Canon EOS 40D Digital Camera

If, like me, you have been wanting just that little bit more from your photography beyond the reasonably expensive £200 point-and-shoot digital cameras, then this is it.

My Camera;
Canon 40D (Obviously)
Tamron 17/50 Lens (these are Japanese made and very high quality)
Canon 75/300 Lens (Again, Japanese and very high quality)

From a basic users' point of view, you'd still want something you can "point-and-shoot" which, wonderously, this camera retains effortlessly. The Body comes with lightening-fast access to your photos, far better than any domestic flavor, giving a quick two-button sequence to delete. The flash pops up automatically when it see's fit and even uses it to light up a room when it cannot see enough to focus. It simply WANTS to give you the best photo at all times and invariably does with ease but the results are photo's you want to hang on a wall, not flick through an album - they are stunning.
Battery life gives you a cool 500-700 photos with or without flash. The weight is so easy to handle and the viewfinder gives you exactly what your about to shoot whether your zoomed in or out.
In addition, the viewfinder gives you loads of information including showing you the 9 points in the frame it will use for focusing on objects - they are tiny little squares softly overlayed which flicker red when you press the button half-way down during its focusing moment.
You get the soft reassuring beeps when its ready to take the photo - all of which happens in a fraction of a second - far faster again, than any domestic camera I have used.
The whole thing is so well layed out that using it is a doddle. I was contemplating the higher model (5D) but this does not have its own flash and requires expert use most of the time. The 40D is unstoppable for quality, clarity (seeing each fine strand of hair on the head of your daughter for example) and durability.
Its 10 MegaPixel sensor gives stunning results. I was lucky enought to get this camera with a Tamron 17/50 lens (good for close-up shots, portraits and very good zoom photos or landscape shots. Its an excellent and affordable lens which I HIGHLY recommend you grab immediately and start off with. My second lens, the 75/300 (these numbers basically give an indication of its zoom distance - 75 is generally too powerful for portrait shots but excellent for general outdoor use, then gently sliding it through all the way up to 300 would give you a full close-up shot of a numberplate across the street from you) is smooth and has a Canon motor inside it which is whisper quiet.
Why is there a motor inside the lens? Well, when you attach a lens to these cameras, small metal contacts also click into place allowing the main camera body control of a motor inside the lens which controls the focus.
Some lenses have really quick focusing so you're able to get a very quick picture without having to wait for the camera to sort itself out - some others (like the Canon USM lenses) have motors that are extremely quiet and ultra-fast at focusing. That sort of situation is great in discreet places like childrens plays where you need to be quiet!

Understand this review is not for the experts, you'd already know what these things do, this is more for the person (like me) who is moving up a notch to something that can take a photo easily good enough to have framed on a wall.
If you want something like that - get this camera. You won't be dissapointed