In episode 142 of the Sunny 16 podcast, Bellamy Hunt explains that he can't make a high end P&S (e.g., Contax T3, Ricoh GR, etc.) because the manufacturing infrastructure and know-how has been lost. I'm not sure how that squares with the fact that camera companies still make things like the Nikon F6 and all sorts of digital P&S cameras, but let's assume there's stuff he knows that we don't.
Anyway, I don't think there should or can be new high end film cameras. They're too sophisticated to be repairable in the long term. No more autofocus, motor drive, and matrix-metering. Don't even think about EVFs, WIFI, and app control.
I think the most sophisticated that a new film camera should be is something like a Bessa R2a or Zeiss Ikon, or the GF670. Center-weighted aperture-priority AE (or even just manual metering with no AE) and manual film advance. If we're talking about P&S cameras, I think scale focus and manual exposure with a light meter is fine, like the Rollei 35. At the most, add a rangefinder next to the viewfinder like a screwmount Leica (mechanical or electronic, like Nikon's green dot focus confirmation). It will become easier to manufacture spare parts for mechanical cameras, so we should design cameras to take advantage of that. My guess is we'll be heading back toward "adjust and fit" manufacturing and repair, and away from "correct or replace."
