I bought the camera in Sept 07. Since then I have taken the camera to two rural India trips and to a wild life sancntuary. Mind you that I don’t have a telephoto lens as yet. The 18mm-55mm kit lens, though not great, has done exceptional job when it come to the macro shots and the landscapes. It is a very useful lens for the portrait and profile shots.
This is possibly one of the best cameras one can have to begin the SLR photography.
The real time photography is in the creative modes of 400D, auto modes are for people who have not come out of the regular box-type auto-zoom camera avataars.
The camera comes with a comprehensive manual which is easy to read. I have picked up a lot of uses of 400D by reading the manual like a novel. I would recommend a careful read of the manual.
I think it will be unfair to comment on 400D viewfinder preview, since the best professional cameras dot give you a LCD view before taking the shot, as the SLRs are very sensitive to motion. Therefore to curtail any shake, viewfinder preview is a compulsion. I don’t complain, cos I get superb results with a viewfinder view.
Battery life is a bit of concern when one uses flash. I think the camera’s hard ware is well programmed and it takes a few number of outings before one gets to know the power of Canon EOS 400D.
Happy clicking.