I have a canon rebel xti, I got it for myself a year ago for Christmas... I have spent over a grand in camera equipment.. but it pays off to me for the pics ive been able to get not only of our critters and outdoors but the photos of my kids are worth it! As Ive said before I do photography as a hobby so I shoot everything in manual. The photos Ive ever taken in auto (see photo of tank) look terrible. Thank you for the compliment and yes, they are awesome critters!