It's down to the Canon G10, Lumix LX3, Olympus EP-1

Our should I shop around for a used Canon DSLR

and the
Slik Sprint Pro 3-Way Tripod...that's all I will ever need :D

oh....and a good ball head....can you recommend one?

to retailers. I'd have to mail order. The Olympia looks great, spec'd terrific but lacks a flash and viewfinder. The G10 would do just fine, but the Lumix has a better sensor, though it has less mp's than the G10. MP count isn't everything.

for those on your list, mimic the 35mm 5:4 aspect ratio, the same as the new "wide screen" TVs. The 5:4 doesn't match any "standard" formats like 4x5, 8x10, 11x14 or 16x20. The only standard size print papers available for 5:4 are 3.5x5 and 13x19. Also, computer screens are very close to 4:3.

What this means is that if you compose on the view screen and take advantage of all the image area virtually none of it will be lost if you print to commercially available paper or publish to the net in full screen crop.

This also means that 12mega pixels is really 12mega pixels as opposed to 12 - 2 = 10 because of the crop factor.

As a die hard Oly guy this is an issue for me. Oly has always been at the forefront of innovation and with the advent of optical sensors to replace film they took the opportunity to forsake the archaic and, for me, less esthetically appealing aspect ratio of a format designed in 1910 Germany.

But that's just me . . .

I already have Canon Lenses that will fit. I might jump to a dSLR. The only problem will be macro because of the telephoto effect of those lenses.

That E P1 looks awfully good.

Canon XSi with my lens and Macro seemed clumsy.

Can't wait to see your pics with the new camera.

of my yard.

Good choice.