If anyone ever has a chance and is deciding to get a camera, go with the Canon 20D, and an Epson 2200 printer. That combination is quite amazing. The 20D is such a great camera. Get the 17-85mm lens too, it is awesome. The prints from that camera out of the printer are better than lab quality.
It is cool to hear people talking about digital photography here. I love taking stills, I'm definately a rookie though. I've heard great things about the XT, maybe I'll have one next year!!!
I have the 20d as well. Get a good UV filter for everyday protection. A $40-50 filter is so much easier to replace than a $400-4,000 lens when your 5 year old decides to "poke" the camera with a toy! :shocked:
im not sure what kinda of photography you are into. but i love the canon 50mm f1.4 it such a bad ass lens, shooting at f1.4 is great cause the bg can just melt away.
i also have the 17-40 f4 l series. which is a fantastic lens. my only thing latly is im wishing i had the 16-35 f2.8 for the extra bit of speed. but there is quite a big difference in cost.
i also just got a sigma 70-200 f2.8. which is awesome...im on a long lens trip latly. i also got the 2x extender...fun stuff.
i say you check out the reviews on this site for more info on lenses...i was all about getting only canon lenses. but this site turned me onto certain sigma and tamron lenses..
Also check out DPReview for great digital camera info. It's the DVXUser.com site for digital still camera users! They just celebrated their 10millionth post on their forums! We'll be there before you know it.