Well, I am eating some now!

After espousing the virtues of a 'superzoom' camera in this thread, I decided that a step up in image quality was required after all (you know how it is ) so I bought a DSLR.

After considerable research I decided on a Pentax Kr with the 18-55mm kit lens and the DA 55-300mm tele-zoom as giving the best features to price ratio and an equivalent focal length range (27-450mm) to my FZ10 which covers 35-420mm.

The biggest eye-opener compared to the FZ10 is the speed of auto-focus (although the screw drive is loud) and general speed of operation of the camera. The power zoom slows the operation of the FZ10 down markedly when a large change of focal length is necessary compared to the manual zoom on DSLR lenses.

The images are much lower in noise (the FZ10 has noise at base ISO 50), I am using up to ISO 1600 and any noise that is present is fine grained and not intrusive.

The viewfinder is larger and brighter than I expected given some of the comments on photo forums comparing APS-C viewfinders to full-frame. It is far larger and clearer than the EVF on the FZ10 although I believe that the new micro 4/3 cameras have a large, higher resolution EVF.

The Kr has a bit of a reputation for front-focusing under tungsten light, but since 95% of my photos are taken in natural light (plus the fact that tungsten globes are being phased out here) it doesn't concern me. It focuses just fine under fluorescent light BTW.

One thing I did notice though was how effective the OIS on the FZ10 is in stabilising the image in the EVF at long focal lengths - I can't believe how much I shake when I am using the 55-300mm at the long end! The Kr's built-in shake reduction is effective at providing a clear photo but not being OIS, it has no effect on the viewfinder image.

So far I am very pleased with this camera, particularly the fact that I can power it with AA Eneloops! I just hope that all the mechanical bits flapping around inside are reliable!