Hello Tom,
I agree with what Walker says...
Money needs to be put into a good camera. I use a Casio QV series that ran $ 800.00 or so a couple of years ago, but prices have dropped. Add to that the cost of decent photo editing software ( I use Ulead), and you have the price of another luger...
I opted mine with an IBM micro-drive that hold 320 MB of data. This was important for my work and a bonus for taking hobby photos. This micro drive can hold over 400 photo files at 1200x1600 resolution.
My camera goes from full program mode to full manual. Manual focusing and turning off/on the flash is a must...it also has a "macro" feature.
My camera is also menu driven, via the 1.5" LCD screen which allows selection of size and quality of shots to be taken.
I have also rigged up a wooden lean-to on which I can attach my tripod and have the tripod/camera hang above the gun I am trying to photograph.
It also has a feature called "shutter delay". You push the button to take a photo and the camera gives you up to 25 seconds (field adjustable) to get your hands off the camera before the shot is fired.
Regards,
Pete... <img src="graemlins/yltype.gif" border="0" alt="[typing]" />