New Camera!

I'm a fan of advanced point and shoot cameras, because I don't care about being burdened with carrying around different lenses.   There are three things I look for in a camera-- a big zoom for birds, burst mode for birds, and easy automatic focusing.  Of course there are other things, such as ease in changing settings, decent movie capability, etc.  My last camera was a Panasonic, and because I wasn't 100% happy with the way it focused on birds through the leaves in the trees, I decided to go back to a Canon.  Generally I make sure to check the written reviews on Amazon and other sites.  I trust those more than the professional reviews.

I waited until the model was about 1/2 dated (new one out in a few months) because there usually is about a 25% discount after a model has been out a few months.  A huge plus to this particular Canon is that it has a 35x optical zoom. Naturally, I tried out my new camera with birds. 

Although the weather is still too hot to do much outdoor photography,  I sat on our front porch at the river, rested my arms on the railing of the porch, and managed to take full advantage of the zoom.  This is by far the best photo of the red headed woodpeckers that live in our front yard (the downy woodpecker is the more common variety I see in Memphis).

Here is the "shy" summer tanager: 

This photo has the most detailed feathers of any of my bluebird photos.  That may be attributed to the large zoom, my being somewhat camouflaged by the porch, and being able to steady my arms with the porch railing.

I am looking forward to getting to learn more about the camera when the weather improves.  There is a big learning curve with any camera, but this one should be worth it.