The Cross filter i probably a Cross-hatch filter which used to be used to give the 'twinkle' to point sources of light. Christmas trees looked good with this one... It's kinda obsolete now as it can be added easily in post-processing... I still use it on my film camera occasionally...

But John told you that already...

That doesn't eliminate power cables - unless you want to change batteries whenever...

Kinda neat to be able to queue up your photos from your PC though...

If you're thinking of buying Sigma, the Canadian distributor warranty is 10 years long... But prices here are generally higher than the US mega-photo store prices; economies of scale and all that...
I'll use the Sigma 10-20 as an example since it has been talked about recently - I got one for C$659 (at the time C$1 was US$0.90) so it was about US$600. Prices have now dropped about $100 for this particular lens, and the US$ isn't as strong as it used to be...) B&H sells it for US$499, so the difference (about $150, as the C$ is actually worth a little more than the US$ right now) is the cheapest 10 year warranty you can get... Less than $15 per year...

ymmv...

And the smoke will definitely "look" better...

(After enough, it might even talk to you...)

3 fps? 20fps ???

Sounds more like you need a video camera than a still camera...

But lets split the difference - 11 or 12 fps at 7mp's - now, shooting raw, that'd fill a 2 gb card in about 4 minutes cumulative shooting time... How much that would be in real time would depend on how much you used the higher fps speeds...

You'd better get 2 bodies, an assistant to change cards in the one you're not currently using, and a case of cards to do something like a 4 hour wedding. Hmmm, how long would a battery last at that fps ? OK - get a dozen (or two) of them too...

Maybe it'd be better use 4Gb (minimum) cards - you'd get around 8 minutes between changes - give you time to swap the battery as well...

OK - this is all tongue in cheek, (and hopefully taken in the jocular spirit it was intended) and an extreme example at the very least, but would a higher fps actually help get better shots ?

Just my 2 cents... ymmv

I'm guessing it's : http://www.utah.com/bike/trails/bryce.htm

I've hiked it but never ridden it. Not sure I'm brave enough...

Another one is : http://www.zionnational-park.com/red-canyon-bike-path.htm

I've been to Zion a few times but never Red Canyon...

Nice area - I had a couple thousand photos from the area (from film days) that were lost in a house fire years ago... Hmmm - reminds me - I have to backup my files ASAP...

Yeah - I thought it kinda redundant to specify 'eyes' too....

Thanks for the explanation - and all along I thought, obviously mistakenly, that it was an optical effect, when in fact it's demonstrably mechanical in nature...

Slightly off topic (ok - maybe a little more than slightly) but could someone explain the rainbow phenomenon that shows the area under or inside the arc as being brighter than the area outside or over the arc... I've noticed it in quite a few shots of rainbows, but never seem to notice it when looking with my eyes...

Thought I'd update this myself...

I'm pretty impressed with this camera... Sure, my K10D blows it away, but it costs 12 times as much... For a camera that's always in my jacket pocket, and ready at a moment's notice, it's surprisingly good.

It has a lot of features that I didn't realize were on compact cameras before, but the only one I'll mention is the "Green Button" You can select the option it runs (ie. ISO, WB, mode selection...) Used with the "Program Mode", it's like having 2 cameras setup completely differently - a little like the P Setting on the K10... You can setup a custom set of settings, and switch back and forth with one touch from the Dummy mode (great for those 2 second grab shots) to your personally customized mode - Flash setting, ISO range, AF Type, and so on...

Only downside is no viewfinder - I can't tell you how many times I've lifted the camera to my face before remembering this... at least 30% of the time...

Picked up an M40 tonight - found out 2 of the 3 events I'm attending on the weekend wont allow SLR's, and was wondering if anyone had opinions on the quality...

My first intinct was to grab the 10M Casio Exelim they had, but then brand loyalty got the better of me...

Do you think I'l regret that decision?