First off, yes, I have read through a lot of Guitarsoup's thread.

That being said, is the Canon Rebel XSi a good camera for the money? Looking at it for a gift for my wife. Not trying to be a pro or get pics published or anything, just want a nicer camera than the P&S for vacations and pics of kids.

What lens are you going to put on it?

If you don't know how to use a SLR on manual settings and aren't going to invest in decent lenses, you are better off going with a a Canon G9, G10 or G11. Putting a DSLR with a kit lens on the auto settings basically transforms it into a point and shoot.

No idea. That comes next. She wants to learn to take nicer pictures. I don't want to spend thousands and thousands of dollars. This camera seemed to be in the price range ($550ish for the body) that I'd be willing to spend.

The lens is the most important part, and often more expensive than the camera itself, so you need to set an actual budget and figure out where you can go from there.

A Canon G9, G10 or G11 are advanced point and shoots that allow you to be completely automatic OR completely manual. Really shooting a DSLR means learning how to shoot manually, and the G10 is a great camera that will allow you to shoot manually and learn how to do all those things to take better pictures while not breaking the bank on a DSLR+Lens.

Personally I love my XSi... I spent a lot of time reading the Scott Kelby books to give my self a decent foundation to get started. We purchased it with the 18-55IS kit lens. Since then we have added 50 1.8, 10-22, and 24-105 L. I agree with Soup though that you need to study up and get a good understanding of how and why to use all the settings on the camera. I know people who have spent thousands on really nice equipment, and shoot in Full Auto...

I got my XSi around this time last year. It's some of the best money I've ever spent. It's 12.2mp and live viewing mode still can't be beat in the entry DSLR market.

It's nice to have high quality pictures when we travel, or even just to take pictures when I cook something especially delicious. The XSi arguably packs the most features for the price. I got a great deal on dell.com for around $550 with coupons and an employee discount.

A good lens also plays a big factor in photo quality, depending if you want to shoot macro, or if you want to zoom in. You can find your tastes with the stock lens 18-55mm which takes fine photos, then eventually upgrade.

I'm also having fun with my flickr account. Happy shooting.

In this town there lived an outlaw by the name of Texas Red.

I got one for my wife this past May and she loves it. I liked it too - enough that I went out and bought a used 30D (bigger, heavier - feels better in my hands) for myself.

If she's wanting to get into photography it is a great camera to start with - but as GuitarSoup said - lenses are expensive and you'll soon find yourself trying to justify dropping a grand so you can get a better shot of (insert subject here).

I think I'll buy this thing, unless I decide to pony up and get the next model up (T1i, I think) which is 15.1 MP.

Do these type cameras fluctuate in price much? Will I catch this on sale closer to Christmas time?

Camera prices do not really change that much.

But you are doing a disservice if you aren't looking at lenses first. Sell that kit lens as soon as you get it because it is a POS.

Most likely what I will do. Buy the kit, toss th lens and find a better lens separately.

Save some money and get the Xsi over the T1i. See if you can just get the body by itself to save even more money. Then get a nice lens.

I recommend the Canon 100mm F2.8 IS Macro Lens.

That is a very specialized lens. I would get something cheaper first to find out how you really like Macro photography before you put $1000 into a specialized macro lens.

Instead of the kit lens you might consider the Canon 17-85 IS lens. That's the first lens I bought for my wife's XTi. Easy for her to shoot with - good versatility. The drawback of this lens is the F4-5.6 speed but it has done well overall. This lens is on the camera most of the time.

Then came the Sigma 80-210 2.8. Then the cheap Canon 50mm 1.8.

Just my 2 cents but sometimes having the kits lens as a backup lens is not too bad of an idea, since it sounds like you also don't have the largest collection of lenses yet. I don't know how much you can sell it for, especially since it is a kit lens, but you can always keep it just in case.

If you are going to ditch the kit lens right away, don't bother buying it. You aren't going to make any money.

I bought body only and ended up with 3 lenses for now.