Up until the spring of 2004 I had no interest in photography at all until I acquired a Nikon Coolpix 4300 digital camera. This opened up a whole new area in my interest in wild flowers.  With no complicated lenses or focus / aperture settings to deal with this was ideal, just put it on to " Close Up " and the camera does the rest. The end of August 2004 saw me with a Nikon Coolpix 4500.  This was a good move as the swivel body allows you to adjust the monitor to suit the height and position of the flower, it focuses down to 2cm, and it fits into your pocket nicely due to the slimline design.  It is ideal for a total beginner like myself and with an adapter it fits on to my telescope so I can try this "digiscoping " style of bird photography )