I wouldn't overthink it too much. I have always enjoyed photography at a very small level and got a little bit more serious about 8 years ago. I have enjoyed it but at times I would not take photos for a while. My domestic situation changed a little over a year ago with failed marriage etc etc so my mood wasn't fantastic and 2018 had less photos in my lightroom library than previous years until I got to go on safari, at which point it bulked up significantly.
A friend asked me to digitize old slides recently, photos from years back of her and her family. While I was doing it I again realized how great photography is and how nice it is to have all these old memories. She went on to print them and was delighted to have them. I realize people photograph on phones constantly now, but to have a photo that you can look at in 20,30 even 40 years time is something else. Probably most phone photos wont last beyond a device upgrade.
You have posted excellent photos here, if it becomes that it is of less interest to you going on, so be it, we all change. You will likely always take the odd photo though, and at least through experience will likely take nice memories from what you've learned through the interest you had in the hobby
Thanks, appreciate it. Sorry to hear about your marriage, must've been tough.
I have been contemplating swapping a number of my Nikon lenses for m4/3 ones to reduce the weight as I think this sometimes puts me off, especially when my fibro flares up. I don't think I could get rid of all my FF stuff though data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
At least I didn't lose my cameras data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Seriously though, I have a buddy with a bunch of Canon high end gear and Olympus as well. I know he prefers the olly unless he's trying to get moving wildlife and birds etc. I am very sure you know the limitations and indeed the positives of the m43 system. I went to buy two tops for work recently and ended up buying an Olympus EPL8 that was on sale when I sidetracked into a camera shop- very expensive work tops as it turns out.
I find the m43 system fun to use, sometimes thats all you need.I would suggest though that you really think it through before you sell any of your rather nice collection of nikon lenses
I already have the Olly system so know what it's like. I'm pretty certain I'm going to be upgrading the EM1 to the EM1-II now that grey prices are 'reasonable', it's just whether I 'swap' the Tamron 150-600mm (1.9kg) for the Panasonic 100-400mm (200-800mm eq 985g). I don't think I'd get rid of my Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 in favour of the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 (80-300mm eq) even though that's half the weight, the 70-200mm is my favourite lens in terms of image rendering and AF performance.
I have used the mk2 with the Panasonic 100-400. Image quality is nice but I don't care what any reviews say, focus can't track like a DSLR, but then again depending on your needs this may not be relevant.
I love the 150-600 (albeit mine is sigma). When they came out they gave a good balance between reach/image quality and price.
Sounds to me like you're still interested, just on a break
I don't expect it to be as good as a DLSR tbh, but for the most part I don't need the best AF performance with this lens. Most of the time it's used at wildlife parks, in which case the animals tend to be relatively static 90% of the time.
The other option was to sell my 70-300mm and 150-600mm and get the Tamron 100-400mm, on my D850 this gives me the effective reach of 600mm and still with a 19mp image. The only trouble with the Sigma and Tamron f6.3 lenses (including the Tamron I have) is that the outer focus points don't work at the long end of the zoom with the latest 153 point AF system, and you are restricted to the 'f8' focus points only. I guess that's the price you pay for having a wider spread of points.
I didn't realise this about the 153 pts and f8, I thought the f6.3 lenses "fooled" the camera into using them as if the were f5.6, albeit with maybe slightly less reliability due the lower light.
If I were thinking of changing anything with your gear, I'd leave the m43 alone, its a grand tidy little setup with big coverage. The tamron 100-400 is actually very good for the price (I've seen it grey for a little over 500 euro). Have you considered supplementing your d850 with one of the smaller nikons?, the tiny and light d5600 in particular has 24mp, the af is definitely adequate for the type of photos you discuss above and coupled with the 100-400 gives effectively 150-600, its a solid option if 5 fps and non weather sealing isn't an issue.
Of course this is just something i'd consider, it may not suit you at all
The AF thing is not something that you'll see documented but I have had the D500 and two D850's which all have the latest 153 point AF system and all exhibited the same behaviour. The 51 point system found in the D750 etc doesn't exhibit this behaviour, so in some regards it'e like the AF system has taken a step back. Of course, it could just be Nikon's way of getting you to stick with Nikon lenses data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
I don't want another Nikon body tbh, I like the M4/3 for travel and day trips, not just due to the size and weight but also mirrorless suits me better in these scenarios. Getting an aps-c body would add yet another system, and in reality gives me nothing over the D850 except a few grams weight saving. The D850 is 19mp in DX mode, the extra 5mp on a D5600 won't add much and it's got a poor viewfinder in comparison data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Of course, different folks different strokes and all that.
I wonder was there possible a firmware update on the third party lenses for this issue