Very beautiful shots.

It all seems to indicate to me that they did. Keep in mind that Nikon is not making dSLR bodies any longer and Canon is doing exactly the same thing. Mirrorless are very popular and they pack more technologies than dSLR cameras. The market right now is toward mirrorless.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Nikon refuses servicing old cameras and lenses, depending on how old they are.

I do not use the D850 but I know it is a very good, professional camera.

I am not a Canon user, rather a Nikon user, and Nikon makes several lenses starting at 18mm for their APS sensors. I currently use the 18-200 VR and I am satisfied with its performance.
Your 18-150 zoom I am sure will fit you well but do not leave the 50mm f1.8 behind.

If a Nikon D850 is what you want that is exactly what you should buy. Follow Paul's advice and buy a lightly used one IF you want to save money. A potential problem could take place if the camera needs service. Nikon is refusing to service old cameras and lenses after a certain period of time.
As has already been discussed with the FTZ adapter you can use your old lenses with a mirrorless camera.

Modern JPEGs are not those of the past when they were plagued with artifacts. I sincerely believe that Olympus has done a great job incorporating Super Fine in their JPEG engine. Those are excellent JPEG files.
A problem with JPEG, as I see it, is that it has 8 bits of data. If the file is manipulated during editing there is always the possibility of artifacts and shifts in colors. The less manipulation the better.

Raw data is more flexible and can be edited with 14-16 bits. The operator has to know what he or she is doing, magic will not happen on its own. When shooting RAW data I always use proprietary software as my first step in editing.
As Linda said, USE WHAT WORKS BETTER FOR YOU.

My congratulations Mr. Posner. Now you will have more time for your wife and enjoy photography.

Beautiful sunset.

CHG-CANON wrote: "The age of the DSLR is over. The time of the MILC has come!"

Well Paul, it all seems to indicate that camera manufacturers do not want to make new dSLR cameras. It is nonsense to deny that mirrorless is what is now selling well and indeed they are full of new technologies, superior to those of a dSLR body.
I have Olympus mirrorless cameras but I have not neglected my dSLR cameras. I still use a Nikon D7000 and their D610 to my entire satisfaction. I will agree that those cameras are heavy, especially with heavy lenses and not as easy to carry as with a mirrorless but they are fantastic tools and those are the types of cameras that I have been using since the late 60's.

Carrying the Olympus bodies and lenses is a new experience because they are small, lighter and very capable. When traveling I usually grab an Olympus first and if I take my D610 at the most I carry two lenses. Those days of carrying with me lots of gear are gone. Experience has taught me that two or three lenses at the most is all I need with my dSLR cameras.

I agree with you that the time for mirrorless is now and will continue to be but I still enjoy shooting with my old dSLR bodies and lenses.

I use a TT350o Godox for my Olympus cameras. It is small and, in my experience, requires flash EC or a high ISO setting often. That does not bother me.
Lately I have been using it in TTL mode for fill-in with great results. For a small flash it is full of features, one of them High Speed Sync.

I highly recommend this flash for Olympus and Panasonic cameras.

Thank you gentlemen.

These flowers grow in our front yard, I am not sure but I believe my wife planted them. They always bloom in April, last about two weeks and then they are gone till the next year.
I was practicing fill-in flash with my Olympus OM-5 Mk III, my "new" camera. I was using the Godox TT350o with it and in this case the flash was in the hotshoe. I set it to TTL. I usually cut the light by 1 stop if I have a bright background, but it was late in the evening and I had no need for flash exposure compensation. I was shooting in Aperture Priority and keeping everything simple.

Editing required a slight amount of contrast and saturation. I was shooting at ISO 200, RAW data. Sharpening was done with Smart Sharpening in my old Photoshop CC 2017. Sharpening was kept to a low setting, like I always do.
I am satisfied with the results.

Beautiful shots Cindy.

Nice shot.

I am not going to talk about age when selecting photo gear, the majority here are old enough to understand that lighter gear could make a big difference not only shooting but transporting that gear. An old camera does not necessarily mean it will not work but it will never have better technologies than new cameras. We all know that also.

I can speak only in my behalf. I use a Nikon D610, the camera has 24 Mp. and it satisfies my needs. Will I be better with a D850? Most probably yes but I do not need it. My D7000 is now several years old, it continues to give me good service and good images. I do not need anything new and I use it often with my old 18-200 VR. I am very satisfied with this combo. Will a D750 be better or maybe a D500? Yes, they will be but for my photo style the D7000 is all I need for now.

Like others have mentioned, better is relative. To me my old cameras are better because I know them and I know how to use them. If I want to go light then I take my Olympus cameras, smaller, small and light lenses and excellent optics. My Olympus bodies are also old but they satisfy my needs. Now you have a new camera, the Z5, a camera I am not familiar with but said to be a small Z6. Compared to what you had it is a superior camera so it is better.

The 24-200 is a lens I am familiar with. Spencer Cox has an excellent review of the lens in Photography Life, perhaps you could be interested in reading his article and the review was done with the Z5. https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-z-24-200mm-f4-6-3-vr.
Enjoy your new toy.

Paul, 20 Mp. is more than enough for lots of applications. I once owned a 4 Mp. Nikon D2X and I had no issues enlarging to pretty large sizes. Cameras like the Nikon D70s with its 6.2 Mp. also gave me beautiful enlargements.
My Olympus cameras have 17 Mp. except for the OM-5 Mk III that has 20. Do I see the difference in quality? No, I do not.

You know that many modern mirrorless cameras can generate images in the 40-50 Mp. range with their technologies. Unless enlarging to mural sizes it will not be very easy to see the difference and at mural sizes a lot of resolution is not necessary since those images are not seeing at close range.
I have beautiful enlargements from my 17 Mp. Olympus bodies.

The picture of the cat looks great to me and the enlargement is full of details.