I want a all around camera with Great pictures, clear shots. Is the glass good. Want it for close up reptile shots, and also a good zoom.
What kind of glass, macro and zoom lens shoud I try to get?
I've been useing the Olympus, C-750 Ultra Zoom, point and shoot for the last 6-7 years, I like the one lens for every thing. should I look for another point and shoot camera....
Or should I go for the Cannon REbel XTI 10.1 MP

I think the question you need to ask yourself is "What's wrong with my C-750?". If you think it's time to upgrade your camera, you need to figure out what it is you are trying to upgrade. You may find a fixed lens (P&S) type camera meets your new needs, you may find a DSLR does.

For example, going to a DSLR is not going to make your photos better, it is only going to give you more options with lenses, lighting, etc. I used to have the predecessor to your C-750 (the C-700 and I also used the C-730). While a decent little P&S, it suffered from a few limitations that a DSLR fixed:

1. Focus accuracy. With my DSLR, I can focus much more accurately or, if necessary, precisely manual focus. Some P&S cameras allow this, others don't. This can make a huge difference in the success of your photos. The inability/slow focusing of my C-700 was the primary reason I upgraded.

2. Better glass. The quality of lenses you get on most modern P&S cameras is very good. In fact, cheap DSLR lenses are usually lesser quality. However, you can buy great lenses for DSLRs and in ranges/speeds not available in P&S cameras. Of course, all this comes at a price - good glass is expensive.
Of course, zoom lenses are not as sharp as fixed focal lengths, but there are some good zooms. You just need to do the research. There are good sites on line that give objective reviews of lenses - just beware the sort of "I have this lens and I love it" feedback since many of those people haven't ever used any other lenses. How do they know what good is?

Live View is an issue that many P&S shooters think they will miss if they upgrade. However, the superior viewfinders of DLSRs make this point less of a big deal. The newest round of DSLRs have Live View LCDs now, but the Canon version generally gets criticized as being too slow and not really offering real live view. The Sony and Pentax Live View DSLRs don't have this issue, AFAIK. There is an (absurdly Canon-biased) article in the August Pop Photo that compares the live view in these cameras. It is available on their website. As I said, the article is clearly and mathematically biased to favor the Canon and Nikon cameras, but it does discuss the Live View systems of five brands. (If you want, I can get on my soapbox and show you why/how it is biased, but... )

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but unless you are getting a great deal on a Rebel XTi, you might want to look at some of the other new offerings from Pentax, Olympus, Sony, and Nikon (see the Popphoto link). You can get a lot of camera for under $700 now with some really nice features. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying - the Canon cameras are excellent, but so are a lot of others.
Don't simply assume that Canon or Nikon are better since more people own them. More people drive Chevrolets and Fords than other vehicles - that doesn't mean they are better. It doesn't make them bad, just not necessarily better.

And lastly, there are some really nice "semi-pro" fixed lens cameras made now. You may find one of those really meets your needs. Try looking at some reviews on a site like dpreview.com.

Chris
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

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