Hi,
It depends how far you want to go.
If you just want a compact size one not an SLR, my Canon has 6MP which is now considered quite small, and 6 x optical zoom. This isn't really enough if you want to do bird photography, but forgeneral holiday stuff it's fine.
Forget about "digital zoom"- you can do that on the computer- it's the optical zoom you need to look for.
You MUST make sure it has macro for closeups- usually a little pic of a tulip.
It's also useful for closeups either to be able to have cantre focus or manual focus if you want it (but not all the time).
I also chose mine because it has a viewfinder as well as the display on the back. This can be useful at times, esp if your eyes are getting old and you need reading glasses.
Oh, and the shutter delay time will be critical of trying to catch flying insects. Some cameras take a while to "think", so you need to ask for them to be demonstrated.

Go to a library and ask to look at the Which reports on digital cameras.

You can now get compact digital cameras which have bigger and usually better lenses without going for the full size SLR.

If you go to Alisonfroglady's website she has beautiful closeups. I'm sure she'd tell you what her hubby uses.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lovely photos here in the galleries

Thanks, Damp. Didn't know there was so much to it! I shall certainly have a look at Which magazine and also contact Alison soon.
Big Kid

oh, and don't go for the own brand cameras.
Best thing is to find a shop that will let you have a try like Jessops. We found some shops like Currys wouldn't put a battery in- don't buy without trying.
Tell them straight away that you have just started looking. Write down prices, MP size, battery type (mine uses rechargeable AAs or some have special battery packs)- this may have implications if you are going on a long holiday camping, optical zoom, viewfinder, bright, large display, macro, and comfort and ease of use. If you can't read the buttons or they are too small and fiddly, don't buy it!

Thanks again. I'll certainly have to do my homework!

Sonny has had a few bodies of camera but generally uses the same lenses for all of them. The latest camera is a Cannon EOS 1D which does great pictures of things moving so he has been able to get pics of birds in flight taking all their wing movements. It is quite impressive (even though for the price it needs to be) He has the 10d and 5d bodies I think.
He also uses good lenses. I love the macro lens as it has enabled us to see closeups such as pondskaters eating aphids which was impossible to see with the naked eye.
I think most of his photo's on his gallery also has the lens he used and which camera written underneath it.

Hi Alison,

Thanks for all the info. I guess it's the old story of getting what you pay for in life. Whether I can fork out loads is another story. Sonny's pics are great!

Hi Again, Alison,

Just Googled Sonny's camera and nearly fell off my chair! And it didn't include the lense. Even Santa wouldn't bring me that one. Ah well, back to the lottery.............

I know and the thing is he doesn't even flinch when he tells me the price of things. It's like it doesn't register as a lot of money as everything is relevent. I felt like you as the price originally when he first mentioned it was nearer four and a half thousand!! can you believe that.. just for the body. There was no way he would get that. Anyway once a year he gets a bonus from work and although it didn't cover it, it went a long way to it so It didn't hurt as much..... I think a tenner is a good present but his birthday and christmas presents are always in the hundreds or thousands. I don't ever get anything like that as we can only have one big spender in the family, but he is the breadwinner so he sometimes gets a great pressie. I tend to spend when it is a bargain.
(good job he doesn't come on here)
Alison

I did a quick search for compact SLR, and this is one of the results I found. http://www.bestcameras.co.uk/shop/acatalog/Olympus_SP-570_UZ.html
- so it looks as if a good compact will be around £200ish. This one is around £250ish. But obviously it won't be as good as professional ones.
If you get a slr, you probably want to get one that has autofocus and auto exposure settings as well as manual.
In the shops, try it on people, out through the window, and do macros of a coin.

Here is a link that might be useful: Olympus compact slr

By the way, I wasn't meaning that you should buy that one, just that it is an example of a smaller, cheaper SLR than the super duper ones if you wanted something in between.

Thanks again for all the new info, Damp. I'm certainly not in Sonny's league!

Alison, I suppose you can put up with the big spender if he's the breadwinner! Lucky you.

...It took me over 2 years to finally take the plunge to buy a digital because we thought they were too complicated....

The only problem I have with digital is that we don't print all the photo's out. They are all on the computer and we occasionally look at them but I loved to be able to go and collect my prints from the shop and look to see what I had.
Sonny bought me a digital camera and I used to take both out with me when I first got it. I would take a couple of pics on the digi and then take a lot of others on the normal camera. It took me ages to eventually stop taking the old camera out with me.

Someone after my own heart! Bring back negatives!

Alison, with that amazing camera of Sonny's, I presume you have one of those fancy gadgets to print off your digital pics as well? I reckon you should do a bit of blackmailing
him into letting you print all your favourite pics as you go along, otherwise you can tell him that your computer might just decide to forget where his favourite pics are!

