Olympus E-400 and other things

The last year has seen some considerable changes in the evolution of the 4/3rds world. We have a number of new cameras, nominally from 3 manufacturers, although 1.5 would be more truthful, and lenses from 3 companies as well. Up until now, I haven't found anything of much interest beyond the E-1 and the mid-range lenses. The E-300 didn't interest me, nor the E-500, and I have no use for the E-330. The Lumix/Leica L1, as far as I can see, is an expensive doorstop. I really fail to see why anybody interested in photography would buy one. The Leica (let's be generous with naming) 14-50mm lens seems expensive and clumsy, and whilst the image stabilisation is interesting, the optical performance seems at very best just below the Olympus 14-54 - and since the next generation Olympus cameras will probably have in-body stabilisation, one could wonder what the point of the 14-50 Leica actually is. However, the Leica 25mm f1.4 lens is definitely interesting. Some of the Sigma lenses could be interesting as well, in particular the 50-500mm, which is approachable in terms of cost. However, it is quite slow, and a slow 500mm coupled with the E-1's sensor and autofocus is not necessarily going to be a happy marriage. But what has got me excited is the Olympus E-400. A camera about the size of an OM-1, with an OM-style body design, and a weight to match, two matched lenses AND a 10Mpix sensor - this sounds like an ideal travel / trekking camera. Ok, so it isn't splashproof, but there have to be tradeoffs, especially at the price. It is telling that the forum world hasn't got excited about the E-400: this is a camera aimed at photographers, not geeks. A preview of a pre-production sample in Réponses Photo adds to the anticipation. They really like it (apart from the autofocus, but it seems that we're stuck with that 3 point system) and in particular they found that the viewfinder was surprisingly good, bright and not too small - better in fact that the Pentax K10D in the reviewer's opinion. I'm sorely tempted. The E-1 gets to be a heavy camera when you're climbing 2000 meters. Obviously I would miss the 100% viewfinder, and probably the E-400 is not as nice to handle as the E-1. But it is the first 4/3rds camera I've considered buying since the E-1.