M4/3 to 1", now back to M4/3

Tom B. wrote:

A little story to tell. I've been into photography for quite a few years, I'm 67. I started the digital world with an Olympus E10 about 18 years ago. Only including DSLR's, I then went to Nikon starting with the D100, simply amazing at the time, and still not bad! I couldn't get enough, they had me hooked. D200, D300s, D7000, D7100, and lets not talk about lenses... Then came along M4/3. I think I started with a GX7, then E-M5 II and E-M1 II, and a lot of lenses. I sold all my Nikon gear. I still don't regret that move. But while I was enjoying M4/3 along came Sony with their 1" super zoom RX10 series. I thought, why not try one of these for travel, I picked up an RX10 III. It seemed wonderful, not much different than M4/3 and 24-600mm all-in-one. I started selling my M4/3 lenses that overlapped 24-600 and only keeping primes and Macro. I then moved to an RX10 IV with phase focus, again a great travel camera. My E-M1 II has mostly been sitting idle. I recently picked up my E-M1 II and shot a few photos. You know what, the E-M1 II really feels special to hold and use, much nicer quality wise and so much nice to use than the RX10's. I forgot just how nice the M4/3 format is. I'm very sorry I sold my 12-40, 12-100, 7-14, and 100-400. I'm starting to rebuild. I have an 8-18 showing up today (I tried one of these when they first came out in June 2017 and it was very soft in the left side, hope this one will be good). For a second lens I can't decide on 12-40 or 12-100, I liked them both.

Sorry this was so long, just revealing some of my mistakes.

Hobbies are supposed to be fun and trying out new photography gear to see if it's more fun and interesting than other stuff provides me with a lot of amusement -- and you too, apparently. I tend to wait for Ebay to run one of their 10% off sales (where they waive their fees, apparently) and then buy stuff new from the Hong Kong retailers. I use the gear for 6 months or so, making sure that I pamper it, and then resell it on Ebay. It's shocking how much value used gear retains, provided that it is still the "current" model. I probably lose 15-20% in the transaction, which is actually less than the rental fees would've been, and I always have something new and amusing to play with. About 18 months ago, I got on the Fuji bandwagon because of all the hype. I like Fuji, but I don't think it's orders of magnitude better than my micro 4/3 gear. I'm in the process of selling off the last of the Fuji gear, and now I'm playing with the A7iii. Now that thing is a beast, and kicks ass on the Fuji and micro 4/3 stuff, indoors in dim lighting at least. Outdoors in the daylight, however, the micro 4/3 gear holds it own, even up against Sony FF, at least the stuff that I shoot.