Olympus makes great cameras, as I have the C770UZ...but it was time for the dSLR...I could not find an OLY E500 to try, but I did compare the Pentax DS (not DL) with Canon Rebel XT, Nikon D50/70...
I was highly impressed with the DS viewfinder and its use of 4 AA batts...
When I tried focusing, they all focused extremely fast, so if the DS was "slower" it was not a problem for me...
They all felt good in my hand, so the "feel" of the camera was not an issue for me...
I recommend the DS, but, as everyone says, YMMV...:-):-)

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