So I want to move on from my old Olympus E-520...

Hello Everyone!

So... after the Christmas chaos has settled down and prices are starting to be sensible again, I'm back to what went through my mind nearer October. Which is: compared to cameras that are not as ancient, my Olympus E-520 is deffinitely more limited in capabilities.

I've liked about it:

IBIS
The ruggedness - dropped, used in the rain and the desert, other than the flash it all works or can be made to work.
The kit lenses. (Not bright, much plastic but gotten good images out of them)
The grip - it's just right for me.

What photos I take:

Holidays
Underwater, once I get the housing sorted
Walking about and playing with camera and images both day and night.
Family events

Been using JPEG SOOC  and  occasionally Noisewareing. Should at some point have a look at RAW, really.

I want:

Something nice and small (520 + 14-42 does not fit into a coat pocket)
Reasonably rugged (or: pocketable)
More wide angle (kit lense or money left over for lense) would be nice - the old 24mm on my Minolta XD7 was fun.
A bit better high-iso quality, but that is not really *that* hard.
Would actually quite like a travel zoom.
Budget about 1000 euros, More if it's worth it, cheaper is always better.

So far, I've narrowed the selection down to: GX8+12-60, GX80/GX85/GX7II+12-32+14-140 or the EM5ii+ 12-40 (some shockingly good deals out there!) . I can use the old kit 40-140 with an ft-mft adapter easily enough. Held the E-m5 and the GX7 (mod1). Going to search the others out to fondle before buying anyhow.

Thanks to the broken flash, I like available light shooting. Wouldn't mind getting a sensible flash set-up at some point in the future though.

I've read through the discussions and comparisons to the point of considering buying a stock of old film and a negative scanner for the Minolta XD7 or getting a loan and an E-M1ii.

So, couple of questions for you experienced photographers and equipment maltreaters out there:

1. How does the build quality of the above compare to the old E-520? Is the non-weather sealed GX80 going to work ok in light rain / moderate dust or should I just get a proper sealed camera? Or all risk insurance and have MediaMarkt hate me?

2. Will an external flash compatible to any or all of the above work with the old E-520? Not essential, but would be cool.

3. With the GX80 not being able to control an external flash wirelessly: Anyone got any experience using a "dumb" slave from the built in?

4. Are any of the above better for manual focusing due to some non-obvious stuff? (looking at a nice 50/1.4MD here..)

Any thoughts? Anyone know the E-520 and one of the above cameras to offer  a more detailed comparison other than "You are going from a Model T (Ford) to a Model S (Tesla)!"?

Thanks in advance!

J.