I have been reading everything I find on SI. I have just recently began to think I understand what SI is capable of.

I fish a lot of places but the lakes I fish most frequently are at the max 30' deep with most spots being 10 to 20' deep.

Am I correct in thinking than down scan will not be any great advantage over SI in shallower depths because it does not cover much area?   

I believe you are correct. The shallower you are, the smaller the sonar cone will be. If I'm in shallow water, I'd likely turn off downscan and use SI.

You can pick out a bunch of fish if you look hard enough, that's a pretty detailed picture as well. If I recall correctly, he captured that one via side imaging.

  Again, amazing stuff, thanks for the pic!

Just to clarify on my earlier post. i am not bashing any brand. Or saying one is better than the other because I have never used the Lowrance. I am however a 997SI owner. When I look at the comparison pic it looks washed out. Like sensitivity has not been adjusted properly. When the 14 inches of snow and 2 inches of ice melt off my local lakes I will be more than happy to post my pics for all to see. For new users that want to see Humminbird images at their best go to this link.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sideimaging/

There are guys on here with a lot more experience than me and their pics are amazing. If you look at these and then look at the comparison pic above you will see a huge difference in quality. That is the point I am trying to get across.

Here is one from the site you posted, pretty good stuff!

Thanks!

Here is another I thought was really good. It is from the site, not from me

  Good stuff, you can see the bark peelin

Here is another I thought was really good. It is from the site, not from me

What is all of the speckly clutter look in the water column above and around that tree?  It dosn't look like fish.  Is it just noise or sensitivity settings?  Or possibly prop wash (I find it hard to belive there would would be prop wash though at those depths under the slow speeds required for that picture.. unless its from another boat)?