Hear, hear...  
I strongly feel, not only is Michael on the right track (he never was far off it..), but that his emphasis on actually USING cameras has promoted the LL reviews to the absolute top position when contemplating acquiring a camera.

As to the button proliferation on digitals, I bought myself a Leica Digilux 2 last week.  Now, THAT´s an ergonomic camera!  It is far from perfect, but it is easily the best handling camera I´ve had since going digital.  And the image quality.... no need of 8 Mp here!

Regards,

Per

Megapixels are only one of the factors in image quality.  Once you hit 4 to 6 megapixels, the important factor is the interpolation software in the camera.  Shooting RAW will yield the best results, if you have the time for it.

I have a 20x24 print on the wall of my studio that you'd be hard pressed to tell from a MF image.  Of course, the lens and software were of top quality, and the upsizing was done with Genuine Fractals, but the point is look at the image quality, and don't worry about the megapixel count.

Michael R.  A very nice, timely article - thank you!

It certainly helps (well, me anyway) put into perspective the various forum discussions one sees on the virtues of one manufacturer's 6.1MP camera over another's 5.5MP.  While I'm not a professional photographer like many on your forum its being able to capture the essence of a scene that for me is so important yet so elusive.  So, feature rich though some of the latest 8MP digicams might be, my fingers too frequently will hit the wrong buttons at the wrong time because of the poor ergonomics and tiny size.  Thus are moments lost.

With some of these feature-rich cameras I've handled, I find that using them is a bit like trying to do precision micro-surgery wearing oven mitts.

Thanks again for the perspectives in your article!

Phil Allsopp
Dallas, TX

I used to be primarily a landscape buff, but since I've gone digital I've found that I take more spur of the moment type photos. When something is happening RIGHT NOW and I want to capture it, part of the camera's worth is how long it takes for me to get from picking up my camera to shooting a frame and actually getting the moment. AND having it turn out in focus and properly exposed. If the process takes more than 2 or 3 seconds then forget it. Having to fumble with buttons that are not ergonomic or fiddling with a motorized zoom (yikes) would find me returning the camera really quick.

And (like I said) I'm a landscape photographer...