EX1/TL500 owners- honest opinion wanted please

1. what you think of the EX1 (I know there's an EX2 coming) and would you recommend it

Difficult to say, depends on what you want.

2. why you picked this over other premium compacts

At the time, it was either EX1, S95 or LX3/5.
Best controls = EX1 1st, LX3/4 2nd, S95 3rd
Best colours = EX1 + S95 equal 1st, LX3/5 2nd
Fastest lens = EX1 1st, LX3/5 2nd, S95 23rd.
And the EX1 had a flip-out screen

3. what you like about it

The design of the camera – I like the size of the camera, it sits nicely and securely in the hand. I also like the layout of the buttons and there are lots of direct buttons to control the camera. I can hold the camera in my right hand and pretty much change any setting I want. I only need my left hand to open the flash or take the lens cap off.

Very strong metal body

Low light ability - It can focus in situations where other p+s would struggle even when zoomed

Silent operation

Flip screen can be handy

4. what you don't like about it.

Speed of operation– it is too slow to start up (4 seconds I think) and slow to zoom. Also slow when changing modes.

Shot to shot time is pretty slow, especially if shooting raw

Raw files big – I never shoot raw with it now.

Flip-out screen does not swing out to 180 degrees, so it can be awkward framing it.

The dark info bar that runs along the bottom of the screen which hides some of the photo –you can forget there is some image underneath it.

JPG picture quality is not (for me) that good at iso 400, worse above. I prefer XZ1 jpgs at these isos, for example. It performs well for a camera with a small sensor, but it is still a small-sensor camera.

Concerns about firmware updates. My camera is still on the original firmware that came with the camera. I read too many reports about cameras being bricked during firmware updates, I decided it wasn’t worth the risk.

The quirky menu which means if you set one thing, several other options are removed for no apparent reason. This really limits the options you have, which is disappointing.

The fact that if you turn the camera on with the lens cap on, it gives out a noise to alert you – even if the camera is set to silent. This has caused me embarrassment quite a few times.

The control dials on the top can be easily turned when taking my camera out of its case, meaning I can get a nasty surprise sometimes. And as the camera is a bit slow to change modes when you turn the dial, it can be annoying.

Size – I like the size, but imho there are better cameras with about the same size now, like the Panasonic GX1.

It's a nice camera, but not the fastest.
YMMV of course.