........after much study of what was available in dslr's -- I purchased a Canon 30D a few months ago - ( my first digital cam ) - and I must say - I was waiting for the next big release to see if I had made the right choice --- decided the Olympus 330 wasn't going to do it for me - and likewise the new Panasonic dslr ( though it was tempting to wait for that one ) ---- so , now this new Sony pops on the scene looking pretty good on paper --- but I must say - I have been extremely happy with the 30D -- and I like to hang on to cameras for a long time - not into the constant upgrade treadmill, thank-you ----but it will be interesting to see how the Alpha pans out.