It has been a while since I have been on the conversation side of the FN. So, I totally was missing this thread. Congrats Sharon and Susan on getting Canon cameras like mine. You both will love them!!! Good choices you made! I bought two sets of 4 AA rechargeable batteries in 2005 when I got my camera and kept recharging them over and over again. I just threw out one of the sets about a month ago. They sure lasted a long time! The other set is still going. The third set I used at the start were batteries I found at home but I misplaced one or two of the batteries and so, never used that set much. Now, everytime I go somewhere with my camera, I throw the recharger in my purse with the 4 freshly recharged batteries in it. It is amazing how often I will be in the middle of the Westman Gardeners meeting taking pictures and the batteries will die then or in the midst of another function and they die. Just taking the few extra seconds to throw in the freshly recharged batteries in the purse sure has been a lifesaver. I have now taken about 25,000 pictures with my camera...it rolls over at the 9999 number to 0 again....of course, I haven't kept all of them but have a lot in the computer though! Thanks Susan for the fun sites to explore this winter. I have all the pictures I took this summer to label, crop, adjust lighting on, etc etc. this winter when I can't work outside anymore. It will be fun to work with some of the pictures with the fun techniques. I was given a Manfrotto tripod with a joystick head (pistol grip) for my birthday in June to use along with my camera and haven't taken the time to experiment with it and my camera. I am hoping for time this winter. Just wait...that will be the next thing on your wish list, Sharon and Susan. Brenda

My quest was for a camera that could capture accurate colors of iris and roses. I saw my brother's pocket size Canon S230 (pocket size) was doing a better job on peach colored iris so I bought a Canon A95 (excel reviews, point and shoot but not pocket sized). I loved my old Olympus C3020 for reds and blues but figured it could die soon. Was I disappointed with my Canon! Did not do as good a job as my brother's on peach colors and not nearly as good as the Oly on reds, lavenders! The Oly did die after 7-8 years of service and the Canon croaked after only 3 years. I kicked myself for not spending more for a Panasonic (the many many iris pics taken with the DMC-FZ20 that I saw were consistently excellent). In desperation 2 years ago, before iris season, I bought a used $40 Sony W290. Quite good on all iris colors as Sony fans claimed, but there was a missing quality I can't define. Picked up a $100 used Canon G9 last year and I'm at last satisfied. Very good on iris and excellent on roses. So I've concluded that the model is quite as important as the maker. I like the Canon G series better than a friend's Canon EOS Rebel T2i DSLR --- tried it for a few weeks. Still itching to try a Panasonic. Good luck.

Just from my own real life experience as the mother two toddlers, I can tell you I own over $3000 worth of DSLR body and lenses. My best shots of my kids actually come from my Nikon Coolpix S8100 (under $200). I'll give you the lag time is more than my fancy DLSR. And yes, when I have time to pull the DLSR out I can get a much better photograph, but I can stick my Coolpix in any bag I am taking anywhere and it is always with me. So I get all the candids. My DLSR is bulky (and my kids come with enough baggage already. I love my DSLR, don't get me wrong, I have it for many other reasons, but if she is looking for great shots of her child, a fairly easy point and shoot is way more practical. Kalindi

I am using a Canon SX50 HS. Its a good camera with a lot of features, however, it does have an automatic mode that does fairly well. It zooms 50 to 1. The wide angle may not be wide enough for group shots under 10 feet away. I would be happy if they sacrificed some if the long zoom in favor of a bit wider wide angle. However the lens is very good and its aperture is ok. It zooms from 4.3 mm to 215 mm starting with aperture f/3.4 ending with f/6.5 at the long end of the zoom range. These are respectable numbers. A little wider opening would be nice, but this is a credible accomplishment considering the trade-offs in a compact lens. It is a fast booting camera, about 1 second or less. The auto-focus function is fast compared to competition. It does slow down as the light dims, but as the light dims at some point, a green laser light turns on to help the lens to focus. The user has to keep aware of where this light is on the camera body and not block it with a finger for it to work. Images can be downloaded directly out of the camera, or by removing the SD card and using a card reader. The USB cable is supplied with the camera. The camera's battery should have enough charge to last long enough to transfer a batch of images. In my experience and the number of images I transfer at one time, I find that the battery does not have to be fully charged, although it would be best if it were. Nikon also makes a comparable camera and its sensor may produce a little more pleasing saturation of colors. However, my Canon does an acceptable job on this score. The camera out of the box defaults to its lowest 'film' speed, about ASA 80. During your setup of the camera, this speed can be raised to ASA 100 to 200 without much loss of quality. I recommend using at least ASA 100 to get faster shutter speeds. The lens has 3 modes of focus: off, active only when the release button is pressed half way down, and active all the time. Active 100% of the time increases drain of the battery. I recommend 'active when i press the shutter button half way down. The shutter button has a very light detent at the halfway point. For some users, this may be a problem if your fingers are not steady. To take a picture using the part time mode, press the shutter to the first detent and wait for the lens to focus and then press all the way down. Focusing in good light is rapid. As with any camera, you can not hand hold at extreme zoom and expect to get sharp results. In good light and reasonable shutter speed, you can hand hold up to about 3x zoom. If you are very steady or support your hand with a stationary object, you can hand hold to 4x zoom. A tripod should be used for higher zooms. I like this camera for auto trips because it can be used as a point and shoot camera, or switch to its wide range of features. The zoom lens is like having a bag full of lenses without the bulk. To get better results, one would have to move up to a full frame camera which do not have as much zoom range per lens.