Hmmmm - the bits you say you need are the bits I'm glad it's missing, and the bits I would personally call toylike - EVF and a built-in flash. It looks to me as thought it may have enough controls from the back and top views, assuming that round dial to be something useful. That's the side where I'm reserving judgement - I think it'll be more XA than XA2, TBH. Well, I hope so. The Panasonic does nothing for me at all, though - it seems to be a complete waste of time and is very much what you and others were suggesting - aimed solidly at compact owners with no interest in DSLRs.