I bought my Rebel Xti because my Powershot A640 was stolen, and since buying my first DSRL I am taking more pictures for the simple fact that I carry the camera around my neck.

The Powershot spent most of its life in its bag, and when I wanted to bring it out I had to get the small bag from inside my backpack or wife's purse, unzip it, bring out the camera, start it up, wait for it to be ready to shoot and then shoot.

The Rebel is bigger so it's never inside the backpack or the purse. Even if I have it in it's camera bag, it's large enough to hang on my side instead of inside another bag. When I startup the Rebel it is pretty much ready to shoot, startup time is great on the XTi. So I find that despite the extra bulk and weight I am becoming more productive because the camera is always there, ready to shoot.

Last night I was taking pictures of my dog in low light without a flash. The Rebel 1600 ISO setting was enough and produced very acceptable levels of noise, one thing that I could have never done on my A640. It only went to 800 ISO and already produced too much noise at 400 ISO.

I am really enjoying my XTi and I am already saving to buy a better lens than the 18-55mm kit lens that came with it.