I've never written an entry here - but the process of 'gear review' is one I think I have gone through frequently, and still go through on occasion. I'll try to keep this on the shorter side, as befits what I view more as a work-in-progress (reviewing, that is).
I currently have two different mirrorless interchangeable camera systems, which seem to do different things for me. One is mu/4-3, a format I have loved since my first mu43 camera, a PL2, came into my hands nearly a decade back. My current crop includes a GX9 and an EP5, both of which do different things. The GX9 is simply the best micro-four-thirds camera I've ever used, in every way. A factory grip makes it substantially more 'holdable' (i.e. well-fitting in my hands); until recently I was immensely happy with a fast, wide-isn prime (the PL15), and possibly the best zoom I've ever used for any camera, the (underrated in my opinion) Vario 12-35, the one with a fixed f/2.8 aperture. No, the camera isn't weather sealed, and no, that's never bothered me. The GX9's built-in l.monochrome.d monochrome filter has also turned it into my monochrome-camera-of-first-choice. The one recent non-necessary-but-fun-nonetheless addition, lens-wise, is the small Olympus telezoom, v.II of the 75-300, which has now de facto replaced my former cool-but-underused Sony bridge camera.
Mu-4/3 body #2 is an E-P5, which I am using mainly just with a 20mm pancake-sized prime, but occasionally also with the tiny fixed f/8 Olympus BCL (Body-Cap-Lens) fisheye. The EP5 has replaced a number of other compacts I used to have or use, including early versions of Ricoh's GR, and a diminutive GM5 and GM1. Though the E-P5 is noticeably bigger and heavier than other cameras, it's got much more of a compact camera vibe for me. It also has de facto replaced the elegant Pen F I used to own but (sssshhhh don't tell anyone) I like the EP5 more.
Then there is my Fuji camera, a used X-Pro3 (financed by selling a number of other almost never-used cameras or lenses). Hands down, it gets the award for being THE best built digital camera I have ever shot with. I'm using it almost exclusively with Fuji's f/1.4 XF35 lens and, weirdly, the combination reminds me of the Pentax analog SLR's that I used for decades. Discovering Ritchie Rosech's superb and geekily-intelligent website (FUJI X WEEKLY) which features dozens of cool 'recipes' for film-inspired jpeg settings, makes this camera even more fun. (The only other camera with as high of a "fun to use" rating, was my Pen F. Both of which had and have extensive jpeg-customizing features. RAW-only purists frown on such heresies, of course.)
Rounding out my gear, is a handful of compact cameras, from pocketable (the Pentax Q7) to semi-pocketable (the Fujifilm X30 and a Canon G1XMkIII), each with strengths, with limitations, and each with enough eccentricities to fill a small dictionary. The EP5 fits in here, as does a truly ancient but tiny GX1 body, converted to infrared. The X30 has become my favorite small-sensored all-in-one compact ever, while the G1Xiii, with its weather-sealed body, fine APS-C sensor and superb little Canon zoom lens (which many reviewers hated for the 'crime' of being too slow) is capable of producing jaw-droppingly fine images.
That's the current lineup and I suspect it will keep me busy and happy for at least a few months, if not a few years. The only other part of my review is asking myself which if any of the cameras I've moved away from, do I really miss? That list has to include the Pentax KP - a beautifully designed DSLR which rivals the XPro3 in build quality and had the added advantage of a universe of truly fine, small, and superb Pentax primes; the Lumix GM5, a little camera to which the compound adjective "jewel-like" truly applies; and the relatively heavy Sony RX10M3/M4, truly amazing all-in-one bridge cameras with one of the best lenses ever made... but saddled with the Sony controls and menus which, for me, have always been clunky at best, and irritatingly complicated at worst.
I think I'm covered for awhile.
Except for those irrational moments when I am afflicted by that old, hard-to-fully-excise analog itch. Fortunately, I've just loaded a roll of Portra 800 into my ancient Rollei... so I'll survive.
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P.S. But if the Heavens opened up and dropped a camera or two into my lap today, I wouldn't say 'No' to a Pentax K-1 ... or a Mamiya 6.
