Advice needed for a new DSLR

[Arctic]

Hmm, I guess for the most part, I take landscape and trailside shots. Not as many macros as of yet. So a lens that handles landscapes and just normal shots would be great to start out with and then I can look into a good macro lens later on. Thanks for the information on the company, definitely will avoid them.

Do you guys think the camera is a good choice given I'm a beginner with DSLRs and my preferences for the trails? I like alot of the shots I've seen, and every review gives the camera a glowing status almost. Also, is a tripod a must purchase?

I'll go ahead and look into that 70-300 lens and see what that looks like in reviews and shots as well.

One other thing that concerns me is shutter speed. Is the speed fast enough on the XTI to catch motion without blurring for the most part? For example, if I were to take a picture of birds or another animal?

[Jay Slean]

A tripod will make your shots a lot sharper: if you have an adequate lens, it will make it look better. The logic is that people's hands shake, even if it's not apparent to the shooter, and that you want as sharp an image as possible, so there's no movement at all. Your landscapes will appear crisper than if you didn't have one; when you have a really boss image you want to enlarge, it wont look fuzzy. The most dramatic shots, for landscapes, are early morning or just before dusk, when the light is not great, but shadows are dramatic: low light. The slower your shutter speed the better the image, so a tripod will definitely help there!
Hope this was some help,
Jaybird

[Jay Slean]

Oh, yeah? If you're zoomed into something with your 300mm lens, your slightest movement will appear to make your target jump around. Have you ever done any hunting? If you've ever looked through a rifle scope, "off hand" [hand held] then you know how hard it is to hit something, which is why a good hunter ALWAYS rests his rifle on something for shooting. At 100 yards, you'll be glad you had it when you see something, say like a California Condor, eating, or a bear, or mountain lion, something you REALLY DON'T WANT TO GET ANYWHERE NEAR!
Jaybird

[Medley]

Do you guys think the camera is a good choice given I'm a beginner with DSLRs and my preferences for the trails? I like alot of the shots I've seen, and every review gives the camera a glowing status almost. Also, is a tripod a must purchase?

I'll go ahead and look into that 70-300 lens and see what that looks like in reviews and shots as well.

One other thing that concerns me is shutter speed. Is the speed fast enough on the XTI to catch motion without blurring for the most part? For example, if I were to take a picture of birds or another animal?

The XTi was made for beginners, but it has enough features to keep you learning for a few years. I'm still shooting with the XTi's older brother, the XT, and still getting great shots from it.

Tripods are definitely handy, and I can almost guarantee that you will want one eventually. How soon you will need it is a matter of debate. I got along with a Red Pod (essentially, an attachable beanbag) for a long time before I broke down and bought a good tripod. Still carry the Red Pod on my nature hikes. Small and light.

I think you'll find that shutter speed is more a function of the lens than the camera. The three biggest factors in exposure are shutter speed (how long the shutter is open), aperture (how wide the shutter opens), and ISO (the sensitivity of the camera's sensor to light). But the camera itself is capable of a 1/4000 of a second shutter speed- more than fast enough to catch birds mid-flight. fast enough, in fact, to catch f-18's in mid-flight.

Hope this helps.

- Joe U.