here are the Ricoh samples. i was amazed at how much i could do with the last image (woman in the mirror) when playing around with b/w conversion.Certainly the best I've seen so far... just goes to show you should always wait for lots of samples!
Brian,cam, I think I must be completely spoiled by the E-P1 + 20mm f1.7 combination I'm using. Perhaps the images could be sharpened up and the colour improved quite a bit. dpreview samples are rarely flattering to any camera imho.
There's also the Ricoh user interface to consider - I've never had a Ricoh, but the UI seems to be a massive hit for those who use it?
you know i rarely do colour, so that isn't an issue for me (plus, it's always been one of Oly's best qualities). they do sharpen up beautifully, btw, and i was obviously just playing with the JPEGs.
i love love love Ricoh's UI and thinks it's one of the best (the Epson R-D1 being my all time fave). whilst you have many initial options, it's very easy to set it and forget it, making for smooth shooting without a lot of menu hunting (which i have seen a lot of on the E-P1).
i admit i'm biased by using their cameras for a few years, but they really have spoiled me.