What could be done above an EP7....

You took all the good ideas for yourself, Ricardo! What's left for us to propose??? 

OK, how about some wild ideas:

• Seamless continuous integration with the internet. Not only through a phone, but with an LTE/5G connection of its own if the user wants to pay for an account like that. That capability would get my attention. Even better if it can communicate directly with my iCloud account so the photos show up the same place as my iPhone photos. This tech is very likely a battery hog with today's batteries.
• Now that it's OMDS and maybe a bit more open to new ideas, license some film names and engineer some film simulations into the jpeg engine. Fuji's implementation of its own film simulations gets much praise. I would like to be able to dial in AGFA Optima 50, Kodachrome II, ANSCO Color Negative, etc. instead of selecting "muted", "color profile 3", and so on. I don't know the real value of this since much the same can be done with Lr presets, but having it come SOOC might catch some attention. POSSIBLY, sell extra film sets that load into the camera, just like Lr presets are often sold as collections (possibly too niche?).

Build a cult around the E-P7 or a new E-P8. Offer Leica-like special editions that create desire and buzz. For example

• A fully titanium skinned body
• Maybe special color kits with matching lens
• Get popular cultural personalities to endorse special editions (again, Leica-like)
• Or just get a star to endorse OMDS cameras and build an advertising campaign around him/her, much like Andre Agassi and Canon 25+ years ago.

Anything to generate interest would be good for the brand and good for us. But, these are crazy ideas, I know.

addlightness wrote:

<snip>

- Allow for an attachable small EVF. Not the one they did for EP5 and others, but a small one that would be a pretty small square that would go on the flash socket with connectors. This can be sold in a kit or separately. Even if it's a pricey accessory some will like it, but don't make it tillable, just focus on making it small, still OLED.

Something like this?

For the EVF, not the grip-maybe.  I was thinking something a bit more "pyramidal looking" to make it even smaller but something like that would do, yes.

I don't have the V3 but still holding on to my V1 (which has a built-in EVF)

Lotus Cat wrote:

You took all the good ideas for yourself, Ricardo! What's left for us to propose???

I thought for a while about them licensing official Kodak names for their film sims... just wonder how much $$ that is.

OK, how about some wild ideas:

• Seamless continuous integration with the internet. Not only through a phone, but with an LTE/5G connection of its own if the user wants to pay for an account like that. That capability would get my attention. Even better if it can communicate directly with my iCloud account so the photos show up the same place as my iPhone photos. This tech is very likely a battery hog with today's batteries.
• Now that it's OMDS and maybe a bit more open to new ideas, license some film names and engineer some film simulations into the jpeg engine. Fuji's implementation of its own film simulations gets much praise. I would like to be able to dial in AGFA Optima 50, Kodachrome II, ANSCO Color Negative, etc. instead of selecting "muted", "color profile 3", and so on. I don't know the real value of this since much the same can be done with Lr presets, but having it come SOOC might catch some attention. POSSIBLY, sell extra film sets that load into the camera, just like Lr presets are often sold as collections (possibly too niche?).

SDreamer wrote:

Shh... that's basically the Pen-F ii.

Well, the so called PenF II would have to be made of magnesium alloy and bigger than this if people are going to call it a PenF II, but if it's this, and as small, I am in

Lotus Cat wrote:

Build a cult around the E-P7 or a new E-P8. Offer Leica-like special editions that create desire and buzz. For example

An interesting idea and partially attempted with EPL9 denim blue.  But I wonder how much $$ and I rather have a new model that has a better feature set.

• A fully titanium skinned body
• Maybe special color kits with matching lens
• Get popular cultural personalities to endorse special editions (again, Leica-like)
• Or just get a star to endorse OMDS cameras and build an advertising campaign around him/her, much like Andre Agassi and Canon 25+ years ago.

Anything to generate interest would be good for the brand and good for us. But, these are crazy ideas, I know.

DLBlack wrote:

I would rather have the EVF built in and not an add-on. Still having this option would be nice. I would love the grip, just as long as it doesn't extend out pass the shortest lens. It will allow for a larger battery and will make the camera easier to hold.

