Canon Rebel XS questions

Hello all,
I just brought this Canon Rebel XS camera on this boxing day with 18-55 mm lens.
Very new to DSLR camera. I had couple of questions if you could please answer.

-I brought this camera because I want to learn photography and price was good for this camera.
-Which card would be good. I roughly take 300 pics per trip--2 GB, 6 GB and any perticular about it?
-I believe this Canon XS doesnt have facility to take video clip right?
-is there any website or anywhere that i can read more about this camera and its functions? becuse for me many functions are very new...
any tips and guidance for newbee ?

Me, I am an Olympus shooter but, I prefer using a couple of 2 or 4 gig cards as opposed to just one big one like a 6gig. I use a 2gig card and can get 60 RAW files, about 10meg each on the card. But it depends on what type file you shoot. You can shoot lower sized Jpegs and get more on the card or shoot higher quality and get less. I prefer having several so if one quits I still have more backups plus the cost is less.
Read the manual a couple of times to get your feet wet, practice and read some of our lessons here at PR and posting in Critiques and the Canon forums will lessen the time on the learning curve. PR is loaded with friendly members eager to help and the knowledge here is unbelievable.
Thanks for joining and you will find the Canon to be a wonderful camera. I have seen some stunning pictures posted here with that model. Good Luck.

The XS does NOT take videos. A 2 gig card will get about 200 RAW files on it. I use an 8gig card that will hold about 800. So roughly, a 4gig card should suffice if you need to get 300 shots on it.

One more question

How do I use Zoom option or I have to use Zoom Manually by adjusting lens?
How can I see view in to LCD, It says Live view available but I can't see on LCD.

I know you might be thinking that I am asking stupid qestion but I used cybershot before and brought this one and zero on it. I read manual as well but couldnt find it ..may be I was looking at wrong place.

Thanks

Live view is an option under the menus. It's kinda buried, but I can also access it by pressing the ok button on the back.

Zoom on an SLR is done by using the zoom ring on the lens.

Practice and experiment, for specific questions: ask the folks on this forum, they are very helpful and informative! Most of the important aspects about that camera transcend brand and build: metering - ISO, shutter and aperture values are the important aspects to learn photography, and its the same with all DSLRs.

Like others mentioned, grab a few 2 gig cards, they hold a lot of pics and they run about $6-$8, they are practically disposable.

in order to turn live view on you must be on one of the manual settings (P, Tv, Av, M A-DEP). Press the menu button, scroll over to the right until you see the live view function settings option. (2nd from bottom on 5th menu) click set, highlight live view shoot, set to enable.
Press menu twice to get out of the menu. Than press the set button. Live view should be on now.

Hope this helps.

As far as functions. Just take lots of pictures and experiment with them. That is the nice thing about digital. I have probably taken more than 300 pictures in the week I have owned this same camera. Probably more than I ever took with my old canon rebel g. Probably the reason I didn't use it much. (lack of knowlage how to use setting other than full auto)

Your questions have pretty much been answered but I suspect you'll have some more questions and I'd like to not only WELCOME you to these forums but to be sure to ask any and all questions you may have.
They may seem like basics to the more experienced but there are many new to photography people here and your questions could help them and at least for me, it never hurts to try to explain things to the less experienced as it becomes a review and memory jogger for me.

I too just purchased the Canon Rebel XS. I will be shooting mostly Girls Fastpitch softball. Should I purchase be purchasing high speed memory cards or does it not make a difference?

The high speed memory only matters for burst mode shooting, if you plan on shooting many frames per second. The camera buffer actually records and transfers the data to the memory card. If you fill that buffer, which varies per camera (Rebel XS may be something like 10-15 XFine JPEGS or 5 raws), the following images will shoot in burst mode faster on faster cards - as the buffer clears more quickly. Also, images transfer to computer faster on high speed cards (supposing the reader facilitates the speed).

Practically speaking, it only has some real benefit for people photographing oh, say, a nascar race. But even highly active sports, you would rarely (if ever) fill the buffer before finishing your burst sequence. Memory being 'high speed' I would say is a low priority, it being reliable as top priority.

So, technically speaking - yes, it makes a difference. Realistically speaking, no, it doesnt.

Hang in there and like other people have said just practice and you will get better as you go. I've had mine for about 6 months and am just getting to manual settings. But it's a great camera for the money, I've taken some great photos on auto settings, but have been reading the manual and am confident to start experimenting. Enjoy and have fun!

Hello, I also just purchased the Canon Rebel XS and am a noobi also. I really want to learn how to take good pictures. but cant even seem to find how to see pictures in my view screen before taking a picture. Any help would be great!

Jesse, you can download a manual for the XS at http://static.highspeedbackbone.net/...lxs_manual.pdf

Live view shooting instructions are found on page 95.

Is anyone looking for windows software for canon DSLR Rebel? You can trigger 1 to 65 cameras in the same exact millisecond time (matrix effect). You can control liveview. You can do time lapse photobook pages effect, .... etc like u can do bulb long exposure mode. Cheap and very user friendly.

Also you can use my control to integrate in your software instead of using my main software.

Let me know. Thanks!