Nooo.. not again..

Confronted with the clear evidence, I was forced to accept defeat and plead no contest to the dreadful charge. My gear problem is not a Pentax thing: I can just as easily overspend on Nikon gear. No surprise - but very disappointing.

The punishment really isn't punitive: my 𝛍43 kit is in nice shape, in fact it's a bit bloated as well. The three bodies in hand is at least one too many, and yet the setup is incomplete in ways that allow other systems to appeal.

Here's my spontaneous list for what a kit should have to suffice as my single setup:

• Stabilized sensor
• Reasonably weather-protected
• Tilt screen for look-down shooting 
• Good viewfinder
• A body with many control switches/buttons but Not Dials (I don't "do" retro)
• And oh my yes, a great sensor and a cool feature or three.

Looking at my m4:3 options, it felt like my best two choices were Olympi, either eM5.iii or eM1.ii; both had the 20Mpx sensor, superb wx seals and IStab, and the Live features. The second camera should be a Lumix with 4k, but the gx85 and gx9 were not appealing to me. The gx1 was also an option, but prices have risen enough to justify keeping the gx7. That in turn was too good a camera to be my second option, leading to gear competition.

So it seems my choice was a higher end Lumix? Hey that's OK by me, since the ePL8 made for a Nice Camera In a Supporting Role.

Trouble is, which advanced Lumix? The G series was inexplicably not working for me (having tried g7 and g85) and the gx>7 failed to move my dials. A gh body wouldn't do either! Sad but true.

But not true?

The gx8 had pretty much everything on my list except the tilt screen. But it did have a tilt viewfinder, and an Excellent one by all accounts. Wx seals, dual iStab, 4k tricks, and the gx line that I enjoyed. Yes it also has an external EV± dial.. I expect I can manage just the one.

The online photographer can be accused of undue influence here. Mike was reviewing the gx9 and disparaging the gx7 from his perspective as a former gx8 user, and I realized how much the gx8 had damaged users'  later experience of newer bodies. Something about the oversize camera had stirred people - and I was ripe for stirring!

Also, an excellent copy could be had for less than the two Olympus 20Mpx bodies. Also also, the second body was already in hand, as was a recently reacquired 12-60 Lumix with weather seals.

I closed the deal this afternoon. Away goes the gx7, eM10ii, and most of the Nikon gear. Also I dismembered the µ43 prime setup, letting the rarely-used 14/2.5 and 30/2.8 slip away. Ironically, the 20-60 prime gap will be filled by a bizarre old friend, the Pentax DA40xs - an excellent lens, more crêpe than pancake though 'merely' f/2.8. 

A great kit - ok Another great kit will gather here soon, and a few Nikon primes will get a test drive on the gx8 and its larger grip before possibly going to market.

Looking forward not back! Well not much, now that this has been written..