actually, just go with this.

Originally Posted by Goshin

sup brian how are ya?

Quite well sir. And yourself?

Been keeping pretty busy hiking and climbing lately. Austin in August.

Thanks for y'all's recommendations. My buddy had the s95 and I played with it a good bit, looked at the stuff he had done with it, and went to the market to have a look around. There aren't any s95s available used, and it costs the same as the states new. However, I got a deal on a used Canon Rebel XS with the standard 15-55mm IS lens, a 28mm f/2.8 wide-angle lens, 8gb SD, and a hood for a little over 500 US. The weight altogether is about 2 lbs. which I have plenty of room in an otherwise ultralight pack.

Thanks again.

Originally Posted by Alien

I just got back from a month long trip in china. I brought my sony tx-5, its a point and shoot, but has a ton of advanced options. Plus its waterproof. If you go hiking a lot, its hard to beat. Not much zoom due to its size of course. My camera had the best pics of all my friends that i went to china with, including one with a dslr. Im assuming he didnt know how to use it very well though. The new TX-10 is supposed to be pretty amazing.

Where'd you go/ are your pictures online somewhere?

Originally Posted by TimTheEnchanter

Where'd you go/ are your pictures online somewhere?

I was in wenzhou working at a hospital for a month. Went to yangdang mountain, nanxi river, jianxi island, hangzhou(west lake) beijing(great wall, t square, forbidden city) and shanghai for side trips.. I dont have any online other than facebook and that really lowers the quality. can send some if you want.

Originally Posted by TimTheEnchanter

There aren't any s95s available used, and it costs the same as the states new.

Check for the s90 then, there is not really too many difference. Still an absolutely amazing camera.

@ handicapped button on the eos-O

and to reiterate, basically high end P&S unless you know what you're doing. only reason to go DSLR is for full manual control and swappable lenses. lenses are where the real money is spent. the kit lenses are generally garbage -- you're much better off getting just a body (nikon or canon, pretty much) and then dropping $200-300 on an entry-level 35 1.8 prime or 50 1.8 prime. the canon 50 1.8 feels like a piece of ****, but pretty much all 4 options take wonderful pictures.

if you're going to leave it in auto mode for more than 50% of the time, get a P&S.