Olympus OM-D E-M5 (body only, Black)

Pros: Excellent image quality--in the same class as APS-C DSLRs; very responsive; sturdy build; excellent two-dial control system; weather-sealed; great lens lineup; superb in-body image stabilization.

Cons: Mushy buttons; poorly worded menus; oversensitive evf/lcd eye sensor; built-in grip not very grippy.

Summary: This is by far the most enjoyable digital camera I've ever had--and I've had many, going back to the first Canon PowerShot in the late nineties.

It's a beautiful piece of technology: from the superb build to the excellent images to the responsive, intuitive controls, this is one great piece of kit.

I'm writing mostly to counter Lori Grunin's skimpy review, which does a huge disservice to Olympus's effort.

While some of her ergonomic and interface-related criticisms are perfectly valid, she's just plain wrong about the most important part of this (or any) camera: its image quality.

It's true that the default JPEG sharpening and noise-reduction settings are too aggressive, but it's a trivial procedure to reconfigure these options and make the problem go away.

Anyway, most people spending $1k on a camera will be shooting RAW--and this is where the OM-D's image quality is in full evidence.

Other, more technical reviewers have measured the camera's image quality, low-light capabilities and dynamic range as equal to or better than many current APS-C (larger sensor) cameras, including the NEX system and DSLRs. This is a stunning achievement for a Micro Four Thirds camera considering its smaller sensor size.

For example, dpreview.com says of the OM-D that "you'd have to move up to full-frame [35mm] to gain an appreciable increase in image quality".

Yet Grunin concludes "you don't get best-in-class photo quality"! ... in fact, you do, if your class includes other Micro Four Thirds cameras, the NEX system, and enthusiast APS-C DSLRs.

Anyway, don't take my word for it: spend some time reading other reviews, particularly on photography sites. The OM-D isn't a perfect camera by any means, but Grunin's lack of enthusiasm for this superb ILC is unquestionably an anomaly on the web.