I am in the market for a new camara.  I have seen some wonderful pictures posted and would appreciate some input on a good "field" camara.

Sony DSC-W7 in use now. Started with the wifes old unit a Sony DSC-P31 and it was good too. Don't get too hung up on the megapixel stuff-you end up reducing the size extensively to post pics. If you print normal size photos it does not matter either. Moved up to the W7 from the P31 mainly to have a larger LCD display that I can see easier and the W7 takes better video with sound. Wife has another Sony and has been happy with it as well.

I have a pentax optio, which I like because it is water resistant-ok to use in the rain, and it has seals that will keep the camera dry if you drop it in the water or wash it off. Before this one I had a Sony, and it was a great camera.

I love my digital Cannon Rebel. It was a huge investment for me to go digital, but I bought it when I picked my pup up in CO and travelled around, fished, and camped with her. Those are some of the best photos I have. If you can deal with the bulk of an SLR - I would definetely go that way. Much better pictures, and you can really zoom in there with a decent priced telephoto lense. And the focusing/metering system will actually track your dog as you pan across the field, and keep him in focus/light. An unbelievable package for less than $1000 with all the accessories. I was going to go with a used professional-grade camera, but the features and quaility of the Rebel - along with the great, great pricetag, make it tough to beat.

Canon 30D with Canon 100-400mm Lens. Pricey but takes great shots

A few more

Cannon Power Shot.

It takes great pics, although it looks like Deke's has quite the zoom!

I use the Fujifilm S 3100 and I absolutely love it...it has a 6x zoom feature which works great...only down side I have with this camera...and which I've found on other digital cameras is there is a delay from the time you click the shutter...to the time the picture is actually taken...which means I end up with a lot of empty frames when I'm trying to take pics of the over active pup....

Pricey is an understatement, looks like a great lens though, I'm thinking about renting one soon to try it out.

You can rent those things? They must be pricey.

Lens and camera

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/LIPOINTINGLABS/canonlens.jpg


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/LIPOINTINGLABS/30dpress.jpg

A recent series of pics

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still learning the camera and lens settings

A Few More recent pics....

Looks good Deke, Do you have a gallery anywhere that would have the EXIF data? What settings have you found to work the best?

I am learning slowly but the nice thing is there is a light meter built in and as you adjust on manual it centers itself to tell you are pretty close to getting a good exposure..Yes i have a program that tell me the exact settings for each picture.

These are from this morning....

Deke, you need to go and put some birds out and get me those pointing pics I asked you for. : )