Hi Campy:

Here is three to four suggestions for you.

1) with a 2.1MP camera, "shoot in a really bright day." "That will help considerably."
2) the SONY CYBERSHOT F505 - has a 10X Precision Digital Zoom. New (1998-99),
it ran over $1000 US dollars. The use of the magnifier really produces a "sharp" image. Try to find a used one. My guess is that they will be within most everyones price range.

I have one and I used it professionally for more than three years before I bought newer versions of the same camera. The count on mine is about 12,500. I have had VERY little problems with it other than printing the blacks. YES. You will get a nice sharp, clean black, but --- if the light source is not REALLY good, it will produce some very bad results.

I say that because, when I customer says to me, "how come the blacks are so BLACK?" 0r else, it will go the other way, on a grey looking day, the blacks look okay onscreen, but trust me, if you have a lot of black area, it will look very splotchy.

& 3) when you shoot with that 2.1 - using the center portion of the lens ( from about 5X and up - the image will look much sharper than when it is back out at zero X

You mention that you "superb" 5" x 7" and 8" x 10" prints. Yes! You will!
To some, an 8" x 10" is large - to the average photographer - even an avid photographer, taking a sheet of 8" x 10" out of the box to print on, is kind of like the average consumer seeing a small 4" x 5". Notice, I said 4" x 5" - not 4" x 6" ---- As a "darkroom processing photographer, ( LOL -- back in the days when) you get four 4" x 5" prints from an 8" x 10" sheet of paper.

Printing a 4' x 6" simply wastes a good portion of the paper. Actually, the popularity of the 4" x 6" came prevalent when 35mm film started producing a good quality print. Back in the 50's and 60's you could buy stuff like (B/W film) Plus X and TRI X film. The PLUS X had a slower speed than the TRI X did (100 ASA compared to 400 ASA) Unless you wanted to produce a GRAINY print deliberately, you stayed away from the FASTER film. I would only use it in a room when I didn't have a flash or else good light. The 35mm format is the same layout as a 4" x6". Consequently, only the Pros still use 4" x 5" sizes.

Anyway, Ted - I would, in all sense of the word, give the though of buying a used DIGITAL like I mentioned. I used the heck out of mine. Anout the only thing I did't like about that camera was the 2.1 issue and the battey will only take a charge for about two years. and that was probably because I used it constantly, until I got a newer one.

One more thing, even though the battery will go on and record your image, you WILL get (again) better results if you run off the AC adapter. At the field, I simply use the DC INVERTER for the car and a long extention cord. Laugh if you will, but results is what I was after.

have a good one


Marshall