I've toyed with the
idea of a CSC (Compact system camera) for some time now. Who started calling them 'EVIL' I wonder; can't say that I like that term (nor indeed 'pancake' for some of the slimmer lenses - I'd never eat a pancake
that thick!
)
My wife and I usually go somewhere in Southern Europe for our holidays and I always enjoy trying to take photos of the local wildlife - especially butterflies - and my Canon DSLR and Sigma 400mm F5.6 Apo/macro lens are ideal for this except...even though my set-up is nothing like as big and heavy as a 1-series body and fast-aperture telephoto lens, it's still a pain in the neck (or shoulder!) when I'm carrying it around all day.
Sony have managed to fit an APS-C sensor (and an EV in the NEX-7) into their compact bodies, so the image quality potential is there, but of course, the lens still has to be big enough to cover the format. Therefore, their system is not quite what I want.
The micro 4/3rds system will fulfill my needs for size and weight, though with the smaller sensor I'll have to take a drop in out and out image quality compared to my Canon system - not a
huge problem as I don't usually do bigger prints than about 9"x6" for my holiday snaps anyway.
As it's possible to fit a wide range of lenses to m4/3 cameras via a suitable adapter, the IS system built into the bodies of Olympus cameras is a distinct selling point against the Panasonics. As a long-time Olympus OM system owner, I've also got a bit of 'brand-loyalty' involved here, as well as some old (or 'legacy' as Olympus likes to hype them
) OM lenses to try out at some stage.
The only 'problem' with Olympus is the fact that the
stylists still seem to have the upper hand over the
designers at the moment! They seem to be a step behind Panasonic in innovation (12MP versus 16Mp sensor, for instance) - white leather cases and straps plus fancy lens caps may
look very nice, but they won't help you take better pictures!
I'm almost tempted to go for the EP3 + EVF and the Panasonic 100-300mm lens but there's a rumour of a body with built-in EVF which will, hopefully have the newer sensor. I may just wait a little longer to see how this still new market sector develops...