The GX1 has allowed me to come to some decisons as to where I see things going on the gear front for the next few months. It is right on the money as to how I want my images to look. Since this is the most significant factor in how I make my living, this "look" and particularly how that is displayed on a computer monitor at 100%, is far and away my chief criteria for choosing (and keeping) equipment. So the GX1 will replace the Samsung NX200, which produces great images (and has more MP's) but is such a pain to use because of the lack of a viewfinder.
In terms of the rest its going to be two NEX cameras. I will be trying the NEX-7. My reservations about the a-77 sensor are tempered by the fact that I can use the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 and my m-mount lenses on the NEX-7. Whether this makes a difference I'll only find out when I get it. 24MP is also very seductive, but having seen what the NEX-5 / Zeiss combination can produce, I'll need to know that the NEX-7 can give me something equivalent or close to that.
So its either going to be a NEX-7 and a NEX-5n or the two 5ns I have currently. I can handle anything I need to do with those three cameras. While I think the a77 is a decent camera, and in terms of a DSLR (or equivalent) probably the best I've used, I really don't need anything that bulky anymore, if I have an alternative. The NEX-5n is as quick and as well specified as I need. Should the need arise its perfectly capable of handling any event or commercial work that turns up, and with the 18-200mm NEX zoom or 16-50mm a-mount zoom fitted to it will have no problems in terms of the serious gear = serious photograpjher perception!!
So after Christmas I'll put the Samsung gear and the a-77 on ebay. Since a-77's are in short supply, I should be able to get close to my money back on that, which will finance the NEX-7. I'll then decide which (if any) of the NEX lenses I want to loose.
So the plan is to be DSLR less. I've done it briefly in the past but have always "chickened out" of going the whole way, because of some idea that I might that need that extra performance that a DSLR can provide. However the NEX-5n has changed all that, and its incredible spec. and performance, which are probably more than I need anyway, are easily enough for my needs.
The a77 was in any case a stop gap because of the NEX-7's production problems. As I have indicated I'm not totally convinced by the sensor performance as yet, but reading some of the reviews it seems that NEX-7 may indeed offer slightly better image quality and certainly I would imagine that some of the lenses that I have waiting for it are better than the somewhat limited selection of a-mount lenses I have bought.
I'm sure I could have got better quality from it with some Zeiss lenses, but since I have trouble just lifting most of them, they were always out of the question.
This is very much part of my thinking that now is the time to go 100% CSC / Mirrorless. I wasn't quite ready before and it didn't seem to me that everything that fiited my needs was available, which is why I persevered with the Leica M9 and Nikon DSLR's despite some of the restrictions they put on me. However I don't feel that anymore. My comments in the last part of my GX1 review about these three great cameras I've been using recently are genuine. In terms of on-screen IQ these are amongst the best cameras I've ever used. The fact that images taken with the NX200 and NEX-5n are selling very well already, is testament to just how good they are.
So, onwards and upwards!!