If you have lots to print, it's quite expensive to print at home. Watch out for good deals at supermarkets and online.
Don't forget, to get these offers, all the photos have to be on the same dics or memory card or usb stick.

I never thought to actually take them somewhere else. I usually use an adobe programme to keep them on and print and email them from, but Sonny uses Lightroom as he loves to mess about with them and he finds it a good programme. We both have our own computers but the printers are set on Sonnys computer. He uses an Epsom 1290 for the photo's but we also have an Epsom 1200 and a HP Lazerjet 6L. I think we have about 5 or 6 computers on the go at once all on servers. I never know which Sonny is using as he has 3 monitors on his desk at once. He is a computer geek really and luckily it got him a job about 10 years ago after quite a lot of years unemployed where he taught himself all about them and his other love was photography so now he can put them together to make lovely photos. But it is also a talent I feel, as not everyone can make them look as good as his even with the same equipment. I certainly can't. At the moment on his gallery 2008 for July he has a photo of mosquito larvae which look so strange. They are in an empty flowerpot that had filled with water. They are certainly worth going for a look.

Here is a link that might be useful: Alisons nature reserve/sonnys gallery

The link didn't work when I tried it so try this.
www.the-horsfalls.co.uk which should take you to the home page of Alisons nature reserve and you can lnk from there to the gallery etc.

Weird - cracking pic!

I also like the barbed wire pic.

I once saw a rusty old pram stuck in mud in the river Brent. It was covered in gunk and some long, green water plant left after the level of the river had gone down. I wished then that I had a good camera because it would have made a great shot. I've always believed that there is a strange kind of beauty in ugliness!

Hi from a new member :o)
You *may* want to take a look at my Photobucket page here...
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v498/AndyVR/critters/Dragonfly/
Where I have 9 close-ups of a dragonfly on an iris in my pond.
The pictures were taken with a Canon S3IS Superzoom 12x optical zoom as standard and 6Mp. It has now been preceeded by the S5IS (and soon presumably the S6IS). The S5 is now available at around £210 (ish) from Amazon.co.uk, also available are add on TC, WA and macro lenses (altho the cam will focus at 0cms! thats something actually touching the lens) connected to an adapter tube - either Canon or aftermarket such as Lensmateonline.
You can get camera reviews at Dpreview or StevesDigicams for an unbiased opinion of all things camera related.
One of my main reasons for purchasing the S3 (I also had an S1) was the flip and twist lcd screen that proves invaluable for those ground and over head shots..Brilliant :o)
BTW, I am not connected in any way with Canon/Lensmate or any other camera manufacturer, just a S3 Fanatic!

They are really good pictures. Dragonflies are pretty ugly aren't they. I think damsels are a lot prettier.

Very interesting info...thanks. Good pics!

I agree over some of the dragonflies, Alison, but having once rescued an Emperor from a busy road and having really close up personal experience, I think some are beautiful! I'm so disappointed that I've not had one visit from a dragonfly this year.

Maybe it's been and you missed it. They are so quick.
Last tuesday we went to a place called Janets Foss in the Yorkshire Dales where there is a lovely waterfall leading down into a still pool which leads into a stream amongst a beautiful woodland dell. So magical that it is supposed to be (so legend says) that Janet queen of the fairies lives behind the waterfall. Anyway we went with two of our grandchildren Bethany and Lucy who made up lots of stories about the fairies and as we were walking through the woodland by the side of the stream we saw a large dragonfly which continuously zig-zagged across the water catching a large group of flies which when it had finished it had devoured all but a couple of them. There was no 'safety in numbers' once the dragonfly appeared.

Ta for the praise :o)
You can see in the first pic the reason that the Dragonfly stayed long enough to get some fairly good pics...Aphids! Yummy (not).
The S3/5 is also praised for having one of the best (perhaps *the* best?) video capabilities of a P&S cam, equivalent to many good digital camcorders.
It was just to show that you don't *have* to go the dSLR route unless of course you have very deep pockets! To achieve the same range as the S3/5 you would be spending many thousands of pounds for equivilant image stabilised lenses... and then you'd need a huge bag to put them in. I'm not saying that an S3/5 is as good as a dSLR, but it's about as close as you can get with a 'point and shoot'.
If your at all interested in the Canon S3/5 then here's a place to learn from...
http://www.s3users.com/forum/index.php
A great site with freindly people.

I'll be picking up this camera soon.
Canon a590
My old small canon which was the best for up close(taking pictures 2 inches from subject)
and general pics died.
Looks like a great buy!!

Patsi

That looks like a nice bit of kit, especially for the money, Patsi. Thanks for the info!
Big Kid