MSF: "I used to have an olympus E3 with 50 -200 f2.8.
It could not cope with aircraft very well and the autofocus hunted like a sonofabitch, and as for low ISO noise!
It was like a big 'join the dots' puzzle."
Yeah, maybe... I supose the smart money nowadays goes down on a nikon D300!! (or the D400 when it appears)
I was just thinking though after I wrote that post, that someone on a tight budget could do a lot worse than getting one of the entry level 4/3rds bodies and the 70-300/f4-5.6 lens. Then he has a daylight setup that'll do 600mm @ f5.6. Look how much other brands have to pay to get 600mm!
I'll get off my [non-paid] sales pitch now! ;-)