pondering the impossible again - replacing my Olympus 75-300mm?

Hmm, yes. Another point to consider :)

I've kind of been waiting since the release of the E-M1 mk2... but I also told myself "just the one camera and the one lens" when I bought the D750 kit last year.
Famous last words 🙃

Other than the 12-200....Oly has been beefing up the Pro line...hopefully they are thinking to be more consumer conscious in that new telezoom.
 
Narrator voice-over: "At this point in the conversation, the old coot with the fixation about super-zooms shows up."

Old Coot: Tilman, I would heartily suggest you give the Sony HX400V a try. You just might be astonished at the results. Up to 1200mm (e) reach, and really punchy, contrasty jpegs. Buy from somewhere with a liberal return policy.

(Old coot wanders off into the gloom, muttering to himself: "I'm only willing to carry so much, and I hate changing lenses.")

Cheers, Jock
 
(Old coot wanders off into the gloom, muttering to himself: "I'm only willing to carry so much, and I hate changing lenses.")

Cheers, Jock
Cheers Jock, I'm turning more into that myself :D

My temporary conclusion to the question was that there's only two "solutions" for me:
  • wait for a "better" m43 sensor
  • relax my own expectations at image quality :)

I had considered the 1 inch superzooms, but the newer ones are quite pricey.
Maybe I'll just go for fun. Will have a look at the Sony and maybe the Panasonic FZ300
 
Late to the thread, but the D7200 is on sale at B&H for just under $700 right now and they have refurbished versions of the Nikon AF-P DX 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR for $180. Those are US prices but it looks like Henry's has it also has it new for $900 CAD? Not sure about sources for the lens up there.

Personally I'm looking for more information on the upcoming Olympus options and comparing them to the PL50-200 f/2.8-4.0. But I would still need the 1.4TC for that one and I haven't seen one anywhere.
 
comparing them to the PL50-200 f/2.8-4.0. But I would still need the 1.4TC for that one and I haven't seen one anywhere.
briefly looked into that one too, but talk about pricey :)

There's loads of options - the D7200 still being a good contender.
But ultimately I think I'll just have to ponder a bit more where I want to go with my photography... :)
 
I really wish Panasonic had created something to pair with their 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6 instead of just updating the 45-200 and 100-300. Say a 50-225/250 f/3.5-5.6. Both the Oly and Pan 75/100-300mm options aren't as good at the long end anyway. Part is due to the lenses, but part is also probably due to that 500-600 eq range. It's takes a LOT more care in that range, more than many probably think.
 
so today I tried something completely different - which might be another approach to improve my "conundrum":
better image processing :)

I've gotten better and better results from my m43 cameras over time - via the improvements of raw converters (and better technique)

Today I tried Topaz AI Clear on one of my 75-300mm photos. (One of those photos that I wasn't 100% happy with...)
And I have to say that my first test surprised me in a positive way:

On the left is the conversion straight from Olympus Viewer (OV3)
On the right is that image (that I created in OV3) run through Topaz AI clear.

40433657563_fafeaaf401_o.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
before and after by tilman paulin, on Flickr

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Douglas Squirrel
by tilman paulin, on Flickr
 
I think that is a substantial improvement, and I really like the image . . . it has great "feel" to it.
Cheers, Jock

I tried it on 2 other photos last night with similar results - or even slightly better.
(I think it works better on low ISO images - the squirrel was ISO 800 at 1/50s and 300mm - so there's also a bit of movement)

Not keen on adding yet another software to my workflow - you have to install/use Topaz Studio for this.
But there seems to be a batch processing option. If that works well enough it might save me some time - even with the additional software step.
 
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