Since I have been trying to set my own shutter speeds, I seem to of lost the plot.
My camera is Canon EOS 550D with Kit lens 18-55mm IS

I read as a general rule of Thumb...that for a lens without IS ... which my kit lens with the EOS 550D has ... Is to ,make the denominator of the Shutter fraction larger than the FL (focal length) I am shooting...

Eg...if shooting at 50mm I should set the Shutter to 1/60 (is that about right)

Seems with IS you can can a bit lower, but by how much I am not sure.

I take it the thing to do when taking shots is to use the least amount of ISO you can, as too much can produce unwanted noise ... So is this where I should consider dropping the Shutter speed to avoid using higer ISO's? I notice the only issue I fall into here is maybey having to use a tripod ... and if I do this should I turn off IS when doing so?

Sorry to be confused about all this.

One other things I have noticed and am confused about.
Is that in Manual mode ,,,, My F/ration Or Aperture readout of that is what it is called F5.6 ... just stays as F5.6 no matter if I turn the lens from 18mm all the way up ... (narrowing the app) to 55mm ... and in turn going form 55 back down to 18mm ... It just displays the same f5.6

In other modes it seems to change with the selected focal length going from F3.5 to F5.6.
Should I not worry about what the F/ration is and just stick with looking at the lens to see my what I have focused at, then use the general rule of thumb considering ISO and Shutter speed.......AND is there something else I have to factor in when shooting in manual.

Once again....sorry I seem to be so confused on all this......

I do need some help and whilst I am reading about things and shooting....having someone to talk to that I can actually ask questions in my own messed up way, could really help me understand a little bit better.

Thanks