I spent months reseaching digital cameras. I am an average photographer, but love to capture great pictures of my family.I was looking for both quality and easy in use of a camera. We have been very happy with Sony products in the past and feel that they are worth the cost. After all the research on the internet and speaking with everyone I could find that knew anything about digital cameras, I decided on the Sony DCS-F707. It took some convincing of my husband because the price was certainly not in the budget! But after puchasing it however, I have had a tough time getting it out of my husbands hands. He loves it. It offers both automatic and manuel settings (for the more knowledgible). When comparing photos of a family vaction, our photos at 5 megapixels were far clearer than those of relatives 3.1 megapixel pictures. We know have our beautiful vacation pictures stored on a CD.