Silly as it may sound, Godfrey, I am still planning to buy a GXR. I don't know when and I don't know if it is going to be the A16.
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One of the rumors about the Olympus "pen pro" is presumably a new type of EVF. Really nice!
I don't think it sounds silly at all. The Ricoh GXR system is a revolutionary and innovative concept ... Given my 8 months or so using it, I'm still delighted with it and will continue to use it. All the A12 camera units perform very very well, modulo some shortcomings. The A12 Camera Mount was done particularly well and really does support RF camera lenses extremely well. When and if they go to the A16 sensor in this camera unit, I am sure that it will work brilliantly ... but there's really no hurry at all about it given how well the A12 works. I hope that Ricoh continues to develop the GXR system as, when it comes to all electronic cameras, this is the most innovative system concept on the market.
I've not found the NEX line to be much to my liking due to their control and ergonomics choices. The NEX 7 is the best of the lot, but for my use and intent it just doesn't make it.
Olympus will I hope pull off a new EVF and focusing system that completes the integration of FT and mFT. I can't see them completely re-developing a lens line like the Zuiko Digital super-high-grade lenses ... they're just too superb in their current implementation and the cost to do so would be astronomical. So they need to focus on the focusing system and viewfinder to surpass what the E-5 provides for that brilliant lens line. The only sensible direction is electronic imaging of a very high calibre ... and that will take time.
My own photography has changed timbre enough in the past year that I no longer want or need the pro-grade SLR system. I love the E-5—but it and the lenses for it are far more than I want to carry for the photography I am doing now. My experience with Micro-FourThirds was good but again the lenses were the limiting factor: native lenses not to the spec I wanted, FourThirds SLR lenses too bulky, adapted mount lenses better but still not quite the right solution. For my use the GXR system and M-mount has moved well past what I was doing with the G1 and continues to provide satisfying results, in a smaller package with better controls and features, and with lenses that I prefer.
From here the path I am going is known...