This is the Buck Moth Caterpillar I mentioned in yesterdays posting. The Nikon 7900 image is on top and the Nikon D40X image is on the bottom. Although neither is really a great shot, the D40X image seems crisper, with better colors and clarity than the 7900 image and the DOF is not killing it. The $1000 DSLR setup finally beat the $350 pocket camera. WooHoo!! Again, both images were taken at almost identical distances (a few inches), with-in a few secs of each other and using the default auto and macro mode settings of both cameras. I think this may be the last of these comparison images - unless something radical comes up, lol. I have made some progress with DOF problems thanks to some useful comments from PRAEP concerning aperture settings. I have been using default auto settings for everything so far but I am slowly learning how to use some of the custom auto settings such as "A" priority. Next to learn is shutter speeds and ISO settings. Maybe someday, I will be able to do it all manually, lol. This "upgrade" is turning out to be much more of a task than I anticipated. It is more like a "starting over". After more than 5 years of digital camera use, the only skills I really have been able to carry over, involve finding, stalking and approaching the subjects. Nothing about "taking" the photo is the same, lol. I really thought I would be able to turn on the new camera and pick up where I had left off with the old. Boy was I wrong. So far nothing is the same and it seems like I am/was totally uneducated about photography in general and requirements for macro and close-up photography in particular. I was even under the misapprehension that the new 55-200mm lens would allow me to take close up images of bugs from 4'-5' instead of 4"-5" or of a squirrel sized critter from maybe 20'or so. Not so!!! HAHAHAHA! I wonder what do the pros use to capture the hairs on an ant from 5' or the flecks in the eye of a frog from 100'. I tried using the 200mm setting of my 55-200mm to get a shot of a hand sized bullfrog from about 10'. I took almost 100 pics and the best is pretty bad by my reckoning. Very few details, not at all sharp, poor contrast. Nothing approaching a close-up shot much less a macro. Oh well, tomorrow is another day and will bring other opportunities to practice. BTW - I am looking into the purchase of a Vivitar 100mm f3.5 lens. Almost every every review I read said it is poorly constructed but optically great and a real bargain for the price. At $100-$200 it is with-in my budget. The Nikkors and such are absolutely too expensive. Do you have any experience with it or an opinion about it? I am also interested to know what you think about reversing rings. I don't understand much about optics and I get confused easily when trying to make sense of what I read, but they seem like a viable option for my macro/almost macro shots. Thanks to those who take the time to comment and for any advise you can offer about equipment. Lee