I compared a shot with my SX10 which I bought locally, as the price was the same as Best Buy to a guy who had a $1,000+ camera with a rented $3000 lense. Except for my shot not being zoomed in the exact amount, not much difference in quality from a photo taken 3/4 to a mile away of a rock out cropping. He was able to manipulate his photos more as he had the camera and mostly the experience in photography. I'm used to a cheapo $30 Kodak or lately, a disposable camera until this July, when I sprung for a decent camera for a trip to Alaska's backcountry in August. The 4gb card and original batteries lasted for 200 shots and the batteries gave out less than five minutes before we landed on the return trip to the bush pilots abode.