"John Nichols" <[email protected]> declaimed the following: > I don't have a set budget on the tripod issue. I own a ProMaster > mini-tripod. I used that as a test on document I have, and didn't > feel that it was all that steady. However, I'm going to try what > you suggest with the zoom, and see what kind of results that gives > me. With self-timer or remote, indoors should be okay (wind is another matter, when outdoors). I still have my first tripod, from 1971... It looks like a typical table-top model (6-8" legs, ball-head). I showed it to someone at a photo store once, and they wanted to buy it. Not the most stable, but those legs extend to make it a waist level tripod. The Slik U112 I own is nice in that it has a reversible column -- the tilt/pan head unscrews, and can be mounted on the bottom of the column. Also short enough to bungie onto the seat of my Vespa without being a danger to others <G> I also have a more recent tripod that was on sale at $70 -- again, not the most stable, but the column extends enough to put the camera over my head. Useful for getting over the crowd with a video camera. > I am not sure if it has infra red capability (for what I assume you > mean is remote operation), I'm finding both the Basic and Advanced > manuals singularly unhelpful in regards to my questions. Yes, I did mean for a remote. I have a Canon G2 (really obsolete, only 4MP and the G6 is 7MP) came with an IR remote, that could even control the zoom. Strangely, while my Canon EOS 10s (film, 1990 period) had an IR remote, my EOS 20d requires a wired remote (at $$$ -- the 10s also had a built-in interval timer, the 20d needs the fancy remote for that function). [You may notice that I seem to be a Canon fan: A-1, EOS 10s, G2, EOS 20d, and an Optima-40 video; though I do have my father's old (1955) Agfa Karat rangefinder, a 1970 Mamiya/Sekor 528TL, and a Polaroid] > I'll have to check the Adorama Camera link out, I've purchased I'd just done a quick search for tripods, may be other places to shop... > Another thing I'd like is a really good up-to-date (i.e. published > within the last year) book on digital photography. Then I wouldn't If it's been published, it's out of date <G> Most any fairly recent digital camera book should be applicable, if one can get past the "high resolution models have 3MP" Mastering Digital Photography, 2nd Ed. (David, D. Busch, 2006, Thomson Course Technology) may be of interest (he also has an SLR specific version -- Mastering Digital SLR Photography -- which is thinner, and maybe older). Don't let the title fool you, it's classed as "beginner to intermediate". -- bieber.genealogy Dennis Lee Bieber HTTP://home.earthlink.net/~bieber.genealogy/ Dennis Lee Bieber <[email protected]>