I would love to see a Pen F Pro. It would have the guts from the E-M1.3 in a rangefinder style weather sealed body. It should have an built-in EVF and a small grip. It should have improved connectivity to the internet. A built-in GPS would be great.

If the PenF MKII has a fully articulated LCD, I am out. Tilt LCD or no go.

I honestly would prefer if they focused to make the EP7 size form factor pro./ That would be super unique in the market.

Sounds like someone who has bought a camera and is not happy about the purchase so he proposes changes to suit his needs

Raist3d wrote:

been thinking about this as I love the size of the EP7- and its weight. And was also thinking what technologies within reach OMDS has at its disposal to make for what would be a decent upgrade or upscale model.

- Make an all black body or black with "metallic grey" on the top- call it the E-Pen Pro or E-Pen Stealth

All black ok

- Use a PDAF sensor. Even current 20 MP higher resfresh/pdaf of EM5.3 would do.

Panasonic does ok with their CDAF, but I would not stand in the way of PDAF

- Allow for an attachable small EVF. Not the one they did for EP5 and others, but a small one that would be a pretty small square that would go on the flash socket with connectors. This can be sold in a kit or separately. Even if it's a pricey accessory some will like it, but don't make it tillable, just focus on making it small, still OLED.

No,no,no ….NO  Why make a nice compact flat top body then have to stick a temporary evf on top to make it more faux-dslr shape. Flat top bodies pack better.  Stick on evf either stays on permanently or gets left behind because bag is too small. Why buy an expensive clip on when it is cheaper overall to build one into the body.

I vote ”do a GM5” and swap potentially useless flash for small built in evf -  even if it is an excuse for some to moan about the “small evf”.   The GM5 evf does the job I expect of it. They could then provide a little clip on flash like what came with the GM5 which is good enough for fill-flash. Most times I can easily leave the flash behind ….

- Weather sealed

I am ambiguous on this one - I don’t need it personally. This seems a cold-wet weather land wish. Few camera bodies are truly weather sealed anyway.

- (extra credit) Put tripod super high res or maybe ONLY HHHR.

- Pump that IBIS to 5, though at 4.5 is still pretty good. To be frank it's sort of a mixable they were able to make the camera virtually as big as an EPL9/10, yet lighter, which much better IBIS

GM5 works fine without IBIS and image stabilised lenses are a nice bonus. One seriously wonders just why dslr bodies were so popular for so long with only stabilised lenses on offer. Not even a whiff of IBIS ….

- USB-C charging/port

- Allow for live ND

- Make that F1.4 20mm rumored prime weather sealed and in kit form ready for this

- Dampen the mechanical shutter a bit more

- Allow to set focus priority on any C-AF mode.

- Allow to set EV compensation in full manual mode (can't on EM10MKIV, EP7)

Maybe I am missing something here but I always thought that the idea with manual mode was to get the direct exposure estimation from visual feedback by manipulating the shutter speed and aperture alone.  So set make the settings and then decide that they are “wrong” and that then we have to give the camera a nudge to fix the shutter speed we have selected?

- Maybe have EV dial or button somewhere else to hold+ dial set

Not into cluttering top plate space with unnecessary dials.

- Switch for MF-> current AF mode. This could be on the side.

The Panasonic GX85 took this away allowing the camera body to sense MF by lack of AF input or the switch on the lens. But it came back with the GX9. Effectively only necessary for switching focus peaking off/on?

- Put on dial C1 and C2. Or at least one C. Maybe put one C and allow the settings to change ART mode to C2.

- $300-$400 USD more than EP7 (that would mean $1100/$1200 USD MSRP).

Olympus seems to have scaled its models by features so that “lower” models don’t steal business from its premium lines. They are hardly willing to cannibalise their E-M1iv market and kill off their entry-level “buy on price” market.

