Wildlife camera

[lawman]

I am a true amateur photographer. I am looking for a simple digital camera with good zoom capability to take pics of birds and waterfowl that are out of typical camera range. Are there any reasonably priced cameras out there that are easy to use. I went to college but I didn't get straight A's.

[island guy]

Go to the photo thread of this site. They can give you some great info. I bought a SLR digital over a year ago. I had a couple of $300 cameras with zoom before that. I'm still learning but can tell you depending on what quality pic you want, you're looking at spending some money. Action shots of birds in flight or at a distance requires a lot of camera. The camera body alone can run you $700 on up. Don't scimp on glass (lens). A good telephoto lens will run a few hundred on up. I've got about $1500 in camera and lens so far. As I stated, I'm still learning but I've done wild life pics with it that I could have never accomplished with my $300 digital. Just depends on what kind of pictures you want to take. Check out the photo thread here on FM. You won't be disappointed.