Was just looking at this photo from last fall.
Yes its colorful and all…
But I want more detail.
What SLR would you recommend?
You mean to tell me that you have been taking all your pics with a simple point and shoot digital?!
Man do I feel humbled. I can only imagin what you could do with something more high tech.
I know what you mean, I almost missed the bumble bee in the forefront
due to beautiful colorful scenery in the back ground. 
It certainly is a nice pic from a standard point & shoot…
Steve
Nikon and Canon would be your best choices in DSLR, but don’t rule out Pentax, Sony or Olympus. You don’t need a pro level camera body, but a pro level lense is a must if you want to get the best colors and sharpness. This could cost you some bucks, but a 50mm from Nikon or Canon is only around $100 and one of the finest lenses every made. With any camera, sharpness can be greatly increased with the use of a tripod.
Spinner,
I use the Nikon D80. It’s probably more camera than I’ll ever use, but it is a blast playing around and trying different features…The BEST digital images that I have ever seen. Good luck and Best Regards…
Would the D80 make the flowers look more define and not so rounded?
I shoot with a Nikon SLR, but a Canon SLR is also a great choice
Spinner,
I don’t know what camera you have been using…the D80 is a 10 megapixel camera. It will let you “zoom” in close to things in the photo without the object becoming distorted when you are viewing images on your computer. In a “scenery” picture, the detail is better, again depending on how you view the image. It came with a nice macro-telephoto lens, that gives me the ability to do an awful lot of different types of photos without changing lenses. It has a nice macro feature for doing very close up shots, and everything from full automatic modes to full manual modes, it even has a feature that lets you do very rapid exposures by holding down the shutter release, etc…I hope that helps…
If I may please…
Learn to use the correct settings on the camera you have.
If you have then something may be wrong with the camera.
For instance , I am sure even with my ten year old low pixel digital, 850K to be exact,I could make the last picture you posted look much more
defined and certainty great on screen…
I have fooled many with this old 850K Olympus more than once and it has a fixed 3x zoom lens…
Sometimes all the hype on these hi end cameras to us amateurs is just that…‘’ I have some framed photos with this old Olympus that look
as good as some, most film shots… Having a collection of several hundred
photos all keepers due to proper settings and setup, id- light ect…
is really wonderful.
My 1/2 cents based on many years enjoying working with cameras…
both hi quality film & now low end digitalis.
Steve
Shot with my Low end Olympus 850K it prints out real vibrant
and clear…
I have an N80 which I’ve been trying to sell for years and I can vouch that it is a very good camera and takes outstanding pictures. It is the film equivalent of the D80. The D80 is also a little on the pricey side, however Canon and Nikon both make less expensive DSLRs. Nikon makes the D40 and D40x in addition to the D60. The D40 has less megapixels than the x. If you want to see more here is a link to Newegg.
Newegg and Tigerdirect both have pretty good prices on DSLRs. I buy computer parts from Newegg a lot and have never had a problem with them. Typically, if you go to a camera shop you’ll pay more than what you would at these two stores.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscw7/
to make the flowers more define?
Thanks in advance.
Could the limb on the left gotten the focus instead of the flowers?
In about a month these flowers will be back out again and i want to try your tips…and practice a little before they are here and will report back with results.
The lens is where things really happen and the camera is very secondary. I have a tremendous amount invested in Canon bodies and especially Canon lenses. Many of my lenses cost more than several bodies. They work beautifully and are capable of taking any picture as well as it can be taken with a digital in its range.
That said, if I was doing it today I would go Nikon for the features in the camera, especially the built-in flash. Their lenses are very good. My friend Doug, an owner of Cameraland in NY, brings his Nikons North every summer when he fishs with me and makes them work magic. It is a little depressing! 
Call Doug and ask him questions about cameras and you will get everything you ask for and more for information. His brother Joel is said to be the better photographer, too, so don’t be afraid to ask him questions. Tell him Art sent you if you want to get him laughing and ask about fishing!
On another note, stick to camera companies when buying cameras. Companies like SONY are bound to change stuff sooner and fail to support their products in the long run. I think Canon led the digital age, Nikon got right after it and has some great features… But Pentax and Olympus continue to run behind the pack a little. That, my very biased opinion.
art
Hey Spinner, you take wonderful pictures with your point and shoot. Anyone who has ever been to your web site is always in awe of the wonderful shots that you shoot. You could be down right dangerous though with a digital SLR. I just bought by wife a Canon XTi for two reasons. One we already had lens that would work with the digital SLR from our previous Canon SLR and two the reviews were impressive at this price point. Many have already mentioned the Nikon D80 and if I didn’t already have numerous lens that one would have been on the short list. I also see that you had a link from DP Review, I liked their information. Here is another link from my favorites to consider: http://www.megapixel.net/html/index.php
Have fun with the shopping.