The EP7/pens are being advertised a bit as "bling" cameras- they could advertise this as a "bling pro" camera. Have some cool dude/girl on the ads photographing fashion, weddings, street. A bit more than just "travel & friends-lifestyle."

Hard to do this without providing a built in evf.  Make it more expensive and the market result is a Pen-F. The Pen-F might have indeed sold a whole lot better by using a simple tilt hinged. lcd - no more.  But retro says “fold the lcd inwards to look faux film-era cool”.

Panasonic tried to make a basic-featured but well built and very capable camera as the GM1/5 but the market did not like the same price Panasonic thought was “neat”.  At the end of the day users like to get lots of “features” in their expensive camera  bodies even if they never figure out how to use all of them.  The trouble is that it is proved impossible to fit a camera body up with all the slick features that the market demands.  No way a GM5 size can come with IBIS and fast video.  The former seems to have become an essential to sell any camera  body and the latter is heading that way even if many of us don’t “do” video.

I think they have most of these technologies ready. Weather sealing would be probably a pain to research in this small size, so if that needs to be dropped, so be it.

Thoughts? Yes/No? Too much? What's the point? Yay and amazing?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Solution is easy:

Either

1) Pen-F with tilt lcd (expensive)

2) EP-7 with flash swapped for evf (cheaper and no more is necessary)

My GM5 looks more and more attractive every day ….. no rush  

Tom Caldwell wrote:

the do it is to be you know - market competitive and make money You are not forced to buy one

Raist3d wrote:

been thinking about this as I love the size of the EP7- and its weight. And was also thinking what technologies within reach OMDS has at its disposal to make for what would be a decent upgrade or upscale model.

- Make an all black body or black with "metallic grey" on the top- call it the E-Pen Pro or E-Pen Stealth

All black ok

- Use a PDAF sensor. Even current 20 MP higher resfresh/pdaf of EM5.3 would do.

Panasonic does ok with their CDAF, but I would not stand in the way of PDAF

- Allow for an attachable small EVF. Not the one they did for EP5 and others, but a small one that would be a pretty small square that would go on the flash socket with connectors. This can be sold in a kit or separately. Even if it's a pricey accessory some will like it, but don't make it tillable, just focus on making it small, still OLED.

No,no,no ….NO Why make a nice compact flat top body then have to stick a temporary evf on top to make it more faux-dslr shape.

yiu can do like Nikon 1 v3 evf why? Keep the camera smaller as an option, allow tocharge extra for making a profit

Flat top bodies pack better. Stick on evf either stays on permanently or gets left behind because bag is too small. Why buy an expensive clip on when it is cheaper overall to build one into the body.

becuase it may not be in the form factor of the ep7

I vote ”do a GM5” and swap potentially useless flash for small built in evf -

tell that to Panasonic

even if it is an excuse for some to moan about the “small evf”. The GM5 evf does the job I expect of it. They could then provide a little clip on flash like what came with the GM5 which is good enough for fill-flash. Most times I can easily leave the flash behind ….

again tell that to Panasonic Ep7 has pretty decent ibis, and nice tilt lcd

- Weather sealed

I am ambiguous on this one - I don’t need it personally. This seems a cold-wet weather land wish. Few camera bodies are truly weather sealed anyway.

yes but they do exist it would make for a rugged go anywhere camera Ireland and UK would appreciate it too would make the camera more competitive in the market

- (extra credit) Put tripod super high res or maybe ONLY HHHR.

- Pump that IBIS to 5, though at 4.5 is still pretty good. To be frank it's sort of a mixable they were able to make the camera virtually as big as an EPL9/10, yet lighter, which much better IBIS

GM5 works fine without IBIS and image stabilised lenses are a nice bonus.

yes that’s the gm5 - the camera that no longer exists I am talking about an upper range evf Tell Panasonic to do a gm9!

One seriously wonders just why dslr bodies were so popular for so long with only stabilised lenses on offer. Not even a whiff of IBIS ….

rhta was the and this is now having ibis on the size of the ep7 makes it kore competitive in the todays market

you can use all those smaller primes that doesn’t have OIS

- USB-C charging/port

- Allow for live ND

- Make that F1.4 20mm rumored prime weather sealed and in kit form ready for this

- Dampen the mechanical shutter a bit more

- Allow to set focus priority on any C-AF mode.

