what have I done?

About three weeks after letting the GX85/7.ii go to a better place, I ordered a Xiaomi (Xiaoyi?) M1:

image from DIYPhotography

Why would I do that?

Well for one thing the finances that I've been expecting for a month or two began to move from rumour to fact. While I wish that had happened a week or two back, one takes what one can.

Well ok then -
But why the YI M1?

Well, settle in for a bit..

Once funds were looking likely I resumed my never-ending circle at

1. what do I have now? A Pentax k∙50 and a GX1. Both decent, neither excellent.
2. what do I (claim to) need? A better Pentax would be excellent and take native advantage of my many K-mount lenses. A better µ43 camera could use them also, as well as my tiny native µ43 lenses.
3. what is Better? Ah, the hard bit. 

Better for Pentax would be a K-3 variant for more resolution and battery life, or the K-1 for ultimate top-notch monster images (and gear size..). Better for µ43 would be a G85 for weather seals, or a GX8 for the much-liked 20Mpix sensor. In either case we're talking $500 to $1100 to step up in a big way. I could settle for others like the K-5, another GX85 or an EM1v1 with some nice improvements from today's team. Really though the K50 sensor score at DxO is better than any m43 option and so similar to the K-3 that it's not a true step at all..

Decisions decisions.

And so finally to step 4: what is Out There?

Hmm, a K-5 for about $500, a bit more for a K-3ii with pixel-shift abilities? About $1099 for a used K-1? On the other hand, a G85 (but no 12-60 sealed lens) for just under $500? GX85 bodies for ..$100 more than I paid a month ago is hard to swallow, but it happens. GX7 bodies for just over $250, perhaps?

Or a YI M1 used for $210 with the 12-40 lens included?

Let's review my reviews. I had looked at the YI a while back, and it had several nice features and many question marks. Its battery life is higher than many and recharges live on a microUSB cable like the GX85 (and unlike most others). It has the well-liked 20Mpx sensor (read about TOP's love for this sensor - and also how Mike's rating system works!) and its firmware updates have moved the M1 up in reviewers' eyes from atrocious to almost impressive. It has 4k video for what that could be worth in my future, and a 4:3 "2k" video that could prove interesting at times today. It uses DNG default for raw images, so no software hassles.

The M1 has a very simple interface that could entice my wife more than most other setups, and wifi/bluetooth options for off-camera imaging. More importantly, reviewers state that Lumix OIS lenses are stabilized on the M1 - that's a big deal to me.

Let's be honest though: the 30-day return policy was a great help in making this happen today. Just in case.

Hey look at me: I just saved $300 or more!