Hi

I would not touch Olympus with a 10 Meter barge pole.

My C8080 will not focus on anything over 1000M away and they tell me
"that's the way it is" of course it does not say anything about that in the
documentation before you buy it.

Also as an indication of competence; a couple of years ago I went to the
Sydney Photography exhibition and the Olympus kiosk had a demonstration
of their Panorama stitching software and the picture had a massive and very obvious
error in it, the staff were oblivious.

AND the address they quote on their correspondence is incorrect and does not exist
in GPS or Street Directories... Go figure.

I would look elsewhere, which I will do when I have the time.

cheers

Daniel

There are some good fixed lens cameras out there and with a good matched lens with a large zoom range, you may only need one lens.  For me, I worry more about sensor size than anything.  Most of these fixed lens cameras have the same tiny sensors that you find in little pocket cameras: something like 1/1.7 sensors which aren't much bigger than a pencil eraser.  With such a small sensor, it is very difficult to get shallow depth of field.  For me, the Panasonic/Olympus Four Thirds format is about the smallest sensor that I find acceptable in a camera.  Much smaller than that and it's just going to look like a point and shoot.  The shallow depth of field that you need for expressive portraits and macros just won't happen with the tiny sensor cameras.  Here's a comparison of sensor size (from Wiki):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SensorSizes.svg

The bottom row is pretty much what you'll find in the pocket cameras and many fixed lens "SLR" cameras.  The second line up from the bottom starts the better sensors that have enough size to make some good shallow DOF shots.  So check the sensor size on the camera you are buying and if you want photos that look like they came from a dSLR, make sure the size is at least as big as the Four Thirds System shown.  For pros/purists who are used to full frame (35mm sensor size), even the Four Thirds sensor size may not offer shallow enough depth of field but for the rest of us, I think you need the Four Thirds sensor size at a minimum if you want to get photos that have the expressive quality you can get from an SLR.

Mike

I too have the Oly E-10, bought it when it first came out....a 4 megapixel camera for under $1800, WOW!!  I've loved it ever since and still use it for studio work (HEAVY!!)  About a year ago I bought the Olympus E-410 SLR.  It's about the size of the old OM-1 and much lighter!!  I read the reviews an DPReview and it convinced me the camera was worth the price.  I wouldn't trade it for a Nikon!!!  As for the dust problen, the Oly has a "supersonic" shaker that vibrates each time you change lenses and shakes the dust off.  EVERY camera and brand has its' "bad eggs" and you'll hear horror stories on any brand you pick.  Check the DPReviews and the prices and your needs...if you don't buy more camera than you need, you can use the money saved to buy accessories!!! 

Cameras are only an extension of the photographer...I run rings around guys with Nikons and Canons, but not because of the camera...just get one to suit your needs.

John  PhF