I purchased this true SLR camera in February 2005 with an image stabilized F4.0 - 5.6, 17 - 85mm zoom lens, 1 Giga-Byte memory card, Speedlite 580EX external flash, and a F2.8, 65mm 1-5X macro lens. It was a major investment. I have since added the EF 50mm F1.4 and EF L Series 100-400mm F4-5.6 lenses.

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The camera is very fast owing to its use of multiple independent computer controllers. Most digital cameras have an annoying shutter delay just taking a picture, followed by a long wait while the system stores the image, because they use a single computer to control all the cameras functions. Using multiple controllers this Canon has no shutter delay and in the highest resolution mode will take 5 simultaneous shots without delays. The 1GB memory card will store 264 images at the highest JPG resolution, or 118 in RAW mode. Larger memory cards are available.

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The image quality, accuracy of color, range of tones and contrast are remarkable. The camera has more features than an Internet movie server, which can be somewhat daunting.

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I find that I shoot only in RAW image mode. Images can be downloaded from the camera using Canon's software over a USB 2.0 connection or by moving the CF memory card to the computer's card reader. Once on my computer hard drive, I use Adobe Photoshop CS4 to open the RAW images, where you get to accurately control exposure, white balance, contrast, brightness, sharpness, and color hues. It accurately corrects for most exposure sins.

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When this camera was new, almost all the add-ons are Canon proprietary and Canon pricing will take your breathe away. The products work and are of excellent quality. I like the camera and if I had deeper pockets would like to invest in more lenses and a bellows.