This is definetly a camera for a beginning professional photographer. You can set the camera at manual or total auto, which is great. There are many pre-set settings if your not a professional photographer,but if you are they are all pretty much there.

I will definetly be recomending this camera to anyone who is looking into buying a good one.

And the price is just amazing. I don't think there is another value like it in the new 35mm equipment market.

The only drawback isn't really a problem -- it's just that the 28-80 lens is not the best choice for the kind of shooting I do. It is great for the casual shooter who needs a single all-around good lens, but I shoot a lot of portraits. For that, prime (not zoom) lenses are much brighter (have a larger maximum aperature). The 35-80 lens is even more restrictive. If you intend to use it for more serious photography, such as portraits or wide-angle shots, I suggest you start with just a Rebel 2000 body and get the Canon EF 50mm II lens instead (which is surprisingly cheap!).

That being said, this camera does some great stuff. I took pics at my brother's outdoor wedding that rivaled, and in many cases turned out better, than the professional photographer's work. The few limitations I have found could hardly be remedied in any other camera at this price.

I too got "suckered" in by Amazon with this camera being offered in my Gold Box. ;) Got to love that implulse buying. But after having it for a couple of days and getting my first roll of film back, I see that it's a great camera.

The sharpness of close-up shots is really good, and I LOVE the auto-focus feature. It's good for when you're taking pictures of wildlife, and they don't hold their position forever waiting for you to take the picture. I also really like the pop-up flash and auto-light metering. It makes it really nice, not having to think if you have enough light for the picture to turn out right.

All in all, it's been a good camera so far. I recommend it to anyone looking for a beginner SLR 35mm camera. It's easy to use, lightweight, and it takes pretty good pictures.

I decided to rate this camera when it popped up in my "Gold Box" offers.

Jim

In addition a lot of useful extra feature is embedded such as a built-in flash, various programmed mode. They are as convienient as a compact camea that your relatives can help to take a picture of you.

So what is the verdict? With its price dropping so low it would be a good buy for a person interested in becoming more creative and serious about their work but has money limits. But if you are really, really serious you should most definably invest in a digital EOS camera, it's fairly expensive but it will more then pay for itself in the long run.

While hesitating to take some of the more expensive cameras into rough locations, the Rebel is not so expensive as to be irreplaceable.

The automatic settings are often enough, but full manual modes give greater control, including automatic bracketing.

While digital photography is rapidly approaching resolutions on a par with emulsion photography, with 6 megapixel cameras available, this little camera can still outperform most digital SLR's hands down. Whats more, the EOS lens system is common to the Canon D60 and will remain part of their digital EOS SLR line up. Never settle for aftermarket lenses, insist on Canon lenses.

It will be a long time before I willingly part with my little Canon Rebel 2000 camera.

Ever since I bought Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, I use the kit lens as a paper weight. Why? I don't want to sell this cheap zoom on eBay since the buyer will curse me forever! So, do yourself a favor, DO NOT BUY THIS KIT. Instead, buy the body with 50mm f/1.8 lens and be prepared to be amazed by the quality of pictures (in terms of color rendition, sharpness and contrast) it produces! Don't take a word for it, test it yourself. If you really want to buy a zoom, then save some bucks and go for a better zoom like Canon 28-105mm USM, you will be lot more happier(BTW, my friend has this zoom). I will be upgrading to the USM zoom lens next year.

In a nutshell, if you are not worried about the picture quality, then only buy this kit. Otherwise, go for the body with any of the lenses mentioned above.

Wondering why I gave 4 stars? Because, I love the camera body which offers lots of advanced features and produces professional quality pictures with a right lens.

The camera is very easy to use, and film loading only takes a few seconds, very fast and easy. The batteries last for a long time. I took over 40 rolls of film and the batteries are still good. The pictures taken with the Rebel 2000 are much better than the point and shot Pentax that I have. I brought 3 filters when I brought the camera. The filters are only [money] for 3 and they are worth it for beginers like myself who would scrach the lense easily. I droped the filter once while I was rushing on a trip. But the filter didn't even break. I was glad that it was the filter that I dropped, not the lense.

The lense is 28-80mm. It's sufficient for close range scenic pictures. But if you want to take picture of a distant, you'll need a more powerful zoom lense than the 80mm. The Rebel 2000 weights much less than other SLRs, it's still a lot heavier than the point and shot camera. It does't fit into a pocketbook or small handbag. I had to buy a bigger shouder bag to carry the camera for traveling. For the quality of the camera, it's worth the extra weight and size. It's a great camera for beginner because the auto settings are wonderful.

Like I said, I am new at all of this, but if your a beginner like myself you cann't go wrong with this camera. This was the Camera that was recommended to me over and over again. 500.00 has got me up and going ( that is with film, tripod, extra batteries, filter, camera etc. )

It WOULD have gotten 5 stars, but that manual, lol kinda a hard read.

