RE: DIGITAL CAMERA QUESTION
For a few years I used a Canon PowerShot S100 digital ELPH. It is a great little (shirt pocket size) 2.1 mpx camera. I still carry it to the big bird flyins that I go to. The big draw back is that the 2X optical zoom is way insufficient. My primary interest is taking in flight shots.
Last year I did a lot of research into a better camera for my needs that was in my budget range. I settled on the Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom. I have been very happy with this camera. It is a 4.0 mpx camera with 10X optical and up to a 4X multiplier for digital zoom. By the way I'm not a fan of digital zoom because of the graininess that it introduces. However, at lower multiplication it's not too bad. The camera has a sports action mode which focuses reasonably fast. At times I use infinity focus for some of the flying shots. Works pretty good except when the plane gets a little too close, then the plane gets a little fuzzy. When I want to photo planes flying just over the runway, I focus on the runway in front of me and lock the focus. Then, when the plane comes by, I simply track and shoot.
Here are a few shots made with this camera.
Ken