Colin: Should manufacturers of ANY piece of equipment in ANY discipline of art build their gear according to predefined rules about what's the correct way of doing things, art would be pretty boring... I don't find the AF layout discouraging in any respect, and as for beginners, I'd rather prefer they learn how to compose by watching the works of the masters, not for the layout of the viewfinder. And BTW, many of the situations in which fast and accurate AF is needed are stuations in which you won't worry (or won't have time to) about the "correct" composition... Best regards Patricio Murphy [EMAIL PROTECTED]