I have only seen this post series now. I am myself an older retiree with all the challenges of one's later years. I have owned the K-S2 since 2017 as a lighter camera to carry around. Previously, I had used many of the Pentax K series cameras since the *istD back in the day. I have had a lot of experience with the K3 which I loved. The K-S2 is very close to the K3 in terms of quality and the images I have taken with this camera are almost always good and, sometimes, excellent. I am only too well aware that experience makes all the difference. In addition, as time goes on one's knowledge of photography develops and the 'hit rate' increases. This is a camera that has stood the test of time for me as a light carry-around camera. I do agree that the kit lens is a source of annoyance because of the retractable feature. However, I mostly use the Limited primes with the camera; this ramps up the quality of the image considerably. So, my advice would be to stick with the K-S2 it will give you lots of pleasure and the frustrations will diminish as you gain experience.