First of all. MikeJenx - You certainly did do the right thing. No doubt about it!
Well, it's all set up how I think it should be. First impressions (in comparison to the P500 cause' that's all I've ever had):
Feels nice in the hand. Solid. Slightly heavier but I see this as a good thing. The first few shots of the obligatory Collared Doves were impressive - good image quality and a distinct lack of noise despite the gloomy conditions. Little or no loss of quality using 1.5 & 2.0x tele zoom and all incredibly well stabilised.
Autofocus is quicker, cleaner and not far off instantaneous - no internal 'chattering' whilst dozing in and out.
The LCD, in my opinion, is actually better. This may sound daft when comparing the 230k-dot of the Canon to the 921K-dot of the Nikon. The problem for me lies in the massive disappointment when you find out that what you actually see at 921K is nothing like what you actually get! :-@
One thing that bothers me slightly is this (Neil might be able to help me out here). The P500 knocks out images at around 4-5MB. The Canon, all at less than 2MB. Why should this be or am I missing something?
Many thanks to all,
Andy.