For years I've had cameras from the EOS line from Canon. This is a great line of digital cameras, and they all served me extremely well. My latest EOS Rebel was starting to age and it was time to upgrade. Since purchasing the Rebel I had honestly not had much time for photography. As much as it saddened me I started looking for a point and shoot. Something I could carry with me, not have to keep lenses around, and use easily.
After much searching I happened on the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 12MP camera
. I spent a few hours reading reviews for the camera. The zoom looked amazing on it, and this is what initially drew me to the camera. I eventually purchased the camera and have been very happy with it.
Just to give you an idea of its zoom capability, this was taken in my yard with a tripod.
Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 12MP camera

The zoom is amazing. And to zoom in this far you will need a tripod, I assume any tripod will do, but I really like the Vista Explorer 60-Inch Lightweight Tripod
from Davis and Sanford. Other features such as AF and image stabilization work great.