How do I enable Live View on the EOS 450D please?

To enable live view, you need to go to Menu -> Second Setup Icon (the yellow ones) -> Live View Settings -> Enable.
Once enabled, you can use it by pressing the set button when the camera is turned on. The set button is the one in the middle of the up/down left/right buttons.

I just purchased this camera. It is my first SLR, I have been using Canon point and shoots for a few years now so some of the features and menus are familiar to me but the world of lenses has left me with a lot of questions. Will the kit lens that comes with the camera be enough for a trip to Hawaii or do I need to invest in some other lenses? If so what would you recommend for a beginner?

Hello Maureen,
Congratulations on your purchase. You made an excellent decision. You are guaranteed to have a lot of fun with your new camera.
I bought this Sigma 18-200mm lens for Dani. Its performing very well for a lens with such a tremendous zoom range (11x). On top of that I would also get a 72mm circular polarizing filter. Trust me, you will thank me after you did compare some pictures with polarizer and without it. I probably wouldn't spend too much money on it. Although the quality can vary, I don't think it is justified to pay hundreds for a filter. Here is a cheap one:
Digital Concepts 72mm filter
To answer your question: I believe that the Kit Lens is enough for a beginning Photographer. It is a lot of fun to play with and at the wide end 18mm is quite sufficient. There will always be cases when you wish you could zoom in closer (craters of Haleakala or dancers at a Luau), so there is no question that the Sigma Lens can be very useful to you, but I am going to state here that 70%-80% of your shots will probably be in the 18-55mm range anyways.
If you want to come back with extraordinary photographs, go for the Sigma. You can isolate your subjects better.
Personally I am using 5-6 Zoom Lenses, none of which have this kind of zoom range and one prime lens, but most people do not like to change lenses. Dirt gets into your sensor system and even though the XSi has a self cleaning mechanism, you cannot expect too much of it. On my 20D I used to clean my sensor every couple of months (basically forfeiting my warranty). So the Sigma is a sensible choice for its range.
If you decide to go with the Kit Lens alone, get a circular polarizer for that one:
58mm quality polarizer

hi! i saw your galleries and loved your pictures. I am an absolute newbiein phototaking and would like to know how to maximise my 450D. I unfotunately have only started reading up on RGB and ISO but I am still pretty lost on other technicalities. I hope you can help. Thanks :)

Hello Nur,
start by practicing as much as you can. You will become more familiar with your camera and over time your pictures will improve too. A good starting point to better photographs is my article on photography mistakes (I am composing this on my phone. I will ad links later). The manual and leaflet that came with your camera is a good resource too, esp. with respect to learning about your camera. Finally check my tutorial on exposure for a better understanding in the involved tradeoffs between parameters. Don't hesitate to post more questions and remember to practice a lot.
Don't get caught up with technical stuff. Set your camera to full auto and focus on the composition. Most of the time, the camera will do a good job. A lot of people focus all their attention on the technical stuff recording poorly composed pictures that are technically perfect but poorly composed.

Hi,
I am looking at purchasing the canon rebel xsi. I am wondering what kind of telephoto lens to purchase. Is it a good idea to get one with the image stabilization or not?? I am going from a Minolta 35 mm and also use a sigma 100-200mm lens. Is it safe to assume that the sigma lens will not fit the canon? (it is an auto focus lens.)

Now thats what I call perfect timing. Your question came in the midst of me writing an extensive lens buying tutorial. Today I was working on the part about image stabilization.
Your Sigma lens will not work, since it does not have a Canon mount.
I do not know how much money you spent on the lens and if it is compatible with the later versions of the Minolta DSLR. If it is, you could stick with the Sony / Minolta Systems. Sony has leapfrogged in recent years and has introduced some nice camera systems. A quick google search came up with this website: Sony, Minolta Lens Database.
If that is the only lens and if it did not cost too much, you could still become a Canon shooter (like myself). In that case, the tips I gave Mark may work for you too.
I plan to upload the next piece (Image Stabilization) during the weekend or early next week.

I accidentally deleted the last comment when I was clearing the pipe if spam. I belief it was a question about the 450d and a Sigma lens. Could you please repost it?

Hi Andre. We're actually contemplating buying our first DSLR and are at crossroads. Would appreciate if you could share your views on the following :

1) Pairing the CAnon 450D with a Sigma lens (18-200mm)(Optical Stabilisation).. However, we also read from some forums that some Sigma lenses caused some error messages when paired with their Canon 450Ds. Not sure if you've encountered such problems?

2) Pairing the Canon 450D with a Canon EF-S 18-200mm IS lens (instead of buying the kit lens (EF-S 18-55mm IS) as well as the EF-S 55 -250mm IS lens).

Question = which of the above would be a better option? Although we would mostly be photographing our kids, landscape, family occasions, there would be times when we anticipate using the telephoto lens, e.g. nature outings.

To add to our confusion, we also read some pretty good previews/reviews of the Nikon D90 which has apparently improved tremedously from the Nikon D80 and comes with a F3.5 - 5.6, 18 - 105 mm DX Nikkor VR AF-S lens .. So we're wondering which to get..Wonder if you've managed to try it out?

Regards
May

Hello May,

thank you for your patience.

I had accidentally removed your question when I was hurrying through my menus. There is a first time for everything, but I am glad that you are so patient with me.

Congratulations on making your decision to buy a SLR camera. All the choices you outlined here are excellent choices. You could go either way and be perfectly happy.

1) I have not put this lens on my camera, but I can try it out and post the results here. I bought this lens for Dani and she is using it on her 20D without any issues.

2) This is probably a two-part question.
A) EF-S 18-200 IS vs. Sigma 18-200 OS
I think this Canon lens is new. You can never go wrong with a Canon Lens on a Canon Camera, but you can save money with a Third Party Lens on a Canon Camera (Sigma, Tokina, Tamron). I wrote a lot about this in my Lens Buying Guide, but basically it comes down to finding a store with an excellent return policy (B&H, Adorama, Amazon) and testing the lens. (Make sure to check out the lens articles.)
B) EF-S 18-55 + EF-S 55-200 vs. EF-S18-200
I would suggest the 18-200 over a two-lens system for first time buyers. This way you can focus on your picture taking instead of having to worry about switching lenses.
C) Although not part of your question, the new Tamron 18-270mm also got decent reviews and has the largest range of all lenses I have seen so far.

My personal opinion: Give the all in one solution a shot :-) The Sigma performs excellent on the 20D. I will try it on the 450D. Test your lens when you get it (here is a short section on lens testing) and send it back if you do not like it. The Canon lens should not show any problems, but it costs a little more.

The Nikon D90 is also an excellent camera. I am not sure if the Canon 450D should be considered the contender or rather the Canon 50D. I really cannot comment much on Nikon cameras, except that they are also excellent. I prefer not to comment on Nikon vs. Canon. Both make excellent products. Since most of my investment is in Lenses, I will probably stick with Canon for a long time.

All these cameras can take excellent pictures. You could go to a store and play around with the cameras. Find out which ones feel better and which ones you like better. Try to buy the camera there though, they offer a great service.

Also check out this article on gear.

Dear Andre,

Thanks for the quick and informative reply. We have already tested these cameras and are now considering with your advice in mind.

Best regards,

May

Hello May, I tested the Sigma lens on my Rebel 450D and everything worked fine. I took a couple of test shots and everything looks good. The Lens is relatively large but the Camera does not feel awkward with it.

I think you could give the setup a shot ;-)