- Allow to set EV compensation in full manual mode (can't on EM10MKIV, EP7)

Maybe I am missing something here but I always thought that the idea with manual mode was to get the direct exposure estimation from visual feedback by manipulating the shutter speed and aperture alone.

yes you are missing something - you can do exposure compensation with the iso while setting the aperture and shutter uiu want - and let the Xander’s take care of sudden exposure changes Many cameras do this today - so just saying would be nice
changing the iso manually gives you ev compensation for static scene but not dynamic scenes

So set make the settings and then decide that they are “wrong” and that then we have to give the camera a nudge to fix the shutter speed we have selected?

in manual mode that would be the auto iso it’s not new The penf can do this

- Maybe have EV dial or button somewhere else to hold+ dial set

Not into cluttering top plate space with unnecessary dials.

it can make for a look and mechanical usability but I’ll concede it may clutter a bit much

- Switch for MF-> current AF mode. This could be on the side.

The Panasonic GX85 took this away allowing the camera body to sense MF by lack of AF input or the switch on the lens. But it came back with the GX9. Effectively only necessary for switching focus peaking off/on?

olympus doesn’t have a switch on the lens in many of them again talking about ep7

- Put on dial C1 and C2. Or at least one C. Maybe put one C and allow the settings to change ART mode to C2.

- $300-$400 USD more than EP7 (that would mean $1100/$1200 USD MSRP).

Olympus seems to have scaled its models by features so that “lower” models don’t steal business from its premium lines. They are hardly willing to cannibalise their E-M1iv market and kill off their entry-level “buy on price” market.

not sure how that changes what I proposed I am putting a higher price It’s also a completely different line and form factor

The EP7/pens are being advertised a bit as "bling" cameras- they could advertise this as a "bling pro" camera. Have some cool dude/girl on the ads photographing fashion, weddings, street. A bit more than just "travel & friends-lifestyle."

Hard to do this without providing a built in evf.

why not? Fill medium format cameras were used viewing at them with no optical tunnels I honestly don’t see it

Make it more expensive and the market result is a Pen-F.

don’t think so penf failed because it was missing imho some key things at its price PDAF/ af/ camera response Fas instead of tilt

The Pen-F might have indeed sold a whole lot better by using a simple tilt hinged. lcd - no more. But retro says “fold the lcd inwards to look faux film-era cool”.

man’s they did that wrong as the faux leather doesn’t match the pattern and look of the camera body you can add that one too

Panasonic tried to make a basic-featured but well built and very capable camera as the GM1/5 but the market did not like the same price Panasonic thought was “neat”. At the end of the day users like to get lots of “features” in their expensive camera bodies even if they never figure out how to use all of them.

you should speak for yourself

The trouble is that it is proved impossible to fit a camera body up with all the slick features that the market demands. No way a GM5 size can come with IBIS and fast video.

I am not talking at all about a gm5 in this thread but if a super ep7 and technologies the company already has available to it to make it quite possible in pragmatic terms

the gm5 does not enter this conversation much less trying to compare a 5+ year old camera - the world has loved on a lot since then and tech marches forward

and once again I am not talking about a gm5 I am talking about an ep7 an ep7 already has pretty good ibis and surprisingly decent video

The former seems to have become an essential to sell any camera body and the latter is heading that way even if many of us don’t “do” video.

I think they have most of these technologies ready. Weather sealing would be probably a pain to research in this small size, so if that needs to be dropped, so be it.

