I have been a bit of a Fuji camera fan over the years. Having got more than 30 000 pictures from my first compact fuji camera and 40 000 from my Fuji S7000 I decided to try the Fuji S9000. Has been a great camera. I have around 15000 pics through it so far. Love the 10.7 optical zoom (28-300mm Equ.). The lense is fixed (noninterchangable as no digital SLR cameras support video) but good for my skill level. Zoom ring rather than in and out buttons is another benifit for quick adjustments of what your shooting or videoing. I believe they have changed the numbers for the S9000 to S9100 and S9200 for US and European markets). I picked my camera up about a year ago for around $400 new (bargain then and still good now). Also added an 8gb card though 4gb is plenty (just buy a fast memory card as the generic cards can really hamper the performance of storing multiple pics - causing you to miss shots). I also have a hard time buying any camera that wont use AA batteries since I buy them in bulk for my radios.
Theres some info (actually a lot of info) on the S9000 here - http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fu..._s9000-review/
Trick I find with shooting pics is to take a bunch and experiment at times with different settings. Get familiar with the camera ahead of time so when you are taking important pics you are more likely to be better at it. As a rule I dont use the LCD when shooting pics (which probably doubles the amount of shots you get with the camera).

I have toyed with the idea of going to a full digital SLR but I think I it will take some advances in my skill and their technology before I make that jump. As a rule I never talk to salesmen at electronics stores since most have zero product experience with most of their offerings and just go on what the display says - plus you can always get a better deal online


I shyed away from the wireless onboard video as I had seen so many clips with interference issues and low quality images that it did not seem worth the trouble. I know they have advanced considerably in recent years but am pretty happy with the performance of the Oregon units. I use 1gb SD cards in them which gives more than an hour of footage. They are kinda waterproof - lets say splashproof though I think the newest model is a bit more forgiving (have not tried one yet).


The 96" Fountain was built by my buddy Phil (who just finished the Miss Geico cat) for around $10k. I purchased it a few months back without the CMB35 motors he was running as I wanted to use inline zenoahs. It is a big beautiful boat but problem with any boat 6ft and over is that it is a challenge to transport, launch, store, and work on. This boat being 105 inches to the props and a RTR weight of around 60 pounds is even more difficult.