Canon EOS Rebel T2i / 550D For Dummies Paperback – June 8, 2010

This is a nicely written overview for using your new Canon T2i. As with most 'for Dummies' books, it tries to cover a lot of territory in just one book, and I believe it does a good job considering the amount of information one could convey regarding photography.This edition covers all the settings on the camera, and touches on various photographic issues such as aperture, speed and ISO, and how those things work together. This is by no means an in-depth look at anything, but more of a general overview of most everything. I think this would be good for people who are brand new to their cameras and want to read something more entertaining, insightful and colorful than the dull and dry owner's manual that comes with the camera. If you are already familiar with your camera and you have a basic understanding of f-stops, speed and ISO this will probably be too elementary for you.While I believe this book serves its purpose and does what it should (provids you with an overview of your T2i camera), another book that gets into much more detail about features, about f-stops and speed, and about things like lenses and shooting for different environments (such as landscapes, portraits, etc.) is David Busch's Canon EOS Rebel T2i/550D Guide to Digital SLR Photography, and I'd highly recommend this book as a "next book" after reading the Dummies book. If you can only get one, then I'd go for the Busch book.

I dropped out of the SLR hobby when the initial digital cameras came out. I packed up my trusty old EOS Rebel XS 35mm put it on a shelf and went with a digital so that I could get away from film. Having enjoyed the little point and shoot, I finally took the plunge and went for the T2i, what an awesome camera - but, how does it all work? The Canon provided manual is less than impressive, and wanting to learn, I researched various publications, the easiest to understand and use is the For Dummies book. Great step by step directions and explanations, even for an old guy like me, that's technologically challenged. Well worth getting, you will not regret it.

You will find this book full of entire information that you will need to know to have this camera operate at it's full potential. I soon realized that my camera was capable of many more things than I thought. Lot's of photography tips and tricks and even a nice section on using the video capabilities of the camera. This is a great reference book for the T2i.

Ships fast. Definitely for people that have never used a SLR camera. Out of the 350 pages, I'm already on page 250 (in 5 days, really taking my time to make sure I understand everything before moving forward). Instead of going through the book with camera in hand, I first went through most of the chapters (until I finished chapter 5), and then went back to the beginning to setup the camera. Since I had never held a SLR before and have no concept of SLR photography, this exercise helped me a lot because the book explains everything to my level and the illustrations (photos) are all over the book. I recommend this book especially for beginners. When my husband bought the camera early December we got a free 2-hour class but they were booked all the way until February (our class in finally this Saturday). Not wanting to wait that long to use the camera, I bought the book and I feel comfortable with the camera now. I am very impressed.

I had the Rebel T2i/550D's consumer manual but I found it totally incomprehensible. I felt like I had to be one of the engineers who designed the Rebel to be able to understand it. Julie Adair King's "Rebel for Dummies" was just what I was looking for, it was well organized giving me what a user needs, and now I felt I was actually learning how to use the camera to take the type of images I bought the camera for in the first place. Good job Julie and thanks for creating a practical, really user-friendly manual.

I got this for my kids and it helped them learn about their camera a lot!!

This is just what I needed to know, slowly building up from the basics

Its not as good as I wanted it to be. I honestly felt like I was reading the User manual that came with the Canon. It does help with some tips but if you are looking for something with some creative options, It seems to have none. Overall, not bad for detailed study of functions and options.