Thoughts? Yes/No? Too much? What's the point? Yay and amazing?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Solution is easy:

Either

1) Pen-F with tilt lcd (expensive)

that’s possible PDAF too I would say try to focus on the ep7 size though

2) EP-7 with flash swapped for evf (cheaper and no more is necessary)

pdaf

My GM5 looks more and more attractive every day ….. no rush

Yes the gm5 is nice yes I have two And yet I like the ep7 at this point more I just can’t go back to a dr challenged AA filtered 16mp sensor with the better 20 pm around

the gm5 line is dead long live it ask Panasonic to revive it I have no idea why you bring the gm5 into this discussion this is about what OMDS can do with what they have in an ep7 form factor

-- hide signature --

Tom Caldwell

red pencil wrote:

Sounds like someone who has bought a camera and is not happy about the purchase so he proposes changes to suit his needs

Can you please explain why I am allegedly not happy with the ep7?  How is proposing a further model necessarily implying I am not happy with the ep7?  Have you missed my posts?

Or are you like jealous or something? 
Makes as much sense to say that, no?

DLBlack wrote:

Raist3d wrote:

DLBlack wrote:

I would rather have the EVF built in and not an add-on. Still having this option would be nice. I would love the grip, just as long as it doesn't extend out pass the shortest lens. It will allow for a larger battery and will make the camera easier to hold.

I would love to see a Pen F Pro. It would have the guts from the E-M1.3 in a rangefinder style weather sealed body. It should have an built-in EVF and a small grip. It should have improved connectivity to the internet. A built-in GPS would be great.

If the PenF MKII has a fully articulated LCD, I am out. Tilt LCD or no go.

Mine choice would be having both articulated and tilt hinges. So the LCD screen can be tilted, articulated to the side or even reversed and hidden. Then again having a fixed screen to save space would be ok with me.

I honestly would prefer if they focused to make the EP7 size form factor pro./ That would be super unique in the market.

My preferred camera size is more in size with the E-M1 series. I have owned an E-PL-3, Pen F, E-M5 and E-M5.2 and they just didn't get use as much as my E-M1, E-M1.2 and E-M1.3. Even my E-M1X is getting more use. The poorer ergonomics just with the smaller Olympus cameras just don't make them as much fun to use for me. Because of my past history of buying and not using the smaller Olympus cameras to make them worth the expense for me I didn't even consider the E-M-5.3. It is nice to have a wide range of camera body choices from small to larger and from rangefinder to dslr style.

I am ok  with having the wider choices but make all of them as capable as possible

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Raist3d wrote:

Tom Caldwell wrote:

the do it is to be you know - market competitive and make money You are not forced to buy one

Agreed, that was why the GM series, and presumably, the Pen-F failed. I liked the idea of the Pen-F and would have bought one despite the silly retro front dial but the side hinged lcd made it a bridge too far. My money as you correctly pointed out.

Raist3d wrote:

been thinking about this as I love the size of the EP7- and its weight. And was also thinking what technologies within reach OMDS has at its disposal to make for what would be a decent upgrade or upscale model.

- Make an all black body or black with "metallic grey" on the top- call it the E-Pen Pro or E-Pen Stealth

All black ok

- Use a PDAF sensor. Even current 20 MP higher resfresh/pdaf of EM5.3 would do.

Panasonic does ok with their CDAF, but I would not stand in the way of PDAF

- Allow for an attachable small EVF. Not the one they did for EP5 and others, but a small one that would be a pretty small square that would go on the flash socket with connectors. This can be sold in a kit or separately. Even if it's a pricey accessory some will like it, but don't make it tillable, just focus on making it small, still OLED.

No,no,no ….NO Why make a nice compact flat top body then have to stick a temporary evf on top to make it more faux-dslr shape.

yiu can do like Nikon 1 v3 evf why? Keep the camera smaller as an option, allow tocharge extra for making a profit

That did not save the Nikon 1. At least with the GM series the system survives without the GM series and the lenses bought for the GM series can be used on other camera bodies.

Flat top bodies pack better. Stick on evf either stays on permanently or gets left behind because bag is too small. Why buy an expensive clip on when it is cheaper overall to build one into the body.

becuase it may not be in the form factor of the ep7

They would either have to reduce the size of the lcd or make a pop-up flash like the RX100. The works of an evf must cost much the same to make but separating them makes for “two sales”  and separate margins.   It also means that the clip-on evf sells in smaller numbers and therefore carries stocking-risk and therefore needs a higher relative margin - makes clip on evf relatively more expensive in the market place. I have never warmed to clipon evf and I avoid them as much as I avoid side-hinged lcd.

