@flaflwrgrl Ann, I have a great Canon DSLR that I love for most of my photos. It does a great job but for some reason this year I had an itching to get some good photos of birds. Even with a 70-300mm lens that I have for the DSLR I just didn't have the capability to get close enough to get good shots. I did a bit of research and found that most "good" photos of birds required a lens in the 400-600mm range. Price for a lens in that range for my DSLR was several thousand dollars. This little camera zooms to 1200mm (50X zoom) for about $400. I have to learn the camera but I think it will be okay for this purpose. I prefer the DSLR when the situation allows it but this little camera is going to fill in a nice niche for those shots where I just can't seem to be able to get close enough to capture. BTW, I expect the price to drop on this one as I have heard that Canon is making this model with 60X zoom pretty soon.
