I think Silver is about right. Its outstanding in some areas (amazingly so) and really raises the bar in those areas for the whole "premium compact" class. But its far from a fully realized camera - their reaction to the handling is very much like mine - I can work with it but it feels like a competent tool, not like something where all the parts just work together seamlessly. I can get into a flow with some cameras and its like they're transparent - an extension of my mind. And some I never get there with. I havent' come close to getting there with the RX100 after almost a month - I got there with the LX7 within a couple of hours - too bad the sensor on the LX7 isn't playing in the same league. I'd expect a small camera with similar IQ but much better handling to show up within a year or so that will merit a gold. Look at m43 - I don't think there was a gold award for any m43 camera until the OMD just recently (I could be wrong, but I don't recall any). The GH2 and the EP3 both got silver and I thought those were about right too - they were both excellent cameras with some very strong features but also some drawbacks. The OMD, in the eyes of the reviewers, was the first m43 camera that put all of the pieces together into a seamless whole. Obviously there's room for disagreement on ANY of these calls - I've seen near wars break out over the OMD vs the GH2 and many would be very upset with the OMD scoring higher, but I think the reviewers were probably cognizant of the best features from the EP3 and the GH2 and the OMD has pretty much ALL of them in one camera without any of the primary drawbacks of either (I know, I know, some people HATE Oly's menus, but obviously the DPR folks didn't if they gave the EP3 a Silver!). So, I think they were about right, but they indicated it was a close call, so its obviously debatable.
-Ray
