Life used to be simple. If you wanted top image quality you got a big camera with a large sensor (or large film size). If you wanted a camera that could shoot high speed bursts you bought an SLR or DSLR with motor drive. If you wanted small size and light weight you bought a pocket-sized camera and accepted the compromise that a small sensor had to offer.

But the world is ever changing. Inexpensive pocket cameras are a dying breed. Smartphones now are the camera of choice for most people, and camera makers are seeing their sales in this catagory drop by 25% or more each year. DSLRs used to be the high speed shooting king, but now compact system cameras without mirrors and with electronic shutters are capable of sustained burst rates far higher than anything seen before, and certainly at more affordable prices than the big guns.

Medium format backs and cameras used to be where one went for ultimate image quality, especially for high pixel count and wide dynamic range. But th...