users new to DSLRs in general. But I selected this book because it does seem to be the best 40D book on the market right now. For a beginner/intermediate audience, I would easily give it 5 stars. But the book is thin on substance for advanced users, either for advanced users of film cameras switching to digital or advanced users of non-Canon cameras. One of the dilemmas in writing an instructional book like this, as is also the same problem found in some software books on how to use Photoshop, Excel, or how to program code for Web sites, is deciding on what to assume readers already know before reading the book and what readers hope to learn by the time that they finish reading the book. A definitive book on the 40D will let readers wade in from the shallow end as novice point-and-shoot camera users and emerge, by the time they finish the book, as 40D power users confidently swimming in the deep end of expertise and familiarity, and knowing how to efficiently use all of the camera's settings under various shooting situations. But, alas, there is not a single 40D book out there that fits this bill.

Even though the author mentions several times in the book that he does not want to rehash the owner's manual, a large part of the first four chapters does basically rehash the owner's manual, albeit using larger text and photographs. This book is far easier to read than the owner's manual, but due to weight/bulk considerations, I carry all of the owner's manuals for my 30D/40D cameras and lenses in my Lowepro Slingshot while this book stays at home.

And so I give the book 4 stars instead of 5 because my wish list for the book includes: 1) more in-depth coverage of the all-important creative and manual mode shooting situations; 2) better descriptions of the nuances of the custom function settings as applied to various shooting situations (i.e. not just mainly describing what they do, but explaining more why/when/where a user would want to set a custom function); and 3) more in-depth coverage discussing how to use the supplied software utilities and applications (after all, there are tons of books on Photoshop, but no Canon photography book ever covers much about the included Canon software). I am surprised that guide books written about Canon's EOS cameras do not spend a full long chapter discussing how to optimally and efficiently use the supplied software that is included with the camera since not everyone will have their own separate Photoshop or DPP software that they already use, and Canon's DPP software is notably better than most "free with the camera" software that is supplied with other brands of cameras.

Overall, a great book that touches upon lots of topics beyond just pointing out all of the camera's features, and also going into aperture, shutter speed, and exposure concepts that entire books have been written about. If you are a total DSLR beginner coming from the point-and-shoot camera world, this book will be very helpful in describing how to use all of its dials, buttons, and menus. But if you have reached the intermediate and beyond stage of expertise, the book will not progress you much into the advanced world of manually tweaking settings to get various desired effects and it will not teach you how to compose a great shot; for that, you will have to look elsewhere.

If you want to make the best use of the 40D additional information beyond the manual is essential. The manual won't tell you why to make certain settings. This book has been a big help for me (new DSLR user) to become more familiar with the capabilities of the 40D.

I must admit that when I initially flipped through this book after receiving it and then started reading the first two chapters, I was expecting to eventually write a 3-star review for it. Overall, as an experienced EOS 30D user, I would probably still give it a rating of 3 or 3.5 stars, mainly because its target audience seems to be more oriented towards totally new to intermediate users of the 40D in specific, and also users new to DSLRs in general. But I selected this book because it does seem to be the best 40D book on the market right now. For a beginner/intermediate audience, I would easily give it 5 stars. But the book is thin on substance for advanced users, either for advanced users of film cameras switching to digital or advanced users of non-Canon cameras. One of the dilemmas in writing an instructional book like this, as is also the same problem found in some software books on how to use Photoshop, Excel, or how to program code for Web sites, is deciding on what to assume readers already know before reading the book and what readers hope to learn by the time that they finish reading the book. A definitive book on the 40D will let readers wade in from the shallow end as novice point-and-shoot camera users and emerge, by the time they finish the book, as 40D power users confidently swimming in the deep end of expertise and familiarity, and knowing how to efficiently use all of the camera's settings under various shooting situations. But, alas, there is not a single 40D book out there that fits this bill.

Even though the author mentions several times in the book that he does not want to rehash the owner's manual, a large part of the first four chapters does basically rehash the owner's manual, albeit using larger text and photographs. This book is far easier to read than the owner's manual, but due to weight/bulk considerations, I carry all of the owner's manuals for my 30D/40D cameras and lenses in my Lowepro Slingshot while this book stays at home.

