Gary,
Deep stuff for us deep creekers. All you have said makes perfect since to me as I have been studing these things for months.
I also am partial to Canon cameras. I now have a Power Shot A20-2.1 mega pixels. Also a Tiffen Mega plus 0.56x wide converter 37mm, and 2x telephoto converter 37mm lenses. At home I have a H-P 3750 printer, that makes 8x10 and smaller prints from my CF cards. What works best at deep creek are my 7x and 10x magnifying lenses, as the desert flowers are small. I also have a polarizer and uv protector. But found out later that the Zoom browzer on my computer program does this some how. And my printer also has a similar feature.
According to my camera guide the 1640x1280 resolution is for the 8x10 size prints and 800x600 is for 6x9 and smaller prints.
It seems to me this 1640x1280 resolution would have made the faces more clearly defined. This is only speculation on my part as I am only a novice studying these matters. The other thing I have noticed is the price of the CF cards also seems to help the quality of resolution.
This G-5 Canon is the latest on the market. Plus all of my present equipment works on it also. And canon has a super telephoto lense that I can pick up later.
So let the games begin.
Who can down load the best picture on the forum? Yours are pretty awesome. Vans keep getting better. Rick is obviously a pro. I constantly get compliments on my natural talent, and I am sure there are others whom will suprise us as time goes by.
I am sure this can be a fun contest for this forum. Much more than slinging mud. ;~)

There are four kinds of people :
Those who know not, and know not that they know not. These are foolish.
Those who know not, and know they know not. These are the simple, and should be instructed.