I will post a few more later on this evening.

OMG yes I saw that canon macro lens in the booklet that came with the camera and I (eventually) have got to have it! I found the auto off setting and turned it on so I wont drain my battery again.

Quote - You can go into the settings menu and set a power save/shut off / stand-by mode. I've got mine set to 2 mins coz I used to leave my Panasonic LMC-FZ5 on all the time and it would get dead, so I learn from that.

About the lens and Wildlife. I believe you should get a Sigma 50 - 500mm. Personally when I try and shoot wildlife (I suck BTW) I find that the Sigma 70 - 300mm that I have right now is pretty useless. It really doesn't reach far enough and if you wanna do a safari it will not (trust me on this) be long enough.

Macro Lens: I suggest getting a Sigma 105mm. It's got a decent angle of view for the cropped censor and it's cheap. If you really wanna spend some money I'd say go for the Canon MP-E 65mm Macro it's got a awesome, fantastic, wonderful 5 times lifesize magnification!!! WOWSERS!!!

I accidentally left the camera on last night LOL so as soon as the battery charges I will try snapping a few pics and posting them here.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I picked up my Canon 40D with kit 28-135mm lens! :biggrin: Can't wait to get outside and try it out!

I have read the reviews on dpreview and a few other places. I want the 40D, because I want the Live view option (which i realize is limited). I really like the Panasonic's live view option with the swivel screen which is similar to what I have now and is great for the type of photography I am in to. From the reviews the Panasonic seems to take longer to auto focus and the photo quality may not be as good (the review was a pre-production model though) If I buy lenses for the 40D they should work if I ever upgrade to another canon, right? Like I said I am pretty ignorant on lenses. This is an overwhelming decision to make.

My zoom shots always look noisy with the panasonic and they lack detail. Sounds like this may be a problem with the DSLR too. I also have a problem with hot pixels showing up in all of my shots. My camera is also pretty slow to focus in auto focus. I think after reading all of your posts I will either go for the body only or the standard canon kit lens just to have a lens until I can buy better ones. I will be picking up a macro lens right after christmas so I guess I need to start looking into the best one to get. I will pick up a zoom lens a little bit later. My main reason for choosing the canon is that I can continue upgrading the camera and I will have the lenses. I have also seen some spectacular landscapes and wildlife shots on here that were taken with DSLR's and I want that detail and clarity in my shots.

Thank you all for the advice. I am upgrading because I really want to be able to capture wildlife, especially birds in detail so I need something that has the ability to get good shots from a distance. I also want the speed to capture them in motion. I still want to be able to do my insect macros, so I will definitely pick up a good dedicated macro lens. I am still torn on whether to get the 2 sigmas or the one canon lens.

I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 that I am seriously starting to lose patience with. I plan on replacing it at the end of the year. I looked at a Pentax Wx something or other (waterproof point and shoot) and I found it as cheap as 230.00 I am still considering picking it up. I will take a look at the site you mentioned Thank You to everyone who has offered advice

Thanks for choosing Sebastian! I feel honored to be chosen with all of these wonderful shots! Wendy

Wow, I am honored to be chosen! Thank You! Congrats to all the others who beautiful shots were chosen. :biggrin: Wendy

As usual I am fashionably late. I hope you recover from your accident very soon Andreas! I was going to post a lovely portrait of a Moth with this to cheer you up, LOL ;-) Warm and sunny greetings from Florida with wishes for a speedy recovery! Wendy

I am honored to have my humble Christmas pelican chosen to be displayed with all of these beautiful Christmas greetings! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Thank You!! :-) Wendy