Indecent Exposure 4: Inadvertent exclusions

I would like to know what you guys think of this format. Olympus clearly is making some really amazing glass and I'm starting to see some nice progress on their cameras. Some big question marks remain though, there seems to be a big gap between their 510 and E3 and the E3 itself is a bit of an oddball. Not really at the same level of the D300 or 40D. Their glass is what's seducing me but I'm not sure if the small sensor was a bad idea. Infuriatingly small viewfinders except on the E3 also keep me from jumping on the wagon. I think they're on to something with the Four Thirds standard, I want to believe in it but if history has taught me something, is that a brilliant design can fail if it's not widely adopted. I just need to look at RISC chips and the Wankel rotary engine for clear examples. All the best, David M

I really enjoyed your review of shoestring digital SLRs. I am a backcountry skier and action sports enthusiast and I always carry my point and shoot camera with me to capture my adventures. It's great because it takes good shots of landscapes and is super easy to carry in my pocket, but I am looking for something that will take great action shots, richer landscapes, but most importantly is pretty durable. I realize the pocket camera won't be an option, so I figure I'll be carrying around a SLR in my backpack which isn't a big deal, but it will probably get a little wet and might get bonked every now and again - I tend to be pretty tough on my gear. Right now I am leaning towards the Pentax k100d super, which wasn't part of the shoestring comparison- thoughts or suggestions? Thanks, Kyle, North Dakota