Thanks for all your help. We purchased a Panasonic Lumix ZS3, and a friend helped us set it up. Wish me luck!

Judy

What about getting night vision goggles? Good idea or waste of money for safaris? Thanks.

cary999: I haven't uploaded good resolution pics, but there are several (especially birds) at maximum or near maximum zoom in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL-AJMxJDB8

BTW, if you want to see very high magnification pictures at high resolutions with full EXIF data, google "digiscoping". True, this is not as practical as a camera and such magnifications require a tripod, but you will be able to see excellent pictures at 80x or more.

thanks micmic, I'll check it out

regards - tom

Night vision glasses--
Are you doing a lot of night drives?
Staying in remote tented camps with lots of animals roaming around? Or larger lodges with more activity and therefore less activity?
I don't think these are commonly taken and I have not used them, but depending on the cost and weight, you could try.

Good luck jgourdji. Snap away to get used to it.