[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

A couple of questions (my father is asking me to shop for a camera for my sister who lives in an area with a lot of wildlife.) I know a little something about the 35 mm interchangeable lens format of Canon but I don't know ANYTHING about the other type of digital, and so I'm having trouble recommending one over the other.

How far away from the subject were you when you shot the picture?

If you had to replace this camera with something comparable, what would you purchase?

[SWAMPSNIPER]

I’m using a Panasonic DMC FZ20 as a main camera. So far I’ve avoided buying anything over 5 MP, they all seem to have “noise” problems. That being said, a little bit of “noise” is better than an image that has been over softened. 10 or 12X zoom and optical stabilization are fantastic, in particular when you get older and not very steady. I was out 30 or 40 feet on these shots, and steadiness gets very critical. Try to see some shots from what ever you consider, look for fine feather and fur detail as much as color. An over softened image won’t show the tiny details.
http://www.pbase.com/tsiya/root
http://photobucket.com/albums/v244/tsiya/