Well, I finally picked up an Olympus E-3 a week ago. I immediately compared ergonomics with a D300 (E3 viewfinder is better) and a 40D ("Tonka Toy" comes to mind), and it feels good, BUT it doesn't have the "take me home" gut feel I got from the E-1. Whatever. I thought a bit about the lens issue, and decided that the 12-60 doesn't have compelling arguments for me over the 11-22 & 14-54 I already have. So I decided to go and get the E-3 body. Whilst I was waiting for an assistant, I started to think a bit.... does it really have much to offer over the E-1 & E-400 I already have ? E-400 gives me 10Mpix. E-1 gives me all weather capability, and prints up to A3 (I doubt I'll ever need bigger). Almost all of my "ok" shots (I haven't progressed to "good" yet) are taken on tripod, so IS is of little use to me. LV would be useful sometimes, I think, although I'm not certain. The 30 min exposure would be a definite plus, if the noise is controlled enough (and no reviewer has even mentioned this yet).... So, on balance, I wondered would that E-3 improve my photography, or enjoyment of photography ? The answer, clearly, was "unlikely". And so I walked out of shopping therapy.

Well, this, I have to say, was totally unexpected. A few weeks ago, I received an email from Alice Burton, of the British photo magazine Outdoor Photography. She told me she wanted to make this site "website of the month". I was pretty stunned. First, because the sheer quality of the 3 or 4 sites featured monthly is pretty intimidating. Secondly, because the photo part of this site has been in practical hibernation for over a year. But it's true. And here's the proof: I've been reading OP since pretty much issue 1. But I never thought I'd get anywhere near being featured in their pages. So, just for this one post, please forgive me if I'm just a little bit unsufferably pleased with myself. Wait a minute... it's not the April 1st edition is it ?