I decided that I needed a compact camera of some sort to leave in the car because I keep missing some nice shots when I'm out and about. So I looked in to what was available. I needed something with a reasonable size sensor, good optical quality and was light and easy to lug around but tough enough to survive life in my car. And, most importantly, reasonably priced. I spent weeks looking at micro 4/3 and cross over cameras, I looked at true compacts and even good help me mobile phone options. All these options fell short on either price ( You can by an entry level DSLR for less than a Micro 4/3 camera, and the DSLR if far, far superior in image quality.) And I rejected most of the Crossovers, compacts and mobile options on sensor size and image quality. And the rest on price.

So where does all this leave us ? I'll tell you.   I noticed a Nikon D40x for sale on Ebay, one owner, excellent condition still with box manuals and 2 batteries ( and charger ) $100 I then added to this a Nikon 18 - 55 kit lens I had lying around ( although they can be bought off Ebay for as little as $30 ) and before you know it I have a great little package which solves all my problems and has better image quality than most of the other options available and at a fraction of the price.

So what's the point of all this ?  I just wanted to illustrate that if you think a little latterly, it's  possible to get a camera which cost's less than most compacts and has all the flexibility and picture quality of the latest Micro 4/3 and crossover offerings, Which use smaller image sensors than the Nikon D40.  

Anyway just thought I would share.