but i think the Sony NEX7 will be a direct competitor when it's announced this month.... with interchangeable lenses
Horrible interchangeable lenses, though. Sony really shot themselves in the foot (feet?) with the NEX mount. They put too much stock in making the bodies slim, and wound up with a register distance small enough to nearly cripple the potential for a nice set of pancake lenses. The only way to get good glass on the NEX system right now is through legacy lenses, and as usual, the crop sensor really nerfs those as well. If you want anything wider than an 80mm equivalent, and you want it to be relatively fast, you've got to turn to expensive Leica and Voigtlander lenses at 35mm and below. The one saving grace of the new NEX cameras is that they've apparently added microlenses to their sensors, which will dramatically improve the previously crappy edge performance of vintage lenses.
The real competitor, if they can release something truly impressive, will be the Samsung NX20. That's a big if, though. If it's just an updated NX10 with a new sensor it'd be lovely, but it certainly wouldn't make any waves. But with new styling and the VF in the same rangefinderesque location as the X100 and NEX-7? It'd be fantastic. They've already got the best pound-for-pound (considering size, IQ, AF speed, and, very importantly, price) mirrorless system lens in the 30/2 pancake, and their roadmap looks pretty promising.