And so I give the book 4 stars instead of 5 because my wish list for the book includes: 1) more in-depth coverage of the all-important creative and manual mode shooting situations; 2) better descriptions of the nuances of the custom function settings as applied to various shooting situations (i.e. not just mainly describing what they do, but explaining more why/when/where a user would want to set a custom function); and 3) more in-depth coverage discussing how to use the supplied software utilities and applications (after all, there are tons of books on Photoshop, but no Canon photography book ever covers much about the included Canon software). I am surprised that guide books written about Canon's EOS cameras do not spend a full long chapter discussing how to optimally and efficiently use the supplied software that is included with the camera since not everyone will have their own separate Photoshop or DPP software that they already use, and Canon's DPP software is notably better than most "free with the camera" software that is supplied with other brands of cameras.

Overall, a great book that touches upon lots of topics beyond just pointing out all of the camera's features.

I must admit that when I initially flipped through this book after receiving it and then started reading the first two chapters, I was expecting to eventually write a 3-star review for it. Overall, as an experienced EOS 30D user, I would probably still give it a rating of 3 or 3.5 stars, mainly because its target audience seems to be more oriented towards totally new to intermediate users of the 40D in specific, and also users new to DSLRs in general. But I selected this book because it does seem to be the best 40D book on the market right now. For a beginner/intermediate audience, I would easily give it 5 stars. But the book is thin on substance for advanced users, either for advanced users of film cameras switching to digital or advanced users of non-Canon cameras. One of the dilemmas in writing an instructional book like this, as is also the same problem found in some software books on how to use Photoshop, Excel, or how to program code for Web sites, is deciding on what to assume readers already know before reading the book and what readers hope to learn by the time that they finish reading the book. A definitive book on the 40D will let readers wade in from the shallow end as novice point-and-shoot camera users and emerge, by the time they finish the book, as 40D power users confidently swimming in the deep end of expertise and familiarity, and knowing how to efficiently use all of the camera's settings under various shooting situations. But, alas, there is not a single 40D book out there that fits this bill.

Even though the author mentions several times in the book that he does not want to rehash the owner's manual, a large part of the first four chapters does basically rehash the owner's manual, albeit using larger text and photographs. This books is far easier to read than the owner's manual, but due to weight/bulk considerations, I carry all of the owner's manuals for my 30D/40D cameras and lenses in my Lowepro Slingshot while this book stays at home.

And so I give the book 4 stars instead of 5 because my wish list for the book includes: 1) more in-depth coverage of the all-important creative and manual mode shooting situations; 2) better descriptions of the nuances of the custom function settings as applied to various shooting situations (i.e. not just mainly describing what they do, but explaining more why/when/where a user would want to set a custom function); and 3) more in-depth coverage discussing how to use the supplied software utilities and applications (after all, there are tons of books on Photoshop, but no Canon photography book ever covers much about the included Canon software). I am surprised that guide books written about Canon's cameras do not spend a full long chapter discussing how to optimally and efficiently use the supplied software that is included with the camera since not everyone will have their own separate Photoshop or DPP software that they already use.

Overall, a great book that touches upon lots of topics beyond just pointing out all of the camera's features.

I must admit that when I initially flipped through this book after receiving it and then started reading the book, I was expecting to eventually write a 3-star review for it. Overall, as an experienced EOS 30D user, I would probably still give it a rating of 3 or 3.5 stars, mainly because its target audience seems to be more oriented towards totally new to intermediate users of the 40D in specific, and also users new to DSLRs in general. But I selected this book because it does seem to be the best 40D book on the market right now. For a beginner/intermediate audience, I would give it 5 stars. But the book is thin on substance for advanced users, either for advanced users of film cameras switching to digital or advanced users of non-Canon cameras. One of the dilemmas in writing an instructional book like this, as is also the same problem found in some software books on how to use Photoshop, Excel, or how to program code for Web sites, is deciding on what to assume readers already know before reading the book and what readers hope to learn by the time that they finish reading the book. A definitive book on the 40D will let readers wade in from the shallow end as novice point-and-shoot camera users and emerge, by the time they finish the book, as power 40D users confidently swimming in the deep end and knowing how to efficiently use all of the camera's settings under various shooting situations. But, alas, there is not a single 40D book out there that fits this bill.

Even though the author mentions several times in the book that he does not want to rehash the owner's manual, a large part of the first four chapters does basically rehash the owner's manual, albeit using larger text and photographs. This books is far easier to read than the owner's manual, but due to weight/bulk considerations, I carry all of the owner's manuals for my 30D/40D cameras and lenses in my Lowepro Slingshot while this book stays at home.

And so I give the book 4 stars instead of 5 because my wish list for the book includes: 1) more in-depth coverage of the all-important creative and manual mode shooting situations; 2) better descriptions of the nuances of the custom function settings as applied to various shooting situations (i.e. not just mainly describing what they do, but explaining more why/when/where a user would want to set a custom function); and 3) more in-depth coverage discussing how to use the supplied software utilities and applications (after all, there are tons of books on Photoshop, but no Canon photography book ever covers much about the included Canon software).

