Here are three great cameras, right?  But no camera’s perfect.  For every camera system we’ve looked at this year, we always come away wondering why a camera doesn’t have some feature, why it included this other flaw.  We decided to build our Dream Camera, and it’s not much of a surprise we’re tossing our three big love/hates into the pot and giving it a good stir.  The Canon G11, the Olympus E-P2 and the Leica M9 are three cameras we desperately wanted to love- but came away hoping for “next time”. 
 

Let’s go through the high points of each one.
 

Canon G11
 

Size: The Canon is truly a “Pocket-Pro” camera, and yes, you heard that term here first.  The camera fits into a shirt pocket with no apologies, and it’s always there when you want it.  The best camera is the camera you have with you, and this little thing is coming with you everywhere.
 

Price: The G11 sells on the street for just under $450.  It’s a whole lot of camera for that money.  For a pro, it’s cheap enough to carry as a backup into any situation, hazardous or not.  For an amateur, it’s not too much to spend to get a good starter, with RAW files, and full manual and auto controls.  It can be whatever camera it needs to be- the definition of an entry model. 
 

Features: This is a camera that, feature for feature, can go head-to-head with many cameras twice the price.  Built-in fast zoom, at f2.8, big LCD, Face Detection, Image Stabilization, RAW capture, 10 mp?  The list goes on. 
 

Olympus E-P2
 

Lens System: First, the lenses are just, well, “yummy”.  Olympus lenses have always been jewels of craftsmanship, and these are no exception.  The camera has a 14-42mm M.Zuiko zoom (the equivalent, in 35mm film, of a 24-84mm), and you can get a little, flat 17mm f2.8 “pancake” lens.  Olympus just released the Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 and Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm f/4.0-5.6 lenses, too.  You can also fit any of the Leica M mount lenses, as well as the Micro Four-Thirds lenses, with the appropriate adapters. 
 

Form: You may argue this is related to size, and it is, but the smooth lines, small size and wonderful finish of the camera is a joy, and appeals to even the most hardened anti-hardware-geek photographer.  Like the Olympus Pen line it harkens back to, the E-P2 is a wonderful piece of functional design and nice feel.
 

Electronic Viewfinder (and Accessory Port): The big “sleeper” news on the E-P2 release was the Electronic Viewfinder and the associated accessory port.  The viewfinder itself is an answer to the traditionalists who like to peer through the eyepiece and avoid the LCD display, but the accessory port also gives you the ability to plug in a stereo microphone for your HD videos, and who knows what else, down the road.  The possibilities are, litereally, endless.
 

Leica M9
 

Legacy, History, Heritage:  Leica has an undeniable role in the history of photography and the heritage that we all share as photographers, no matter what kind of photography we do.  This heritage is undeniable when you’re holding this camera, it just is.  There is no other camera out there that has the feel of a Leica, and Leica has somehow made the transition to digital photography without sacrificing this legacy.  You think this is meaningless?  Think again.  The Leica name, and the M-Digital cameras have some of the most devoted followers (you could use the term “rabid”, most would agree) of any camera ever made.
 

Handling: The M9 has a good, solid mechanical feel, reinforced by the mechanical shutter-cocking lever (what used to be used for advancing the film) the unmistakable sound of the Leica shutter, and the obvious metal construction and heft.  If you’ve ever used an M-series Leica, the digital Leica will not disappoint.
 

Viewfinder: Again, a vestige of past cameras, the Leica is the only camera that has a true rangefinder focusing.  When you look through the viewfinder you’re looking at the image undistorted by the lens, you’re seeing the subject beyond the image frame, and you’re able to focus by matching up images, a method of focusing that is extremely accurate, especially in low light, sometimes hard to learn, but once you’ve worked with a rangefinder, a tool like nothing else.
 

It sounds like I’m more emotional than technical when I start talking about the Leica.  It’s true, I am.  The Leica has that indescribable something that is a very big part of why I love photography, and I’d argue why every other fanatic photographer shares my love.  I love the Camera.  From my very first Kodak Retina to my Nikon 5000, I love to hold them in my hands, I love to take pictures with them, and the Leica M9 has everything that I’ve ever loved about cameras. 
 

Oh, except features and file quality. 
 

For all the “sweetness” of the M9, it’s an anachronism, a dinosaur.  The simple fact that it doesn’t have Shutter Priority AE and HD video, it’s a camera that makes you pay for your devotion by denying you features that even the most basic digital cameras have today.  Oh, and file quality?
 

None of these cameras have what I consider acceptable file quality.  The Canon, at least, you can say has good files for the money, but seriously, when you can get files like what we’re seeing out of cameras like even the Nikon D5000 and the Canon T1i, for well under $1000?  Please.  The simple high-ISO performance of virtually every DSLR on the market is a complete game-changer.  I can’t even really describe it, just to say the ability to shoot routinely at ISO 1600 and over is something that is changing the way I shoot, it’s something I’ve tried to do since my earliest days taking pictures.  The Nikon D3s has an ISO boost rating of over 100,000.  I can’t even imagine what kind of photography we’re going to see as a result of that kind of sensitivity.
 

So, let’s see.  How about we throw another piece into the pot here, and say, give us a pinch of file quality from Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras.  Not a lot, oh, maybe just a teaspoon of Digital Rebel, how’s that? 
 

The Camera
 

Here it is, the H2H Dream Camera of 2009.  Take a good look, and you saw it here first.  Let me see, what have I forgotten?  Oh yes.  My PHONE lets me upload pictures to a website.  Is that so much to ask?  You take a nice, pocket camera with good in-camera JPEGs and let me link and upload to a Facebook or Flikr gallery?  How about movies to Youtube?  Oh, now THAT's a game-changer. 
 

Hmmmm.  The price.  That's easy.  $1000.  It's fair, don't you think, for the camera of my dreams?
 

But what will it be called, who will make it?  Hmmmm.  It seems like it may be time for Nikon to join the “Retro Re-Issue” fray, doesn’t it?  The S3-D has a nice ring to it, no? 
 

We can dream...