I have had no idea what this 4/5th stuff was. From the looks of the stuff on thast link above it not much more than a point and shoot with changeable lens? For me the best P&S I've used was one with a view finder. My presaent Nikon L24 doesn't have one. It does take nice photos but hard for me to frame them right. It doesn't have aperature pri, shutter pir and manual controls either. One thing I found with my Nikon is if I want the best photo I can get, put it away and get out a DSLR. I have seen some P&S cameras that do have a lot better controls on them. I gave my Cannon I5IS, think that is waht it is, to my grancson because it wouldn't fit in my bird vest. That was a mistake! My next P&S, soon as I can afford one will have the controls and fixed lens and some kind of belt pack I can carry it in. If I'm out hunting I don't want to give up the long zoom and carry extra lens with me.
You are right about them being nothing more than a point and shoot, but a higher end one. That is really what I am looking for since I sold off all my Canon gear. I use to the 5D MkII with L lenses and Zeiss lenses but found I didn't use them enough to warrant having thousands and thousands tied up...so off they went. I am just in need of a camera that will take decent photos of family/friends and some travelling.
Eventually Canon will steal some more of my money and I will get back into the DSLR thing. But for now the Sony Nex 5N will hold me over for the purpose I intend to use it. Not a replacement for a DSLR and I won't get the quality I am use to out of it either but it will do for now.