The Rebel 2000 is OK for beginners, but if you are still shopping around give some serious consideration to the Pentax ZX series.I own both a Rebel 2000 and a Pentax ZX-50. I have taken the exact same shot with the two different cameras and found that the Pentax consistantly gave me better results. The images were more sharp and also had better color. Although the Rebel has some very nice features such as the 7 point focusing system but the main thing that makes a difference is the lens. The lens that comes with the Rebel 2000 simply doesn't cut it.

Of course it is possible to buy the body only and spend a little more money on a better lens. This of course would make the camera more expensive, and since price is a large part of the appeal, this kit becomes a lot less impressive. Besides looking at Pentax, also consider Nikons in your price range if you like the multi point focusing. The rebel 2000 is one of the best selling cameras on the market but I would advise you to look around before settling for it.

I own a Canon Elan IIe, which is a better camera in some ways but I would certainly recommend the Rebel 2000 to anyone wanting a superior point and shoot, a photography student, or a traveller needing light weight and do-it all capability, or even as a second body for someone with another Canon camera (I'm thinking about this myself).

The lens on this camera was satisfactory. Its not the greatest, but it suits my needs until i buy more lenses.

Another great feature is the built in flash. In the beinner mode on the camera the flash will always pop up when there is not enough light or the subject is backlit. In the creative zone on the camera, the flash is totally in your control, you can change the sync to whatever you want.

When felt how light the camera was i immediately thought that i would break it within a week, but i thought for a couple more minutes and realized that i wouldn't be throwing my camera around or abusing it in any way. The only way i could break the camera would be to drop it from high up or throw it against a wall or something like that, but almost any camera would break like that, so i sacrificed extra strength for a light wieght body.

When i saw that the camera only took those small 3v lithium batteries i thought i was going to be changing the batteries every couple of hours, but i've had the same batteries in the camera for 3 days now and they aren't even running low yet. Its also nice that you can put a battery pack on if you wish to spend the extra money for it.

Even though this camera has a lot of preset and automatic settings, it can be used totally manual if you want. I would recommend this camera to beginners and ameture/semi-pro's or for those people who wish to have a hobby.

I could go on and on about this camera but i suggest that readers check out the other reviewers comments,mine seam to bounce around a bit. Thanks for your time,And most of all have fun!

A long story short....I am a proud owner of a magnificent Rebel 2000 with an ORIGINAL Canon lens. If you are a beginner or an amateur, go ahead and buy a Rebel. You will not regret it, its great value for that price.

I also found that the ambiant flash isn't powerful enough for my inside shots. It always defaults to a 4.0f with 1/90 shutter speed. I wanted a more clear depth of field, so I'll be purchasing an external flash soon.

All in all, the camera produced beautiful pictures for an AF. I can use a variety of modes to my choosing dependent upon the situation. I typically use auto mode for taking snaps of my children because I don't wish to miss the moment by manually focusing. I never have experienced grainy pictures. I use ISO 200 with no problem. The camera is light weight, easy to use, is fast acting and has enough bells and whistles to keep me busy. A great buy.

The pictures quality was excellent. I didn't have problems with graininess, and I'd guess that the reviewers used 800 film. Automatic focus was plenty fast. Actually, I ended up being lazy and using the automatic features most of the time, but with few exceptions, the results were about what I'd expect. If I had to do it again, I'd get a lens with more zoom, but that's more personal preference than anything - the included lens worked fine.

I strongly recommend using a non-obtrusive filter, to protect the lens from scratches and damage.

PS- get a filter to protect your lens from scratches,etc - no matter what type of lens you have. It would be better to replace a $10 filter thatn a $100- $2000 lens!

What really won me over was when I travelled to France for three weeks over the summer and brought the camera along. Though many complain about it's plastic body, I found it to be perfect. It was durable enough to stand up to being jostled around inside the overhead compartment and even being accidently dropped inside the camera bag, but still light enough that I felt I could take it anywhere without being uncomfortable. The fact it is lightweight is also nice when you are adding other attachments such as flashes, or longer lenses because it is still easy enough to manuver without a tripod.

It's also perfect for people who want to take fast action shots. I've been able to capture sports moments and fast kids with the greatest of ease. I highly recommend it. :)

Best of all, the pictures came out wonderful. Many people complained their pictures came out grainy, but this is usually due to too fast a speed of film. I used 200 film most of the time and found that all my pictures came out very well, including many pictures of the Eiffel tower at night.

It may seem pricy, but it's well worth it when you don't waste money to develop rolls of film which come back with fuzzy, dark, blurry, or simply bad pictures.

If you buy the EOS rebel 2000 body with the BP-200 battery pack and the EF 28-135mm Image Stabilizer USM Zoom lens then you are all set to take the best pictures you can in it's price range.

Oh yes, add the 420EX flash and you should be all set.

Why do I say it's the best 35mm SLR camera to buy when you can a Point and Shoot camera? Because in Picture/Full-Auto Mode it is just like a point and shoot camera, it even refuses to take a picture unless the "subject" is in sharp focus.

Hint: buy good lenses to take good quality pictures.

It has been well worth the (not that much) extra expense! In it's fully automatic modes, it nearly always takes the picture you expect (nice for the non-camera-savvy friends and relatives). When it doesn't, it's fairly easy to see what went wrong so that you can learn to not do that again ("oh! It focused on the wrapping paper!/It metered the window!"). Focus problems are usually a result of not noticing what the camera chose and shifting your aim slightly or not forcing it's choice of focus points.

When you want to do something beyond what the full automatic modes allow, there seem to be plenty of ways to modify it's operation, all the way down to full manual. I shot a roll of the Golden Gate Bridge on my last trip to the Bay area and got gorgeous pictures by simply "telling" the camera exactly where I wanted to focus, that I wanted to bracket my shots by 1.5 stops, etc., then letting the camera take care of the focusing/exposure details.

As a card-carrying klutz I agree with the other reviewers' concerns about the plastic body, but so far no drops. If you did much flash photography, you might want a larger flash, but the onboard one is just fine for the usual snapshots. One last thing--you can't use a regular cable release--you have to buy the special electronic one from Canon.

If you are considering this camera, especially for someone who isn't exactly sure that they want to do more than point and shoot, it takes excellent pictures. And it's also exciting to know that I have the capability of learning more about the art of photography with this camera. A great purchase.

My sister-in-law bought the Rebel 2000 this spring, and I didn't think they could improve much on the one I have, but they did. Trying to focus on confusing images, such as framing wildlife with nearby foliage, can be challenging. The 7 point automatic focusing is a real plus in this respect. I have learned to work without it, but the advantage of the system allows for quicker capture of images without the need to compose and then re-adjust to the frame you want.

Because the camera is so well-made, I will probably not need to replace it for another 20 years. But---if it should somehow meet with an early demise, the improvements in the new Rebel 2000 would be very welcome!

And I hate to confess this too, but...I take photos professionally. (people pay me for my photos and they are published in the print media and on the Internet)

Shameful, I know, but it's true. With my little Canon Rebel, I put the little thingie on the automatic setting, point, pause (let the camera make its best decisions) and then shoot. I then drop the film off at the local camera shop. (first few times, I had to take the whole camera in because I wasn't sure how to unload and reload the film, although that's pretty easy too)

When I pick up the photos, they are just beautiful. Now, I have had to learn some hard lessons about camera flash and shadows, but that is hardly the camera's fault. Experience has taught me a lot, there.

In summary, I am not a camera person. I don't *want* to be a camera person. But my Canon Rebel has paid for itself many times over from the photos I've sold. It combines the best of modern electronics with photographic excellence.

And it has a dazzling display of options for those who want to play with all the fancy features. But for me - I'm sticking with the automatic thingie.

I would highly recommend this camera to others.

THREE different people (that I know of) have bought this camera, after watching me use it and then seeing the end results. (under the "good grief, if she can take good pictures, anybody can" philosophy.)

They were all astonished that someone who knows so little could take such incredible photos.

Only downside - it is a delicate camera. No forgiveness factor on dropping it. I use the STRAP faithfully.

My only disappointment was that when I got the unit I didn't realize there was a slightly different model available that lets you time/date stamp your photos. If I had known about that other model I would have ordered it.

Bought this camera after having used my sisters. Can be as simple or complex to use as needed.

The Canon Rebel 2000 is a fine camera for the beginner who aspires to take professional quality pictures. It is as full featured as many higher priced cameras, yet costs much less. The camera is quite versatile, allowing one to take pictures by full automatic mode (point and shoot). If one so desires, one can take control of the process and control every aspect of the shot, including flash, shutter speed, aperature, and focus. The camera also has several built in photo modes for automatic portraits, landscapes, night shots, and action shots.

As an aside, the Canon EF lens that comes with this kit is a very nice lens that produces good quality pictures. There are many other EF lenses available that will fit this camera. An aspiring photographer will not want for variety of lenses.

I have had mine for several months now and I love it. I used the camera to take pictures at my brother's wedding ceremony, which was outside, at night. The camera's excellent metering and built in flash took properly exposed pictures with a minimum of fuss.

The only potential drawback to this camera is its construction. It is made out of plastic, which is a benefit and a potential risk. It is very, very light but plastics are intrinsically more delicate than metal, so this camera won't take much abuse.

Overall, an excellent camera for the amature photographer.