I'm thinking about upgrading from our 5 year old P&S type camera. It really is lacking when taking pictures that aren't in optimal light, sunny day pictures often look washed out, etc. I see a lot of you guys that post in the Click and Brag that get really good close up shots of the paint when comparing before and after shots of swirls. I had a very tough time getting that kind of shot to work out on mine. Do you guys use the professional SLR type cameras, or do the less "professional" cameras produce good results these days? I'm looking at getting a Canon since I've been very happy with the one I have. The A630, A710, and S3 IS are the ones that are at the top of my list right now (looking to stay under $400). They all seem to be semi professional in that they have a lot of the manual features of the expensive cameras, and hopefully will produce the results I want. From the reviews these look to be good cameras, but I don't want to shell out $300 on a camera that I won't be totally happy with. I'm not looking for professional pictures, just better quality when it comes to low light/bright light shots of the family and such, more zoom capability as well as the ability to take clear up close shots such as the above mentioned swirl shots.