1/ load the battery
2/ place your CFCard

(warning here: do ask what card your camera can handle! tyhe 350 was limited to 2GB.)

3/ choose autofocus on your lens
4/ set to P

shoot

then learn the rest.

I personally prefer aperture priority because I'm used to it. I also live by the old rule that says that the number in the time of the exposure should be larger than the length of the lens. Here: 105 x 1,6 equals some 170, so to get acceptable sharp shots you need a time of 1/170 or shorter, or in the real world 1/200 and shorter.

You can compare lenses with violins. Only a real master will be able to get that out of a Guarneri or a Stradivari.
Otoh: Image Stabilisation does really work, and can come in more than handy!

Something else, and completely different. If you have the time, visit the gallery of leeco:

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/browse.php?username=leeco

then look up his camera, the Nikon 7900

a real master gets fascinating results with , sorry, common equipment.

There are no Borg. All resistance is fertile.