I shot a camera professionally for 27 years. Put away my Hassleblad and 4 x 5 equipment in the closet back around 1991. Purchased my first DSLR about 4 years ago, a D70, and even though I was terribly disappointed in the quality of the image, I was amazed at the freedom it allowed. It has been a lot of fun to mess with, though. I've even found myself lusting over Nikon's new D700! But as the years have rolled by, my photography has gone from 24" x 30" salon prints to snapshots of travel pics, grandkids, and the like. It's getting to the point even the D70 is a burden to mess with and I find myself just setting it on Auto-everything much of the time. When I started reading about this new LX3 I looked seriously at my work and realized the largest print I'm likely to make in my future will be on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of photo paper, so why do I need a camera that costs several thousand dollars. Heck, none of my recent work is going to end up in the Louvre, after all!!!!! The LX3, if it turns out to do what Panasonic is claiming, might really satisfy my requirements.