i don't mean to sound stupid ( I am still in major learning stage and it goes slowly) But, I don't understand alot about "crop frame" and the 1.6x crop factor,
"There are no stupid questions -- only stupid answers."
I find it hard to explain in words -- the "cropping" is related to the physical size of the sensor relative to a "full frame" as related to 35mm cameras, a perhaps somewhat arbitrary standard. The smaller sensors used in the typical consumer level DSLRs only record a fraction of the area that a full frame would record. If you measure the size recorded by the smaller frame, it represents the view a full frame camera would record with a longer focal length. The factor, such as 1.6 means the field of view acts as though the lens was 1.6 times longer than it is marked. But that is all relative, the optical focal length of a 50mm, or whatever, lens is always 50mm. There is a lot of related info online, but it tends to quickly devolve into issues of depth of field and other considerations. If you already own the camera, you just need to know what it does (unless you start lusting for a new and possibly different camera!)
If you do mind my asking, How long have you been a photographer for?? ( I know it had to be a while seeing as you bought the 40D new)
Hehe, assuming we define photographer as "one who takes photographs" (I have never worked as a pro) let's just say I bought my first 35mm camera as a junior in high school -- and I graduated in 1959.
I can't recall that digital cameras were even in science fiction in those days! I was given a Kodak Brownie Target Six-20 box camera somewhere around 1950, presumably to keep me away from mom's folding Kodak. I still have it, and it still works, although 620 film is tedious to come by. That first 35mm, bought with Christmas money at the end of 1957, was an Argus C-3, AKA "The Brick" for its shape. I've had it apart to clean and lube, and adjusted the rangefinder a while back, but I've used it at least once each of the past several years to shoot a roll of film for Argus Day, an event organized by the Argus Collectors Group.
You seem to know so much
Wel-l-l, you know what they say - - - "On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog."
Did you learn along the way on your own or did you have help along the way?
Mostly on my own; I've made my living in technical geeky areas and seem to have had a knack for observing, analyzing and correcting. In my early twenties I attended a few lectures sponsored by a local camera club, and I do plenty of reading.
Most of my gear I still own:
http://www.pbase.com/dw_thomas/photopastpresent Within the past decade I've purchased an assortment of Bronica medium format SLR gear, as well as two folding cameras from the early 1950s and a Yashica twin lens reflex of late 70s/early 80s vintage which I use and make darkroom prints which I submit to local shows with some degree of success.
http://www.pbase.com/dw_thomas/exhib_photos But I also zap plenty of bits too. And then there's pinhole photography!
http://www.pbase.com/dw_thomas/pinholeSo keep shooting, keep notes, critique carefully and you'll learn.
DaveT