Hello Jeanne, Temple and I just watched your Flikr slideshow, and all we could say was wow Wow WOW! You've taken some truly wonderful pictures. We've abandoned the Auto setting in favor of Program, Tv(aperture), and Manual modes now. We also use HContinuous a lot, and toss a many of our lesser shots to get the often fleeting poses from our unpredictable birds. The tripod is helpful in fixed and especially low-light shooting, but we still take most of our pictures hand-held. I can sure understand your not wanting to lug one down to the river though, and you're getting superb photos without one anyway. I've visited lensmate and examined the sample shots taken with their TC offerings, and I really do want to try one. But the one thing I find with the S3 is that its basic lens just doesn't gather that much light, and I'm always struggling to get enough shutter speed while maintaining a good exposure. I know the TC lens will DECREASE the light at least somewhat, and this has caused me to hesitate. Anyway, I wax pathetic... ;) Your pictures are excellent, and the TC waxwing shots really do encourage me to try the long lens. Please continue to post your TC photos on the forum. I look forward to seeing more. best regards, Kenn

Thank you for your kind comments! We visited the fish hatchery last weekend but didn't see one migrant. Yesterday morning we hit the bird lottery, though. A rare migrant and two lifers, as well as a warbler. I took so many photos (over 1700) that my computer has been barely functional, so have had trouble working on the photos. Time to install a second hard drive, just for photos (sigh)

Do you already have glass from a previous system? Check out dpreview.com and look at the camera reviews New releases for entry level DSLRs are: Canon XTi Nikon D80 Olympus E400 Pentax K10D Sony A (EEk!Sony DSLR...)FYI, Konica- Minolta sold its camera division to Sony. There is devenitely rooom for imrovment and and I think they will attemp to make those improvements. All of above mentioned are 10MP and brand new so prices will be high for them. Lens _availability_ advantages go to Canon, Nikon and Pentax with Olympus in 4th place, however, Olympus makes some of the best lenses out there for a good price. They all have there advantages and disadvantages. Olympus iinroduced a new system called 4/3rds and most of the lens releases have been HQ and Very HQ since the first DSLR they released was "Pro" camera, but now Sigma is joining in on the concept so there are now lower priced lenes available. You can use the old OM mount lens but you have to get an adaptor, there cheap on ebay($16). I have the Canon Rebel XT but it sits on the shelf, it a great camera and but its shines in low light situations, high ISO. I am not usually shooting picture in the dark and my other Olympus DSLR make great pictures with the KIT LENSES! The kit lens with the Canon was crap, I ended up buying a new lens becuase it was so cheaply made, actually my wife bought it I just supplied the $$. I test drove the D50 for a few days and it had a serious banding issue. Again they are all good brands it just depends on which one you like the best. Prices for last years model will be dropping soon. If you have a Sams card go over there and look at the E500. Joe

Great photos Joan. I'm envious. Both shots are great. I haven't quite gotten the sharpness consistently I'd like with my latest gear. Don't know if I'm just not in the lenses' comfort zones too often, or out of the photog's competency zone! Probably more often the latter.