Decision made

There was a lot to consider when choosing a blipping machine.
It was obvious that the little compact one I have now is very basic with no manual functions, so it certainly needed to be upgraded and to be fair, it is useful for digiscoping due to its lightness and I do know someone who may need it as well, so it won't be wasted.
So the choice was whether to have a high-end compact or a middling four thirds format.
Although the four thirds formats are great with big sensors and loads of pixels it needs a lens. Then it will be the wrong lens for some situations so another will be needed, and then they will have to be carried around and since I have DSLR's - one of which is full frame - plus loads of lenses, what is the point of investing in another system which may ultimately be inferior to the DSLR's .
And there is the small subject of cost, although thanks to Buzzcocks Fan this became less of an issue.
No, it had to be a compact; a one-stop shop that I could keep in my overcoat pocket and should prove to be always the right camera at the right time.
So the blipping machine is on order....
The dial goes down to 1.4 (the equivalent of Marshall amps going up to 11 in my opinion) and a Leica lens and a built-in 3-stop ND grad filter and a levelling device (no more lakes with slopes) and loads of other good stuff. A pocket-sized bag of photographic equipment. Can't wait for it to arrive and start creative blipping.

Oh, and Flick's getting a more robust (and faster) replacement for her favourite 50mm plastic prime which got broken some time ago. So she's happy too.

Thanks to Brickmaker for his original suggestion.