I am a beginner at taking pictures. Well, I've actually been taking pictures since I was a kid almost 30 years ago, but that was with a Kodak 110 camera. I then got a Canon SureShot 60 when I was in High School.

I switched to digital in 2001 with a Kodak 1mp. I upgraded to an Olympus 1.3mp camera in 2002. Then a Sony 3mp in 2004. I still have that one as well as all the rest I purchased since then.

Panasonic 8mp DMC-TZ4. I fell in love with the 10x zoom. I hated everything else. The shutter was so slow it was horrible to use. It had auto and intelligent auto plus scene modes. No program or manual. Yuck.

I pretty much stopped taking pictures at that point, until I got a Canon PowerShot SX130IS. It is one of the ones that kind of looks like a DSLR but it isn't. It does have a full manual mode as well as the various P modes.

I then wanted a camera that could do 1080p video so I got a Canon PowerShot ELPH 100HS. It is very basic, has the same 12mp as the SX130IS but doesn't have manual. I did get it set up with the CHDK to add some more functionality... namely zooming while recording video. I hate when they remove that feature, but auto focus doesn't work when recording so that is why.

Later, I got a JVC Everio which is a video camera only. It has 40x optical zoom which is awesome. The battery life SUCKS! If you are lucky you can get 1 hour of it being on. That means you either have to turn it off over and over or you may get 1 hour of recording. I gave up on that one.

My current one is a Nikon D5200 and I love it. I love everything about it. I am so glad to finally get a DSLR. The shutter is so fast. I just need a new lens, I'm looking at a few with a very good f/stop like 1.4 or 1.8 and maybe 28mm since I like to do landscape not portrait. Everybody says 80mm is good for portraits, but I don't really care for taking pictures of people. I may try for a zoom telephoto lens though.... well, that's too much.