maxlieberman wrote:
Thank you for your two cents. Actually, your opinion is very valuable to me, and I am thinking of doing just that - -i.e., getting a better long lens.
I was suffering from a severe case of GAS. The lack of consensus in the many comments I have received is helping me overcome that. If there is a consensus to be derived from the discussion, your comments encapsulate it. Thanks, again.
I know how you feel, and if I had "easy money" to throw at a new system I'd consider the same things. I love the tech improvements, but the cost of a wholesale changeout at a level that would offer substantial improvement is a large consideration for the hobbiest (professional use is another ballgame).
I see much the same thing in the HAM radio world (something I've also done for decades), folks just have to have the latest and often hugely expensive gear, yet they sound about the same over the air as the folks operating with much lesser/older equipment - it always reminds me of my boating days - everything usually amounted to the BOAT acronym - Break Out Another Thousand !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Having handled several new MILC models in a tryout mode, and also owning both MILC and DSLR, unless I was doing a wholesale changeout I would not do anymore "cobbing together" of a mixed system (unless one is happy with their results, then "why not") - I can do all of that with my Nikon and Sony and Canon MILC/DSLR bodies I already have and a ton of native and mixed glass....... For those who have and want to part with the "easy money" that is fine, but whether it improves anything remains to be seen!!
Good luck in your quest, and keep on shooting - that is one of the things that really help many of us the most - shooting/practicing and implementing the things that improve our results based on our output. Ask any gun "shootist", they will probably ehco this, that is why they practice so often( I do)...to maintain/retain their fine ability...new gun or old!
Most of all, enjoy your hobbies!!!
More of my $.02 but hey, opinions (especially from experience) are cheap and easy, and can be helpful!!!