Lest I sound critical of the actual effects... I'm not trying to be, just making a joke on the word "effect". It was the user interface on the Sony's that drove me nuts, lol.
Well, John, to the minute extent it matters, I felt similarly. I was OK with but didn't love the Nex (early times though, haven't tried the newer ones), absolutely DISliked the RX100 UI, and almost didn't try the RX1 based on all of that. But LOVE the UI of the RX1. The RX100 is a great little camera that has an awful lot stuffed into a tiny package - I can't call the interface bad, but it was terrible for me personally. I fully
get why some people like it as much as they do, but I never could get on with it or enjoy shooting with it. But the RX1 is one of the most enjoyable and most tactile interfaces I've used and is wonderfully customizable in an easy to use way, with five fully programmable buttons and three custom modes, so you can get that camera working pretty much exactly how you'd ever want to. The ONLY thing I'd like to change with that camera is the auto-ISO system (there's no usable defined minimum shutter speed, which makes it of limited utility in aperture priority mode), but that doesn't really bother me for how I use this camera. And the focal length...
(I can't help it - I just like 28mm THAT much).
I really DON'T care much for the illustration / watercolor effects personally, other than as a fun novelty to play around with once in a while (at least after the initial buzz, which can take a while to wear off). I had a great time messing around with them yesterday, but I doubt I'll use them again for a great while (maybe I'll do a short burst in Positano too, where they'd be equally fun).
It's all personal preference - there's plenty to like about lots of Sony gear for some people, plenty not to like for others. But even for those of us who have tended NOT to, not all Sony's are created equal, or even similarly. For what little it's worth...
-Ray