First post and a long one...sorry.

Here is my situation; I am a competent photographer who spent about 15 years shooting mostly action and nature shots with several Minolta Maxxum bodies and all the accompanying accessories. About 10 years ago with 2 kids and their numerous baby shots out of the way.... I moved to digital and shot mostly snaphots with a variety of higher end "point and shoot" digital cameras. I like nice cameras but I am not a camera snob. I realize I can shoot better photos than the majority of folks even with my point and shoot, and that their are plenty of people who can out shoot me with a 110 Instamatic....but I could use a more suitable tool for the job.

Now that 1 child is in college, I am thinking about getting somewhat more serious, and to at least start taking some high quality action/posed shots. This would mostly be of my wife and daughter at equestrian events (jumping/barrel racing) and the occasional soccer game for my daughter. Probably mix in some amateur auto racing stuff ( my hobby) when I am at the track and some nature/landscape photography as well.

After having not really looked at what was out there for several years I was surprised that so many mid to higher end amateur, and entry level pro- DSLRs have no live preview or the ability to shoot video. While I can understand neither is needed, they are nice features to have. In my case though, video is needed because my daughter likes to post vids of her horses and also needs the video critique her performances. I also find the live preview to be enormously helpful when shooting at weird angles and it allows you to actually see the event. All to many times, I shot pictures of my kids events and saw nothing but the tunnel vision of my view finder....live preview lets me see the entire event as well.

My choices would seem to be as follows:

Nikon D90 - nice mid-hi end amateur camera with the bigger feel of the higher end bodies. Certainly a great name that is sure to support this line in the future if I ever upgrade. Nice camera, grip a little chunky though.

Canon EOS T1i - nice features, body a little smaller and more "consumerish" Certainly a good name that is sure to support the line in the future if I ever upgrade. Seems like a good performer just didn't 'feel' as nice as the Nikon??

Pentax K7 - nice pro toughness, good features. My only fear is will Penatx continue to offer high end amatuer and lower end pro bodies if I get into it again??? Really like this camera's look/feel.

and the odd ball...

Lumix DMC GH1 - best video, competent still performance in a unique package. Scaled down body, different mirrorless form factor. Rule out much expansion if I got back into things(may never happen) and the 10 x included zoom is a pretty light and functional package that should handle my needs. Electric viewfinder is a wildcard. Never handled to date.

Comments, advice??? Thanks in advance