Moon

I have been very happy with the Canon. Its zoom is quite amazing. If I can get the camera to focus on what I want and not on branches and other things that might be in the way, I can sometimes get fairly good photos of critters and birds that are 100 or more feet away - cropped of course. At 14 mp, photos taken at that range can usually be cropped enough to provide a reasonably close image. It might not be good enough for printing but looks OK on a PC.

On trips, I have found it easier to just take the Canon along rather than carry a heavy telephoto lens. I just whip it out instead of having to change lenses on my SLT. I can also use it for macro shots.