The dSLR plunge

I finally took the plunge and got myself a digital SLR: the Olympus E-510

I purchased the 2-lens kit in Singapore on my way home from Adelaide. Yes, I'm obviously (?) back, not bothering to chronicle my return as it's no where been as difficult as leaving and being away from my family for 6 weeks. So no drama on my coming home (sniff). I took a noon flight from Adelaide on 23 June, arriving in Singapore at around 6 PM. I only had about a couple of hours to shop as my flight to Manila the next day was at noon (and the shops don't open till about 10 or 11 AM). Talk about power shopping! I went around and canvassed most -- if not all -- the camera shops (and then some) in Sim Lim Square (all 6 floors) in that span of time!

On with the gadgetry...

Here are some quick specs:

digital SLR based on the Four-Thirds system (Live MOS sensor)
10.9 megapixels (total effective)
in-body Image Stabilisation (IS)
dust reduction system (reportedly currently the most effective)
Live View
2.5" Hypercrystal LCD (230k pixels)
~3fps continuous shooting

As mentioned, I got the 2-lens kit:

Olympus Zuiko ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 and
Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm F4.0-5.6

Equivalent focal lengths in 35mm terms are 28-84mm and 80-300mm, respectively.

Granted, these two are kit lenses and you get what you pay for. But reviews show them to be a cut above the corresponding kit lenses bundled with other camera manufacturers' "entry-level" dSLRs. They are light! Perfect for travel and vacations!
But even though I'm quite happy with them, I can't help but lust after the Zuiko 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 lens as an upgrade to at least the shorter zoom. I don't have a budget for it yet though; maybe a year down the line. Heck, if I were filthy rich, I'd get this (over twice the price of the 14-54mm).

I'm loving the speed and image quality of this camera. Definitely a league (and then some) above the Panasonic FZ18 it replaces. (THE FZ18 IS FOR SALE by the way; let me know if you're interested)

I can now actually shoot at ISO 800 without worries of noise ruining my image! This is a great big boon, as I take a lot of photos of my kids indoors. My main gripe though is that AF is a little slow and may hunt some in low light (probably the lens?). I have the flash doing AF assist, and it's annoying the heck out of my wife when the bursts take forever to help lock focus. Some in an on-line forum suggest I turn off the AF-assist feature, but I'm finding the focus hunt takes even longer (or is it just my imagination? I'd have to try it more to see if this is true or not).

I was originally hoping to get the E-510's successor, the E-520. But at least one shop said it wasn't available until about 3 weeks down the line. The intro price for the E-520 single lens kit would've been more than what I paid for the E-510 2-lens kit. I thought about having Al get it for me when he comes back 1.5 months later. But alas, due to my low EQ I decided to get the E-510 right then and there. I figured I could afford to forego the reportedly improved image quality of the E-520 over the E-510 and start taking pictures sooner.

When I got the E-510, I also got a spare battery, a polarising filter, and a lens cleaning kit. I was also fortunate enough to find in one store, the tripod I've been eyeing, the Manfrotto Modo 785B: