Mary,

When I got my Rebel the photos were all blurry at first as well. I had to learn how to hold it correctly first of all (like it shows in the manual - as to not interfere with the focusing). I also had a good tip from a friend when holding it yourself - bring your elbows in and rest them against your body tightly. It gives you a bit of support. It seemed to me that it was just getting used to the weight mostly.

I still havent gotten a great tripod for my longer 70-300 mm lens. Necessity has taught me how to hold that monster myself and get a fairly clear shot though. Well, maybe 50% of the time. I havent had a shoot yet where I needed the longer lens so I am just practicing. I got this one yesterday from our vehicle and kind of rested it against the window that was half way down. I have no idea the distance, but I was pretty far away it seemed.

There is nothing inherently blurry about "SLR" images. Also, you should not need a different lens. Take the camera outside in the daylight (set it up as Terri suggested) find something specific to focus on and take some pictures. Compare the focus to the ones you are complaining about.

My memory is that focusing in low light is not a strength of the Canon digital rebel. However, in the type of light that would be adequate for your purposes the camera should perform OK.

Kim, I didn't realize you had one too, maybe between the three of us I will get this.

Beth, thanks for the instructions. How do you like the only model available this morning?..LOL. She was VERY cooperative.

The manual focus thing still didn't turn out so great, but putting it in autofocus and turning off the flash produced this.

I did it this way with my children, and didn't get anything nearly this clear in the same light, so Im not sure what that means.

Mike, You must have been posting while I was resizing that picture. That one was much better than anything else so far, so there is hope that I will get used to it.

Today is the last day for the canon rebates, if I do buy another lense it will be a 200 instead of 100 rebate. So, I am trying to decide if it is a necessity or not to go ahead and get something in addition to what came with it.

My guess is that your children are moving. It only takes a little and children do not understand the concept. When you are shooting at 1/30 of a second It doesn't matter how still the camera is if the subject moves a silly millimeter.

I would make your decision based on whether or not you want another lens, not on the expectation that another lens will fix a blurring problem.

So then what is the answer? A better lense that will shoot faster in low light? I think that is what the canon people were trying to explain to me about the 50mm 1.8 lens. I mean, lets face it, children are what I do, and they do MOVE.

It is true that some lenses gather more light than others. I generally associate those lenses with big bucks. But you could compromise, forgo the zoom and get a faster "fixed" lens without the zoom. This would be less money.

Personally I would not like to operate without a zoom. I've shot a bushel basket full of kids with a standard zoom lens.

Also, your new camera has given you the gift of additional ISO power. If you bump the ISO up to the 600 range you will find that your shutter speed has increased sufficiently to stop the small movements. Try this.

Mike I don't think anyone told Mary that a long lens would take care of blurring. I mentioned distortion and I think it would be tough to shoot a portrait figure without one in the size of studios we all seem to have.

Mary I learned on my last shoot that I am cropping the age group at 8 or 9 years old for shooting indoors. I am not going to invest in a elaborate lighting system, thus the little guys will blur, I don't think Mike was talking about shooting indoors with an ISO of 600.

I think you should price out what the lenses cost and see if it works in your budget. You'll use it, so it wouldn't be a waste. I don't put my shorter lens on much. I don't see a real difference in the "light" allowance for my lenses to make that determine a decision like yours.

It was lovely talking with you today. I love to hear a southern accent every now and then! ;)