We found about the traffic jams after the eclipse ends in 2017. One of the members in our party had to go to work the next day, so we left the viewing site near Fort Laramie WY about 2 hours after it ended. It took us 5 hours to drive from Boulder Co to the site. Took 9 hours to get home. NE Wyoming is sparsely populated except when all the scattered parties converge on the roads leading to I-25 or other major arteries, I-25 was like a parking lot.

This time, we're spending the night at the viewing site about 25 miles NW of Austin. Thinking most of the traffic will be going towards the coast to Austin, San Antonio, etc.

Running it on my 2023 MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip. No problems so far, except I can't view Z8 NEF files, but that may be due to the RAW format I'm using.

Last year at my local photo store, there was a appraiser/buyer (local, not national) so I brought in some older gear. The camera body quote of $750 was inline with online quotes, but I wanted to think about it. I came back about a hour later and a different appraiser quoted a price $100 less. I told them about the previous higher offer and they raised the quote to the previous offer which I accepted.

Nice to know that one can negotiate with the national firms.

Or dog sleds...

I have an older GoPro, version 3 White. I was trying it out for shooting timelapses, it's small size makes it easier to hide from thieves. I found it didn't really work all that well (the external battery would disconnect) but had better picture quality than my Brinno. Might dig it out and try again.

I have a Sony RX100VA and the OMS TG-6. The Sony takes better pictures, but the TG-6 isn't bad. Plus, if my grandkids are playing around with the TG-6, I don't have to worry about it even when they are in banshee mode.

I have a Mindshift Gear Backlight 26L backpack that I find to be somewhat uncomfortable to use. After a few miles with less than 15 pounds in it, I start to find it tiring to use. It is a camera backpack that seems to be designed for some hiking, not extended use. I have come across the newer manufacturer NYA-EVO that makes a series of backpacks that are comfortable to use and design for photographers. I am looking into either the 36C or 50C models. Does anyone use a backpack from NYA-EVO and what are your impressions?

A small nuclear bomb might work....

Glad to see that you got the lens back in a timely manner. I'm surprised OMS sent the lens out in the condition you got it in. Unless the damage occurred during shipping, it looks like OMS did a poor job on quality control.

I bought the 24-70 and wish I got the 24-105.

I have a Promaster monopod with the tripod foot base that I have used over the last few years. I have found the "tripod" base useful in some occasions such as reducing slippage on uneven ground or on snow. There is a friction setting so the base feet can swivel if you need to lean or tilt the monopod. The base section can be removed and turned into a table tripod.

The tripod base is not intended to turn the monopod into a tripod; it is too unsteady to use as such. I did use it as a semi-tripod once. I was hiking and I wanted to shoot a short timelapse but didn't have a tripod on me. I set the monopod up between a pair of trees with the feet extend at the base. I used string to tie the monopod to the trees so it was restrained from falling or moving very much (it was also a calm day) and shot my timelapse.

I enjoy both the entire car and parts, depending on the lighting and background. I enjoy the art in the hood ornaments, trim, emblems and other details in cars from before 1970 or so. It seems after that, less design when into these items. Static photos of cars don't appeal to me; I prefer something in motion.

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For the 2017 total solar eclipse, I starting practicing months before the event. I made my own solar filters out of solar filter film from Thousand Oaks Optical and cardboard. I tested the solar filters on various cameras I had back then and found acceptable aperture, ISO and shutter speeds to use before and after totality. You need to take off these filters to photograph totality, otherwise it will be too dark.

I had read or watched someplace that the firmware in the OM-1m1 had to be updated so SyncIS works on it. It appears that none of the new features on the OM-1ii can be added to the original version.

The graduated ND can be rotated and moved up and down.

Not sure what to make of yesterday's announcements.

The OM-1ii has some improvements immediately noticeable in computational photography; increased stops in the ND filter and the addition of the graduated ND filter. There has been an improvement in the AF with the tracking feature now possibly working and better subject detection. It has the same processor as the previous model, but increased RAM and other changes in the electronics made these possible. It seems unlikely that a firmware upgrade will bring these to the previous model which will not be popular to the MFT crowd. I don't shoot much video, so I'm not sure if the changes (if any) in video shooting brings it closer to the Panasonic MFT offerings. The introduction of the Mark II seems partially drive by the requirement to remove the name Olympus from the camera body and lenses. I think it would have been better to change the name now, wait a year or so and come out with a true Mark II. They could have (or still might) make a firmware upgrade to the Mark I for the time being.

The 150-600 lens is greatly overpriced from the original version, although there are significant changes done to work on the MFT platform. The electronics was improved so you get SyncIS where the lens IS works in conjunction with the body IS, but only on the Mark II. There needs to be a firmware upgrade to the OM-1/5 for this feature to work on them. I'm looking forward to comparisons of this lens with the 150-400; it's 1/3 the price so the image quality won't be the same but how different.

The new version of the 9-18 is a cosmetic change to remove the name Olympus and replace it with OM System, there have been no apparent changes to the number of lens, coatings, etc. unlike the version 2 of the 12-40 PRO lens which was a redesign.

The lenses don't interest me. I enjoy my OM-1 and try some BIF/wildlife with the 100-400. The AF is not up to the FF offerings but comes through with spectacular results but not consistently. If I really get interested in this type of shooting, I'll watch the reviews of the wildlife photographers with the Mark II and their impressions on the new AF. Might rent the O-M1ii and 150-400 or 150-600 this spring.