I had this camera as a gift though I did have complete choice in the camera bought. I was recomended the canon 450d but my current digital camera has 10 megapixals and so I wanted to upgrade in this area also and so went fot the 500d instead. The basics are simple to use, inserting the battery, charging battery, inserting the memory card, attaching the lens and turning on the camera are all easy tasks. This is my first DSLR so I have a lot to learn with regards all of the different modes, focusing etc to get the best from my photos, but so far using the camera on automatic function I have been able to take some lovely crisp pictures of my children and family. The camera is quick at taking photos 3.4 per second I believe and 1 per second when using the flash, in automatic it focuses quickly and captures a clear image that is impossible to do with a regular digital camera and so many moments are captured that would have been missed. The zoom feature is also easy to use. I am yet to suss out the finer details of taking pictures with a dslr camera but I do believe that as I read the manual and get to grip with it I will find using this camera very easy.

The playback feature for the pictures is also a simple touch of a button, you can also zoom into the pictures you have taken cropping them easily to get rid of untidy backgrounds or centralizing an offset picture.

So overall the camera is so far easy to use, it is me that needs to improve my knowledge of picture taking in order to make the most of it, and that involves reading the manual! Wish me luck!