Quote - Did you set the camera to use 1 focus point or is it still defaulted to select the focus point it thinks is best? You should be able to adjust the ISO in all but "auto" mode. Using IS you should be able to drop the shutter speed down to around 30th-40th of a sec and still get crisp shots. Enjoy the camera!

Personaly I'd say 1/50 or 1/60 is more like the limit of the IS, at least if you want to get consistent results and not rely on luck too much. But than again I don't have a very steady hand to begin with, so that could very well be just me. That aside, if your 40D is anything like my 400D in this regard you really should only use 1 autofocus point, as has been pointed out by viper above. For some situations multiple points work nicely, but sometimes more autofocus points just mean the camera starts to think it knows better than you what the focus should be. :-D ;-) Something else about the autofocus is that it uses contrasts (and I guess a few other things) to judge what it's doing, so if you focus on an area with little contrasts the AF may not work as well as you expect it to do. One solution - depending on the motive - may be to aim at something with stronger contrasts that is about the same distance from you as the focal point you actually want. Once the AF has focused keep the trigger halfway depressed and aim at your target before taking the shot. Oh, and BTW, I am still pretty much a beginner myself, so take everything I say with a large serving of salt. :-)