This book is a MUST for any photographer that recently purchased a Canon EOS 40D! The book outlines every facet of the Canon EOS 40D and really helps in speeding up your expertise of this product!
Al Marth
[...]

Canon EOS 40D 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens Excellent description of all components of this camera. Much easier to follow than the product manual included with the camera.

i was looking for this kind of book for a while which not only teach me how to use functionality and but also give me tips on how to use them to take good pictures... i really recommend this book for buyers of canon 40D :)

I found this book extremely helpful. Reading the booklet that comes with the camera just leaves a lot of questions as to how do I do some of the things mentioned. This book helps clear up the questions. I would definitely recommend this book to help anyone with a new Canon 40D. I learned a great deal.

This is a good reference book - I am not a professional photographer. This book goes deeper than my current abilities so I will learn some new things but it is not an easy read.

I graduated from film (Canon A-1) eight years ago and lived with point and shoot digitals through two iterations. While they worked well, the controls offered by an SLR were missed.

When I discovred the 40D and matched its specs with comparably priced DSLRs, it was no contest. In actuality, this is my 4th Canon of various vintages so there was a bit of built in favoritism.

The camera has provide everything that I was looking for including enough technical capability to keep me in a learning mode for some time to come. And that is good news.

I would recommend the 40D to anyone whose interest in photography has grown beyond snap shooting to hang-'em-on-the wall images.

Bruce C. Ritbeger Cameron Park, CA

This is an excellent manual for the Canon EOS 40D. I recently upgraded from the 10D and found this book very useful. It has all the detail you could want presented clearly and with large color illustrations and photos. If you really want to make full use of this fabulous camera, Mr. Busch will show you everything you need to know.

This is certainly a great book to get anyone started on the canon EOS 40D. It gives simple instructions for even the most novice of photographers. I am new to the DSLR realm and have only read this book and Understanding Aperture by Bryan Petersen(EXCELLENT). I feel like I am way ahead of where I started a couple of weeks ago. This book would also make a good edition to the seasoned photographers library if they upgraded to this camera since it spells out all of the features and gives a lot of tips. Highly recommended.

Hi, my name is Max from Italy. This is an excellent book for understanding in a more detail, all the possibilities offered by the powerful Canon EOS 40D digital camera. I'm very satisfied and I thank you the author. I want suggest this book to anyone who wants to understand better all the benefits of using the EOS 40D for shooting great pictures.
Best Regards,
Max

The Canon EOS 40 D Guide by David Busch is a very readable book, but it fails to reveal the secrets to shooting the Canon 40 D at the highest and most efficient levels. Four months ago I took a big leap and went from a Kodak point and shoot camera to a Canon 40 D with four very good (and expensive) lenses. I was initially very disappointed with my images compared to ones I had shot with my Kodak camera; they weren't very sharp and the colors seemed washed out. So what did I do: I bought three books on the 40D, a DVD guide to the 40D, and took an on-line course with a professional instructor on the 40D. The Busch's book was the first one I purchased ,and after reading it in detail, my picture taking did not improve.

Half-way through my on-line course, I bought my third book, the Digital Field Guide by Charlotte Lowrie, and only then did I really learn the secrets of the 40D.Here is what the Digital Field Guide revealed to me: 1. The importance of Picture Styles and how/why each owner of a 40 D should explore modifying the default style settings. 2. A detailed review of the 40 D's Custom Functions with suggestions from an experienced 40 D user. 3. How to set up Camera User Settings (C1, C2, and C3 on the Mode dial). 4. Some real practical insights to using the 40 D in the field and some further insights to the 40 D and Canon lenses by listing the lenses and settings for the photos contained in the book.

Busch's book is much easier read than Lowrie's, but it does not get into customized Picture Styles in enough detail and failed to discuss entering Camera User Settings at all. Maybe if I had been an experienced user of the Canon 30D moving up to the 40D the Busch book might have worked for me, but I needed the more specific guidance on set-up and use in the field that I got from the Lowrie book. If you are buying just one book on the 40 D get Lowrie's, but I am glad that I have both.

This one of those books that I will refer to again and again, how do I know? Because I already have.

This book is excellent for even the pro that is used to working with more mechanical based digital or film analog cameras. It has an excellent and thorough outlay of the information needed for both a beginner and a pro diving into this very fine camera. Very highly recommended to those looking to learn more in depth on the vast array of features the 40D has to offer.