I vote ”do a GM5” and swap potentially useless flash for small built in evf -

tell that to Panasonic

even if it is an excuse for some to moan about the “small evf”. The GM5 evf does the job I expect of it. They could then provide a little clip on flash like what came with the GM5 which is good enough for fill-flash. Most times I can easily leave the flash behind ….

again tell that to Panasonic Ep7 has pretty decent ibis, and nice tilt lcd

I will happily sacrifice for the smaller body size of the GM5 series. Better still …. I am already well stocked with GM5 camera bodies

- Weather sealed

I am ambiguous on this one - I don’t need it personally. This seems a cold-wet weather land wish. Few camera bodies are truly weather sealed anyway.

yes but they do exist it would make for a rugged go anywhere camera Ireland and UK would appreciate it too would make the camera more competitive in the market

Maybe so but (lack of) cost sells. I have had my first GM1 seriously wet a couple of times and seven years or so down the track it is still working “as new”.  I would not not pay more for authentic weather sealed body and necessary weather sealed lenses. At the coal face the lens on my GM1 was getting so wet that I had to constantly wipe it to get a half decent image.

- (extra credit) Put tripod super high res or maybe ONLY HHHR.

- Pump that IBIS to 5, though at 4.5 is still pretty good. To be frank it's sort of a mixable they were able to make the camera virtually as big as an EPL9/10, yet lighter, which much better IBIS

GM5 works fine without IBIS and image stabilised lenses are a nice bonus.

yes that’s the gm5 - the camera that no longer exists I am talking about an upper range evf Tell Panasonic to do a gm9!

A larger evf would make the GM5 a quite different camera type and would lose quite a lot of its tiny,simplistic, rugged, attraction. I am quite happy with the evf as it presently is. As much as E-P7 users must be happy with no evf whatsoever.

One seriously wonders just why dslr bodies were so popular for so long with only stabilised lenses on offer. Not even a whiff of IBIS ….

rhta was the and this is now having ibis on the size of the ep7 makes it kore competitive in the todays market

you can use all those smaller primes that doesn’t have OIS

I live with them and no stabilisation whatsoever - no sweat.  What is wrong with young folks these days ….  Shaky hands?

IBIS  is a bit like auto-transmission -  one less more thing to learn.

- USB-C charging/port

- Allow for live ND

- Make that F1.4 20mm rumored prime weather sealed and in kit form ready for this

- Dampen the mechanical shutter a bit more

- Allow to set focus priority on any C-AF mode.

- Allow to set EV compensation in full manual mode (can't on EM10MKIV, EP7)

Maybe I am missing something here but I always thought that the idea with manual mode was to get the direct exposure estimation from visual feedback by manipulating the shutter speed and aperture alone.

yes you are missing something - you can do exposure compensation with the iso while setting the aperture and shutter uiu want - and let the Xander’s take care of sudden exposure changes Many cameras do this today - so just saying would be nice
changing the iso manually gives you ev compensation for static scene but not dynamic scenes

I was thinking about setting EV dials - I stand corrected - thank you.

So set make the settings and then decide that they are “wrong” and that then we have to give the camera a nudge to fix the shutter speed we have selected?

in manual mode that would be the auto iso it’s not new The penf can do this

- Maybe have EV dial or button somewhere else to hold+ dial set

Not into cluttering top plate space with unnecessary dials.

it can make for a look and mechanical usability but I’ll concede it may clutter a bit much

- Switch for MF-> current AF mode. This could be on the side.

The Panasonic GX85 took this away allowing the camera body to sense MF by lack of AF input or the switch on the lens. But it came back with the GX9. Effectively only necessary for switching focus peaking off/on?

olympus doesn’t have a switch on the lens in many of them again talking about ep7

I still like a switch on the body even if the lens has one as well.

