Several years ago, I was looking into a lighter mirrorless replacement for my Nikon D750. I rented the Panasonic G9, Olympus E-M1m2 and the Fuji XT-3. I found the G9 to be a good all-around camera except for the focussing. I could not get to work well on moving subjects and some still photos were out-of-focus. Went with the Olympus system, due to the in-body stabilization that the Fuji lacked.

I just posted on these two cameras, A500 and A6300. The latter was a great improvement and made shooting in bright sunlight feasible. My main complaint on the A6300 was the lack of a rear control dial, the back wheel would go into ISO settings instead of changing the shutter speed if pressed wrong.

My first mirrorless camera was the Sony A5000 model that I got as an introduction to the mirrorless world and back then (2015?), Sony was the only game in town. I only had it a year, the lack of a viewfinder rendered it impossible to use in daylight. After awhile, I stopped using it bright daylight. Sold it after a year or so and bought the Sony A6300 that was a vast improvement (EVF etc.).

Just finished up with my cataract surgery this summer, but I'm not in the same boat as you. Now I'm 20/20 farsighted but need reading glasses (+2.75). I'm going to get a pair of blended bifocals with the lower section for reading and a clear upper section. I've been wearing glasses for over 60 years and never liked the idea of taking glasses on and off if I need to read. I like to put them on in the morning and take them off at night, also like glasses on when I'm working in the garage or outside.

Before surgery, I used to take my glasses off when looking through the viewfinder and adjusted the diopter accordingly. When I get my new glasses, I will have to see how I want the diopter.

Good luck.

I have the 2021 14" MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro processor, 1 TB storage and 16 GB RAM. I bought it from the Apple Refurbished store. If I had to do it over again, I would get 32 MB. The unified memory setup makes the memory more efficient, but I find that Lightroom can create problems with 16 GB. This laptop is far better than my 2018 13" MBP that I was glad to be rid of and sold off once I got the 2021 model.

I second the above recommendation on buying from these vendors; they are reputable and offer known quality solar filters and film. I wouldn't touch Temu with a 10 foot pole; I'm not going to risk my eyes or equipment on questionable material.

Instead of using screw in filters, make your own with solar film and cardboard. They are easy to slip off when totality occurs and easy to put back on when totality ends, unlike screw on filters that take time.

For practice, there is the annular solar eclipse coming up this October.

I'm not sure what you are interested in photographing. I was along Lake Erie last month going to Magee Marsh and other birding sites.
Here is what people recommended to me. July isn't the best time to go there, plan to go back next spring.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-776455-1.html

Lake Erie has beautiful sunsets and sunrises, as do all of the Great Lakes. I like the area around Sandusky. The shoreline sticks out into the lake, so you can get great photos of the sunsets and sunrises. I like to photograph the Marblehead Lighthouse in the morning and was getting there early to set up a time-lapse. Some of the photos were taken from my drone.

I plan to be back there in the fall and travel along Lake Ontario and Erie from Sackets Harbor in New York to Toledo. Too much to see back there.

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Reading Steve's books and watching his videos is a joy; reading an OEM cameral manual is like going to the dentist.

I go through my photos of the grandkids and remove all photos that show genitalia. Photos that show the butts from the side, I will keep. The photos are posted to my Google account that can only be accessed (according to Google) after I send a link to the parents.

I think only Americans use the pronunciation "zee", the rest of the English speakers use "zed".

I attended a local presentation by Nikon on their Z8 back in May. One slide showed their version of precapture, 20 frames or so. I asked what format the files were in and the speaker responded jpeg. I thought to myself, my OM-1 captures RAW and can save more. Maybe there is a reason to have 20 MB sensors versus 45 MP.

I have bought and sold camera gear through them. I found them to offer the best prices on buying your gear. Several years ago I was selling my Sony APS-C gear and sent the list of equipment to them, KEH, Usedphotopro, Adorama and B&H. They offered the best price for the total package, although some of the items had slightly higher quotes from the other vendors. If you buy from them, the condition meets or exceeds the rating online.

I'm going both days. Have Pavillion tickets for my brother and myself on Saturday and the Photo Tour/Photo Pit pass on Sunday.

Thanks for the Carillion Park note. I have been there a few times to visit the exhibits on Dayton's aviation and industrial heritage.

I always set aside 4-6 hours to visit the Air Force Museum. I think this time I will concentrate on the early jets (1945-1955?). I love the smooth curves that reflect the WW2 heritage of design combined with jet engines.