This is a great expanded guide book for the 40D but I was hoping to get more examples of how to use settings for different situations. I would love a recommended list of customized functions and their applications from someone who has experimented with this camera. The book is easy to read for the most part. I just wish it would tell you more why than just how.

This book covers a lot of what's in the owners manual but presents it in a personal manner that makes for much better interpretation then the owners manual.

It's easy to read and even entertaining something you can't say for the Canon owners manual and rightfully so of course since the owners manual has to be as concise as possible to fit into your pocket.

In additional this book provided solutions to problems the author had while using his 40D both hardware and software that really came in handy.

I heartily recommend "Canon EOS 40D Guide to Digital Photography!

Excellent resource. Strongly written with more than plenty large color pictures. I highly recommend buying this.

I read about half the book and it has been very helpful for me to review and learn things I fined helpful in using my new Canon 40D . It is good to know different setting in using the camera.

I bought this book at the same time as the Blue Crane Canon 40D Video. I spent and hour or so going through the book before I left on a business trip. I took the video on the trip. I thought that the book was OK and will make a decent reference source but the Blue Crane video is a better introductory source. If a picture is worth a thousand words this video has dozens of pitures. The advantage of the book is no player required.

If I could only have one (and had a DVD player and power) I would take the video.

This book covers the Canon EOS 40D from the standpoint of a user, not a software engineer. I especially like how well the 40D's many menus are described throughout the book. The LCD screen description is also very well labeled. The photos taken by the author throughout the book also help to illustrate a number of the functions. I have used the camera extensively, and this book should help photographers of any level get up to speed faster.

The explanation of the Live View feature was also very helpful and worth mentioning because it can be tricky to locate it and make it work properly.

There are many books on digital photography and books specific to particular cameras. Not infrequently there is a disconnect between the two. David Busch has pretty well succeeded in bridging that gap by combining instruction in digital photography as it pertains to the Canon 40D. Recommended.

I have been shooting Canon's for 10 years now, and specifically the 40D for 8 months. I bought this a week ago and was really surprised at how many features I had been unaware of on my camera. The basic functions are of course covered, but it is the treatment of less talked about features and the thinking behind those options that really impressed me. Well thought out and well laid out. Excellent source for maximizing the many talents of the 40D

This book is pretty handy and have learnt a couple more things off it. The manual that comes with the camera explains the basic functions but this book helps explain why you should you them.

I highly recommend this book as a companion to the CANON 40D.

I just bought the CANON 40D, and was intimidated by all the settings, being a novice to SLR cameras ! I was wondering if I needed just one book or several books to get going. Being a novice, I was wondering whether the book would be too much for me. But my fears were put to rest ! This book is the perfect guide for not only camera-related information, but also for photography in general ( such as JPEG and RAW formats ). It gives you the HOW and WHY of everything about the camera.

Go no further! This is the one book you are looking for. I've been handling cameras professionally for nearly fifty years but this time I had to master the vexing mysteries of the Canon 40D virtually overnight and then do a hugely complex, on location, get-it-right-the-first-time photo shoot at New York City Opera the next day. No re-shoots possible! This book got me through it with flying colors. Its layout is dazzlingly simple and logical, even soothing to that incipient hysteria inherent in approaching an object with a lot of strange and threatening buttons and dials for the first time. Not only that, but it's a lot cheaper than living on tranquilizers and less embarrassing than patting a security blanket. Buy this book!

If you want the best non professional Canon digital camera buy the 40D. Afer owning the Rebel XTi, the 40D at first felt large and a little heavy. But within hours I felt much more comfortable and I noticed the brighter and larger viewfinder. You will no longer think it heavy or large. You will compose your shots quicker & better etc.. The XSi is said to be lighter and will have a better grip over the XTi?? It will not be as well built nor as "fast" as the 40D. The 40D will cost you approx. $200 more than the XSi - wait till the XSi becomes available and compare it to the XTi and the 40D. The 40D is almost a "baby" EOS-1D Mark III. The 40D is a great camera and overall better camera than the Rebels - twice the shutter life as just one example. I am very happy. Buy the book on the 40D by David D. Busch. Learning curve of the 40D vs the XSi should be about the same - so learn how to use the more professional 40D and be set for a long time. Do not buy the kit lens. Buy the Canon 24-105 4f L lens as your first lens - well worth the money and you will truly not need another lens for all round and walk around photography. After a few months of learning and taking photos - then you can get a better idea of what other lens you may put good use to. Good luck.