The good news are mostly of a non-photographic nature: I have gotten an offer, which I immediately accepted, for a new position, which I will start sometime at a future date that yet needs to be determined.
But these are not the only good news. It seems like I have, at least temporarily, beaten the specter of GAS for now, if not for entirely the right reasons. I went to a general electronics store to have a look at the Sony a6xxx line of APS-C cameras - having acquired the E 70-350G lens during the Holidays, and wanting to be able to put it to full use for birding, I need an APS-C camera - to test out its ergonomics as well as its general usability. I always had been nervous about the ‘rangefinder-type’ body with the viewfinder so low and offset completely to the left side of the body, but hadn’t given it much more thought until I saw a video where the presenter did point out that, if you are “left-eyed”, this could be an issue.
It had never really occurred to me that “right-” or “left-eyedness” was a thing, but it turns out it is, and of course I’m part of the assumed (by that same presenter) minority of left-eyed people (I wonder if this somehow linked to whether I am left-handed?).
The store I went to only had the a6000, a6100 and a6400 on display, but boy was I disappointed in pretty much all of them. They all felt alright in the hand, well built in general, and the discomfort from having to use a weirdly positioned viewfinder which didn’t even have an eyecup (yes, I know that it is the store that removed it) wasn’t quite as bad as I feared it would. My rudimentary tests indicated that even the a6000 had snappy AF. However, I couldn’t even change the focus point of the a6400 without going through the touch screen. What is up with that?
All the bodies, though, felt really small, even with the lowly and diminutive 16-50 kit lens mounted. I don’t particularly want to find out what they would be like if one were to use them with the 70-350G mounted. It must not be so bad if people are using (reluctantly?) the combo successfully.
What I know is that, because of this experience, I’m putting off buying one of Sony’s APS-C cameras for the time being. It is a shame, because I was looking forward to optimizing pixel coverage with my 70-350G which, thus far, feels like it is insane sharp at all focal lengths and a pleasure to use for birding. In the meantime, I’ll continue to fall back on my trust a7 III for my APS-C needs.
(And yes, I wanted to make a point of having a post on February 29 :-))