Rick
You’ve had some good advice thus far.
I would echo what others have said about the difference a lense makes. If you go DSLR, don’t skimp on glass. As has been said, the body is secondary to the glass you’re shooting through.
More can be said of proper lighting, composure and settings. Even with a $1200 body and a $7,000 lense you can still take crappy shots. This is similar to fly fishing. You can do really well with without dropping $800 on a Helios, $300 on a Ross Reel, etc. While the comparison ratio may be a little off (cheap photo gear as compared to cheap fishing gear) you can still take some great pictures with cheaper gear. With that being said…
Nothing beats the incredible quality you get from a DSLR and good glass. I shoot with a Canon XTi but haven’t spent the required $$ on a ridiculously good lense yet. Nothing beats being to be in complete control of your pictures. Shooting on fully manual where you’re controlling the white balance, ISO, aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensations, focus points, lens, etc is a true joy that I’d compare with catching a lunker on a rod you built with a fly you tied from materials used from an animal you harvested and processed, on a leader you furled while braving a blizzard. It’s blissful. I haven’t done it yet, but shooting in RAW format would be a step beyond that because when you process the shot, you can manipulate everything about it. These are things you really can’t do with a point and shoot. Some of them have some of the features but not really even close.
I say go for it. You can’t go wrong with a Nikon or a Canon. They’re the industry leaders and I wouldn’t recommend anyone else. Here are some more links that you might find helpful in making your decision. These are other outdoor bulletin boards that have photography sections. You can browse through them and read some very insightful view points with pictures to prove their words.
http://bogley.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=59&sid=4f0a5c9f4f6ee0312d5f502884dfdd60
First shot was on P setting that is auto completely. Fish was in direct sunlight
Second shot was on P setting that is auto completely. Was a cloudy day.
The sun on any fish or angler…makes for a poor photo.
Any tips here?
Polar Lense maybe?
The V1 has a small viewing screen on the back and has much less clarity on the screen.
That is the reason I bought the W7…the screen is twice as big and I can see my results.
But the V1 has much better MACRO settings and bigger lens and takes photos like this.
What do you think is the best ALL around plain digital without way expensive lenses?
Basically a top end point & shoot that does good macro also.
A polarized lense would help, but the problem is that the camera is probably set on average or evaluative metering. That means that the picture will expose to the average of the amount of light coming into the entire frame. so the camera exposes the shot at an average to try and make everything in the shot expose correctly. In extreme situations (direct sunlight) or with lots of contrast in your shots, the camer won’t expose the whole thing right. If you can change the metering to spot metering, then it will expose the picture to the point it focuses on.
Or, you might be able to change the setting to under expose pictures to -2/3 or so. But, then again, you might not be able to change those settings on your current camera. In full auto, I doubt you can change any of that. At that point, the only saving grace would be photoshop.
I’m a big fan of the Canon PowerShot S1 IS or S2 IS. I think it they’re great point and shoot cameras and don’t cost nearly as much as the DSLRs.
Here are a few that were shot with these cameras. Sorry, no fish pictures…
(CONT)You can see that they take pretty good pictures, but not great compared to the clarity that comes from a DSLR.
If you click on this picture you will see a series of pictures taken of exactly the same thing, from exactly the same place but with the exposure manually adjusted, and the camera metering off of different spots.
Sorry for posting so much/long. I just got nothing else to do at work How 'bout some of you pros out there start posting up on this one, eh?
And I bought a Canon Rebel XT (no, not XTi, but only because I heard from a serious photographer that they suck up more battery power because of the large lcd…which, btw, will only let you review a shot…after it’s taken…just in case you didn’t know that) anyway, I am SO thrilled with the detail…I then bought myself two lenses(not top of the line, as I simply can’t afford them…I went, again with the opinion of a professional photographer friend) I bought two Tamron lenses…a 28-70mm and a 70-300mm with macro…about the only thing I would do different, was buy the newer lens by Tamron with the Vibration Compensation…especially with the telephoto…I will post links to a few of my pics on Flickr…see for yourself! 
I am having a blast!! I have actually done my sons Senior photos this year…I am quite happy with them!
I ABSOLUTELY love what I can do with natural light in manual now…there is a learning curve…but, it’s fun…the only other advice from that friend was, when the shot REALLY matters…(while you are learning) use Auto mode…it’s not worth missing those one of a kind family moments…
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3271/2320491976_231e2f0e18_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3192/2319217721_95913505c4_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3285/2421320458_45cb8a3e8a_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2322/2319940016_2a5af6bb5b_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3212/2421872081_533032b0b7_o.jpg