- Put on dial C1 and C2. Or at least one C. Maybe put one C and allow the settings to change ART mode to C2.

- $300-$400 USD more than EP7 (that would mean $1100/$1200 USD MSRP).

Olympus seems to have scaled its models by features so that “lower” models don’t steal business from its premium lines. They are hardly willing to cannibalise their E-M1iv market and kill off their entry-level “buy on price” market.

not sure how that changes what I proposed I am putting a higher price It’s also a completely different line and form factor

I think that was what the Pen-F was supposed to be - a top-range RF style body. But then they used a side hinged lcd and it was neither video moose nor compact high-level stills horse.

The EP7/pens are being advertised a bit as "bling" cameras- they could advertise this as a "bling pro" camera. Have some cool dude/girl on the ads photographing fashion, weddings, street. A bit more than just "travel & friends-lifestyle."

Hard to do this without providing a built in evf.

why not? Fill medium format cameras were used viewing at them with no optical tunnels I honestly don’t see it

Make it more expensive and the market result is a Pen-F.

don’t think so penf failed because it was missing imho some key things at its price PDAF/ af/ camera response Fas instead of tilt

The Pen-F might have indeed sold a whole lot better by using a simple tilt hinged. lcd - no more. But retro says “fold the lcd inwards to look faux film-era cool”.

man’s they did that wrong as the faux leather doesn’t match the pattern and look of the camera body you can add that one too

Panasonic tried to make a basic-featured but well built and very capable camera as the GM1/5 but the market did not like the same price Panasonic thought was “neat”. At the end of the day users like to get lots of “features” in their expensive camera bodies even if they never figure out how to use all of them.

you should speak for yourself

The trouble is that it is proved impossible to fit a camera body up with all the slick features that the market demands. No way a GM5 size can come with IBIS and fast video.

I am not talking at all about a gm5 in this thread but if a super ep7 and technologies the company already has available to it to make it quite possible in pragmatic terms

Sorry, but the GM series springs to mind as a physically-small, well-made camera body that lacked many of the popular attributes that were moaned about  quite a lot.  It was also introduced at prices that made the buying market gasp.  The launch price might not be such an issue with the E-P7 of course.

the gm5 does not enter this conversation much less trying to compare a 5+ year old camera - the world has loved on a lot since then and tech marches forward

I am not sure just how much tech has marched forward.  Sensors have come and processing engines have improved video.  But as far as camera bodies and what they can do for basic photography then maybe not nearly as much.

and once again I am not talking about a gm5 I am talking about an ep7 an ep7 already has pretty good ibis and surprisingly decent video

This is good if you need those features, and I personally don’t need them. This leaves my GM5 smaller and still very capable 16Mp sensor.

The former seems to have become an essential to sell any camera body and the latter is heading that way even if many of us don’t “do” video.

I think they have most of these technologies ready. Weather sealing would be probably a pain to research in this small size, so if that needs to be dropped, so be it.

Thoughts? Yes/No? Too much? What's the point? Yay and amazing?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Solution is easy:

Either

1) Pen-F with tilt lcd (expensive)

that’s possible PDAF too I would say try to focus on the ep7 size though

2) EP-7 with flash swapped for evf (cheaper and no more is necessary)

pdaf

My GM5 looks more and more attractive every day ….. no rush

Yes the gm5 is nice yes I have two And yet I like the ep7 at this point more I just can’t go back to a dr challenged AA filtered 16mp sensor with the better 20 pm around

the gm5 line is dead long live it ask Panasonic to revive it I have no idea why you bring the gm5 into this discussion this is about what OMDS can do with what they have in an ep7 form factor

Only because I have suggested  GM1->GM5 swapped flash for evf and there is no way I could buy an E-P7 without an evf.  It might have 20Mp, IBIS, and decent video. It might be compact but not nearly as compact as the GM5. If looking for a mid-sized camera body my GX9 is still looking pretty good.  I have one - already bought and paid for.