[ex1z7]

I'll try to throw my opinion in somewhere, for fun.

If you want a DSLR, get one worth buying, a few things about that olympus sketch me out, like the start up time being almost 3 seconds..

If you want to get a decent camera, look at Fuji S700 or any other S series, they're solid camera's without all the crazy difficult things to learn like your standard DSLR's.

I recently grabbed a Nikon D50 and going from a point and shoot to a dslr was crazy, if you want something to just take the picture, look at Fuji S's..

IMO.

*edit*

I had to add before passing out, go down to a few photography stores and actually hold the camera you're thinking of. When I was in the market, I was looking at a Pentax K*, Canon Rebel, or Nikon D50/70 - When I picked up the Canon I thought .. Why is this camera over a thousand dollars, it feels cheap, plasticky, and really, not worth the money IMO. However, Canon ARE number 1 in the market for a reason, Rebel's take amazing pictures if you know what you're doing..

I grabbed the Pentax and thought it just didn't feel totally right in my hands. It's a nice camera, they can take great pictures, and the Pentax K mount has been around since what.. the 50's? You have near 60 years of lenses you can use.. Plus Pentax antishake etc. in the body is excellent.

I chose Nikon because the first camera that actually felt /right/ in my hands was a D50. The D70 felt too bulky and heavy, like a brick, and the D80/D40 wasn't out yet when I was shopping... It's an extremely expensive hobby, and if you don't want it to go anywhere but just being a hobby, there are other ways to go about getting into photography.. Cost wise, getting a D50/40/40x or something similar, is very wise if you're just going to be taking creative shots, however.. add ons get extremely pricey, when you've outgrown your gear, it starts adding up big time. It's like drag racing - you want to run 15's.. well that's not that hard, running 13's takes a bit of money, running 9's drops your wallet a little too hard every time you want to step your game up another step.. Oh that stock zoom isn't good enough anymore.. 600 dollar lens later.. Oh you want better macro shots.... you get the idea.

Once you pick a lens mount, you typically stay with it. You pick up a Canon, you learn it's controls, you know how to use it.. once you grab a Nikon you're just like ".. huh?" Plus when DSLR bodies are around a grand for a decent setup, you don't want to be dropping upwards to 1500-2k cus you "like the feel of so and so brand more" - make sure it's right for you before you purchase something so important.

If you pick up that Olympus and you start thinking.. this isn't my camera.. Then put it down and walk to the next brand. If you decide Pentax fits your hands better, consider them instead, it's worth the extra few hundred dollars to get something that will actually fit your style.

It's like buying jeans 4 sizes too small just because they're on sale and your size isn't.. Oh it's a good deal, but if it doesn't fit, it doesn't make sense purchasing..

Hope I shed a little light ?