Hummm, I suppose this isn't a real help but if you don't want to make a huge investment there is a black and white underwater camera and monitor on sale for $99.00 in the recent Harbor Freight flyer. I have seen it there several times. Better quality and color are readily available at much increased prices from other companies. Until last year, there were several posters who delighted us with their videos of fish and frogs above and below the surface of the water. I miss seeing them. Sandy

rthummer: Most people would consider it complicated, yes. Megapixels is largely marketing hype. Anything above 4mp should do you fine for prints unless you are submitting to magazines. If you have no desire to learn photography (in addition to how a particular camera works) then a DSLR is probably NOT the way to go, as they require a more fundamental understanding of the art than most P&S cameras do. BUT, they are the best way to do the widest variety of photos. As has been mentioned, the shutter lag on most point & shoot cameras is pretty bad. I think some improvement to that has been made in the last few years. Shutter speed and shutter lag are different things. Shutter speed is how log the camera exposes the sensor. Faster is better for stopping motion, but is limited by the amount of light available. Shutter lag is the time it takes from the moment you press the shutter to when it actually takes the picture. That is affected by a number of things. Focus speed, available light to focus by, auto white balance vs pre-set, etc. This has probably only added to your confusion, but every little bit of information helps. What else, besides hummers, do you plan to shoot with it? What are your photographic needs? By the way, just to be clear, the hummingbird photo is a composite of three photos. I managed to get several off as she swooped back and forth at the feeder. Then put them together later. THAT's where digital really shines.

I'm not familiar with that particular model, but I had an Olympus C4000Z, a very underrated little camera before I got my 20D. Once I learned where the sweet spot in the lens was and some tips, I got some wonderful photos with it, won a contest with two of them. Some of their models are better than others. I'm really impressed with the 8080. A professional photographer in Iraq uses one, but it's only 3X zoom. I was thinking of getting it for a backup camera. Do your homework, and you'll be fine. Before I bought each camera and the ones I got for my daughters and grandson, I read and read and asked a zillion questions and kicked it around for months. The net is the best source of information. Few people in the world out there know much of anything about digital cameras, even the camera store salespeople in some cases. On my 20D I got some things dirt cheap when a major computer online retailer broke into the camera market, had great discounts and coupons they threw out on the net plus rebates. They don't deal with Olympus, mostly Canon and their deals aren't so good any more. If you can afford it, I wouldn't have before, but now I would not hesitate to recommend a Canon or Nikon dslr with the interchangeable lenses camera to anyone. A few basic settings and you can use it just like a point and shoot digital camera and then grow into the more advanced features. A lot of people like the Panasonic FZ series, but I have never been too impressed with them although they seemed to have corrected some of the fringing. I just didn't think they produced that sharp of photos and the color was nothing to write home about, but some people love them. Some of the Kodaks are pretty nice, too, as well as Fuji. Oh, I left out Sony. They had serious problems with one, DSC-F828, rushed it to market before they got the bugs out, but I have been impressed with *some* of their models. Some I would advise people not to buy certain other ones. You might want to look at the specs for the Canon Pro 1. It doesn't have such a powerful zoom, 5X optical if I remember correctly, ignore digital zoom; it's worthless, but has a wonderful lens and color. My granddaughter bought that one and gets wonderful photos with it. I have seen some posted by others that have blown me away.

NHBabs: I see the ants swarming regularly, probably every few months, and always in the bluestone path. When I've pulled up the pavers to regrade I've seen extensive tunnels so there's a thriving colony or colonies under there. Mostly I just try not to step on them - the swarms don't last for long aboveground and don't affect me in any unpleasant way. What’s with the ant swarms in sidewalk cracks in summer? Claire