Be sure to post pics.

If this is your first DSLR (sounds like it is), be aware that your images may at first look soft. Most people mistake this as a camera and/or lens flaw. However, Canon DSLR's have an additional IR cut filter in front of the sensor that tends to make the images a little softer.

Sometimes they look great, sometimes you think something is wrong. If you don't already have Photoshop, you should probably get a free version of PS Elements on your CD set with the camera. Run any images you think are soft through the Unsharp Mask Filter. Try settings of about 150/0.7/3 for a start. The images will look 100% better.

I ran into the same issue with my DRebel when I first got it. If you search the Photography on the Net forums for soft images, you'll find lots of references to this.

Remember, a DSLR assumes the user wants more control over the final image output and typically does not jack up the saturation and sharpness settings by default like a non-DSLR consumer camera does. There are in-camera custom parameters to let you overcome this seeming flaw. I tend to leave mine at a low contrast and sharpness setting, and a medium saturation setting, since I prefer to post-process most all of my images.

Here's a good example. This image was cropped and reduced for web display, but otherwise unprocessed:



Here's the same exact image with only a little Unsharp Mask applied: