All three are very good. Cannot exclude any of them...

Nice colors and an appropriate comment! The hedgehog is cute!

The original question was why you have to rotate the camera. The sensors are (not MF, perhaps) rectangular. I probably rotate my camera fast enough. If vertical is frequently used, get a battery grip and the vertical mode gets much more comfortable to use. My EOS-1D has that built-in and my EOS-5D has got a battery grip. Nemas problemas with vertical...

Better a little blurry, than no pic at all! It is funny!

I agree. If someone breaks in they have to take the risk to be shot. However, what I am very critical to are situations like the shooting of the Japanese boy I refered to. It is a situation far from a burglary situation. I would never shoot anyone for just property theft/famage. Then the situation has to be totally analyzed.

However, with a high quality home in this end of the world the probability is not high that this happens. But it MIGHT happen here also. I HAVE to be damned sure that I had someone who really would hurt us badly. Then I would like to have an AA-12 in my hands!!!!!

Well, I am actually born when the Box Camera was popular. I still use film for fine B&W photography. I mainly use MF cameras, Hasselblad and Kiev. I make my own (large) prints. Cannot do stuff like that with digital. However, nowadays most pictures are shot with my Canon digitals. Eos-1D, -60D, -5D and -10D. I agree very much that the photographer is more important than the gear. However, you cannot use the iPhone for everything. Good light, you want wide angle, sun in your back. Then the pics will not only be decent, but far more than decent! In this case the little phone camera unit is amazing! Portrait w/ phones? No, Njet, Nein Nee! It is impossible to place the depth-of-field and do the composition without a real camera. Even the cheapest of the SLR:s and a good long-zoom compact with manual settings can do the job. This portrait of a friend of mine is shot w/ EOS-5D, canon 70-200 mm f/4L. Outdoors with reflectors

Finally someone who thinks "a few inches" further! It is actually possible to shoot someone who has not deserved to be shot! You cannot just shoot right out in the dark! The flashlight thing is a good idea. Nowadays you can buy super bright LED flashlights. "A hi-watt-seconds" big camera flash can also temporary blind someone. I think all members of this forum has a big flash...:=)

I am born and raised in Sweden one of the Scandinavian countries in the north-west part of the EU. From 2004 I work and live in Morgantown, WV, 50% of my time. As a Scandinavian guy I am amazed that US people need all those weapons at all! Shooting situations in connection with burglary in Western Europe is virtually non-existing! We have strict weapon laws and shootings in general is extremely rare except within the criminal gangs. Hunting accidents occur. There are a lot of hunting weapons around here, but nobody misuse them. I have no weapon in Morgantown either, and I feel no need for it.
Talking about burglary, the American door locks are a joke. You cannot easily force a Scandinavian lock without advanced professional tools. On the other hand we pay around USD300 for a front door lock system. Then you get quality. Do not try to kick in the door or force it with a heavy "iron log". It is too strong for that and the doors in Scandinavia are NOT opened into the house, therefore the heavy door frame disperse the forces. To enter a window is also very hard, because many of them cannot be opened, and those that can be opened are locked. In my Scandinavian home we have the possibility to activate the alarm partially. If anyone succeeds to enter, the alarm will sound and we wake up. Probably the burglar has hit the road then
If there are so many bad guys out there why do you not install doors and locks with far higher quality?

If just the sound of pump gun scares bad guys off, it is a really good weapon! I would not mind to own a beefy gun. Preferably a rifle. A small handgun is more dangerous in my opinion. It is far bigger risk to shoot someone by mistake.
Unfortunately there are people that should NEVER own a gun. See this case:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Yoshihiro_Hattori

One of the most disturbing things is some state's legislation that allows you more or less to shoot a trespasser even if he is unarmed. Perhaps it is NOT a trespasser, just someone who is lost. To West Europeans this is outrageously primitive and totally uncivilized!!

A lot can be written about this. My very young friends (+/- 20 yrs) see cameras in terms of electronic gadgets only. Megapixels, image processing software etc. Some of them think that a cell phone camera with a lot of megapixels is a real camera. “You can crop out what you want, no optical zoom necessary”. No, it is false. For example, how can you shoot a good portrait with that perfectly planned very narrow depth of field with an iPhone? It has a lot of megapixels but it is equipped with a wide angle lens. I shot a pretty good portrait for a magazine a few years ago. I used my Canon EOS 5D (considered obsolete by the computer nerds) with a very (required) narrow depth of field. In order to avoid to give the guy a long dog’s nose and to get the desired “forest bokeh” in the background I used a Canon 80-200 mm f/2.8L lens. I set it to 200 mm and opening 2.8. Do that with a phone? No way!

I think it is time to pick up the discussion if all those gadgets, fantastic electronic innovations and mega-megapixel are necessary for a good photo? In many situations they come handy, like fast autofocus (sports) and very-very high ISO (paparazzi and newspaper reporters in dark war zones), etc.
Many modern hi-tech point-and-shoot cameras deliver FANTASTIC picture quality. However, an SLR is more “integrated” with the photographer concerning action and picture control than most point-and-shoot cameras.

The new gadget is mirrorless with no optical viewer. Try to compose a picture in bright sunshine on the camera screen. No thanks. I might be old fashion, but I want my peep hole.

Another photographic situation: I have an EOS 5D, 12 MP, 2006, (full-frame), an EOS 60D, 18 MP (2010), an EOS 1D, 4.3 MP from 2001 and a nice 8 MP Nikon Point-and-shoot. My 60D has by far the best technical data. I was out there in the real world to shoot two Parkour guys jumping and flying around town and climbing buildings fast like hell. What camera did I use? The 13 yrs old EOS 1D with 4.3 Megapixels! Why? I could shoot 8.3 fps. The 4.3 MP was no issue for publication in the magazine. I used a Canon 24-105 mm f/4L. It was daytime during spring why the crappy hi-ISO properties of the old 1D was no issue, I could use 200 or 400 ISO. I also like the feeling to use that old heavy iron! iPhone? Galaxy IIIS? my ass NO!
Nightsky is totally right about the fact that there is a big portion of skill also in a good photo, regardless of gadgets.

I want to take a perfect black-and-white picture of shiny mahogany furniture with a vast number of grayscales inside the window a sunny day. The sun is shining directly from the windows onto the furniture. What EOS xxxD, Sony or Panasonic do I use? NONE! I grab my Leica M4 with a Summicron or Elmar or my EOS 600 with an L or FD lens and 35 mm FILM. For large prints I use my Hasselblad or Kiev 60 MF with 6x6 cm^2 negative size. I doubt that any digital can do the job. How do I get a 19”x24” inch print? I go to my permanent darkroom and make it. How to fix a perfect 19”x24” B&W print from a digital file if you do not own a printshop? -Dunno…

Hi! Samsung makes fine stuff. A friend of mine has a Panasonic. A few yrs. old now, but the image quality is superb. She has it in her handbag. When it comes to compacts, I would recommend you to take a look at Sony's models too. Their Cybershot cameras are good. They have a long-zoom model that definitely fits in any Hello Kitty handbag! I hope you are okay over there in UK. We (I am in Sweden now) had a heavy storm that came from the West, probably it hit UK first. All the best, Robert

Concerning B&H. I have bought a lot of stuff from them. They are rock solid honest and I have never had a problem. However, a sloppy customer support representative can make a lot of damage. In the case vith the Nikon 85 mm he should have explained the situation!