Hey everyone! My girlfriends mom and I are going to buy her the Rebel Xti for Christmas for her. She is kind of strapped for cash right now so I was just putting it on my credit card. So I put in an order to this retarded place called PrefferedPhoto.com and in order to validate it I had to call their number with the emailed order number. So the guy on the line began trying to sell me a bunch of accessories and I kept denying until he offered the retail package because apparently the camera I ordered is in Japanese on the menus....none of which was mentioned in the product description. And after some research I found out that a lot of the cheap Camera+Lens kits that are going for $500 like the one I tried ordering are all international models. A friend mentioned maybe applying English firmware but I also began thinking, wouldn't there just be a language menu I'd have to try and find? I mean would it make much sense to have a camera that only displays a single language? So could someone tell me if I have the correct thinking in this manner or should I just shell out the extra 75-100 dollars for an English one. If it's just a matter of finding the language menu I'm game for a crash course in Japanese.

Anyone have any ideas in this area?

There's a language selection for English at Setup 2 MENU. But mine was bought from in Canada. And update my firmware to ver. 1.1.1.
If you’re buying the camera with different Language preset other than specified for your area, you need to call Canon in your country and check if the store you're buying it from is Canon Authorise dealer.  If not then you should think twice before buying it from them even if you’re getting a good price since you are not going to get Warranty on it from ANYONE.
 
Make sure that what you’re buying also has Canon Warranty for your country. Otherwise you will need to ship it to wherever you warranty requires you.
 
Check this one. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/ca [...] page11.asp
 

I know this is way too late to be helpful and I'm sorry for not seeing this thread earlier.  ALWAYS check online sources at resellerratings.com  That particular store also goes by the name broadwayphoto.com http://www.resellerratings.com/store/preferredphoto  They love to scam people.  Somewhere I've seen photos of the store front to this particular line of scammers, and it's not a pretty site.  Also, as pointed out above, please check with the mfg to ensure they are selling the country warranty.

Cameras that are imported into the US from foreign markets are called
"grey market cameras". Canon, Fuji, etc. do not like them because they
cause them headaches and they do not get to sell their cameras for
the higher price that they normally do in the USA. There are lots of
small camera repair stores that will work on them, and you may want
to call a couple of them.
 
Precision Camera Toll Free: 800-665-6515 comes up first on Google
searching for
 
"digital camera repair"
 
As far as the "call back" goes where they try to sell you hard, I suggest
purchasing 1 accessory. A lot of these guys only break even only after
they sell one accessory. Tell them that you will consider buying more
after you get the camera.
 
You may want to get your backup batteries, etc. from (much cheaper
and great quality)
 
[url] www.sterlingtek.com [/url]
 
Here is the firmware download link from Canon for the 40D with instructions
 
http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/e [...] are-e.html
 
I hope that helps.
 
Chris