| Trying to decide between the Olympus Pen E-PL6 & the Pentax Q-S1.
I would like to surprise my wife with a new camera. Let me give you some background. She has an old 8MP Canon A590 IS point & shoot that she really loves. It's pretty old, but it still takes decently good pictures. What makes that camera more amazing is that when we were up in Bishop, CA a few years ago, she accidentally dropped the camera into the creek that was coming out of the dam. It took me a few minutes to retrieve it, since it was lodged in between some rocks in the creek, but after a bit of contortioning, I was able to get it out. We thought it was toast, but after sticking it in some rice overnight, it worked! It has been working for the past 5 years. So you can see why she loves her camera.
However, the camera does have its quirks. Even when we load fresh new AA batteries into it, sometimes the camera still warns that the batteries are low. We have to keep taking them out & shaking the camera a bit for it to finally work. Sometimes the camera shuts off on its own, but overall, the camera still shoots decent photos.
I was looking to get her the latest Canon ELPH 350 point & shoot, but after looking around the Internet & junk, I decided that it might not be the best thing. Her old Canon A590 IS has a f2.6-f5.5 lens which actually does very well in low light. The new Canon ELPH 350 has a f3.6-f7.0 lens. It seems like it wouldn't do as well in low light, but I did read some reviews & one tester did mention that this is probably one of the cheapest point & shoot cameras that can do some low light work. I'm still up in the air about this camera. The only thing it has going for it is the fact that it's super slim & she can take it in her purse just about everywhere.
Earlier this year, I got 2 Pentax K-50 cameras & 4 lenses. A black one for me & a red one for the her. I love shooting with them, but she's not too thrilled with hers. She'll only use it when we go out specifically to shoot. I use mine for just about everything. She typically prefers her A590, but she does recognize that the image quality of the K-50 is leaps & bounds better. She does enjoy post processing the RAW files that she likes as well. I'm actually thinking of unloading one of the K-50 bodies & picking up a K-3, but that's a whole other story.
This is where a different kind of camera comes to mind for me. I think she would love a mirrorless camera. I have read, looked around, & toyed with a few of them. I have narrowed them down to a couple of them. The Olympus Pen E-PL6 & the Pentax Q-S1. The idea of an almost 100% touch screen camera plus the massive amounts of M43 lenses is what I find appealing about the Olympus Pen E-PL6. The super compactness of the Q-S1 is what appeals to me as well. Less lenses, but that cute little cameras seems to be able to take some pretty decent photos, despite its small sensor. Yes, they are both a tad bit larger than her Canon A590, but I think she'll love the idea of a small camera, but with the ability to change lenses & shoot in RAW. That can't be achieved with the Canon ELPH 350.
Both of these cameras seem to offer so much for so little. Both of them sell for about $300 with a kit lens & $400 with 2 kit lenses. Each one has its pluses & minuses. Olympus has more lenses, but the Pentax is a lot smaller & compact. The image quality of the Olympus is a bit better than the Pentax, but the Pentax image quality is still leaps & bounds better than her old Canon A590. Yes. The Olympus could get more expensive with lenses in the long run & the Pentax only has 8 lenses, but I don't really need that many lenses. I could go on & on, but I think I'm dead set on one of these two cameras. I have already looked at all the pros & cons, but. I can't figure out which one of these 2 I want to get for my wife.
I'm not a brand whore, brand loyalist, or anything like that, but I'm really big on bang for the buck. I have shot with Canon, Nikon, & Sony DSLRs in the past & currently shoot with Pentax DSLRs, since their cameras & lenses offer a lot of bang for the buck. I don't care if it's a Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic, Pentax, or whatever, but if it can do a lot for little money, I'm all over it.
So my fellow mirrorless Pentaxians, what would you do? Get the Olympus Pen E-PL6 or the Pentax QS-1? I know that I'm on a Pentax forum, but I'm pretty sure that I'll get some unbiased responses & comments. Thanks!
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