I'm pleased!

After having my camera (with all my gear – glass, tripods, filters, bag, etc.) stolen, I wanted to replace what I could on a very tight budget. The camera being replaced (Canon Rebel XT) was a wedding gift, and after a few years our family has a new addition. We didn’t want to miss out on documenting the changes that have been going on, and following advice from Zack Arias (Don’t go into debt with your purchases) I found something that would get us back into action.

Not only is the screen about 70% larger than my previous camera, it also swivels which really helps when shooting at a lower level (and really nice when using Live View, which the previous camera did not have). It does perform better with lower noise at a higher ISO, and the image quality was also improved. Being able to bump the ISO up to 12,800 allows me to take pictures in a much darker area than before, but more importantly the sensitivity on the sensor is about 2 f-stops better. Then to top it all off, the camera can also shoot video!
The reason I pounced on the camera was, it was bundled with EF-S 18-55mm lens. I also was able to get the EF-S 55-250mm discounted by $150. The camera uses SDHC memory, which is very affordable. All in all, I was able to get back up and running within my budget. Now, would I love to have a 5D Mk II? Well, Yes ~ but that is just not in my budget, the T3i was and is performing quite well.

As an added note: Using my brother's Speedlight (580ex II) was really sweet, in that you can trigger the extra flash without purchasing other triggers. The T3i has the ability to get the other flash to light off built in.

Problems:

The audio when recording video is not the best ~ getting another mic is a wise move.