We I are expecting a baby girl sometime in January. It would be nice if I were the subject of photos for a change, not just the one taking them. I gave my wife my Fuji F31fd, a compact zoom camera introduced in 2007, and that became such a cult favorite for its relatively clean high-ISO images that after it was discontinued it would until recently command a higher price used on eBay than the original MSRP. That said, it does not have the same image quality as even an entry-level DSLR, and I would like her to use something more capable.

The challenge is that as a normal human, she can’t really use my own cameras. The Leica M9’s rangefinder focusing is out, the Fuji X100’s complicated user interface is as well, and the Canon 5DmkII is too heavy for her to carry along everywhere. There is a crying need for a compact, high-quality camera that is fully automated for non-technical users, yet offers high image quality. Unfortunately, camera makers all too often offer only complex models with high quality, or simple models with poor performance. Just because someone is not interested in the technicalities of apertures and f-stops does not mean they are not capable of appreciating improved image quality.