I have read through the rants about mirrorless vs. DSLR with amusement. It really is a funny argument. We should consider ourselves blessed to have the time and privilege of arguing over something like this. Both sides and the middle have great points.

I recently changed form Canon crop sensor DSLR to Panasonic M43 mirrorless. I love the new Panasonic but I also loved the DSLR. I miss my 28-300L lens! I miss seeing the real world through the view finder. I love the lighter weight, I love the EVF for other reasons, the G9 EVF is really great but not real life, close! I gave my Canon gear to my son, wish I had both but then I'd always be confused about which camera to bring, too many decisions! I'm glad he is having fun with it chasing the northern lights in Alaska, he is young and strong, light weight not an issue for him.

Mirrorless is the future but no EVF will ever be quite the same as seeing the real world through your prism. Alas!

Wait for the 90D. Several years ago I moved from Rebel T3i to 70D and loved how much more solid it felt in the hand and just the feel of taking pictures with it. Most recently had an 80D which was similar but the autofocus was better. Since you have a T7i, I'd wait for the 90D or whatever comes next!

Sawyer Yards for artist workshops and urban wall art around the old rice silos.

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I recently changed from a Canon system to Lumix M4/3 and find it to be quite good. I have a Lumix G9 with Pan/Leica 12-60 and 100-400 zooms, pictures are great, Leica lenses are great. Much easier to carry for travel. I have not tried the Olympus cameras but am sure that they are great also. Loved my Canon system but love the new stuff even more. Good luck!

Mirrorless seems to be the question of the day. I recently switched from a very heavy Canon set-up with great L lenses that I loved to a Panasonic M4/3 G9 with 12-60 and 100-400 lenses. The difference in weight of the lenses is dramatic. I switched because of the weight and size, I'm not getting any younger or stronger. As I said I loved my Canon gear, loved looking through the viewfinder at the real world, loved the pictures, but did not love carrying it around. I am happy to say I am OK with my new set-up, the pictures are great, the camera/lens combinations are much lighter and the latest Electronic viewfinder technology is so good on the G9 that I can almost think I'm looking at the real world. The view finder is the key to me, they are now good enough to allow the switch in my opinion. All this said, a Canon T2i is a pretty light DSLR, if you are using kit lenses, your rig might not be too heavy to begin with. I do think mirrorless is the now and future choice. I don't really understand all the excitement about Full Frame mirrorless except for excellent low light capabilities, I think for a normal to high level amateur who takes street photos and travel photos that the size and weight of FF is just not worth it, and the limits of the best M4/3 or 1.6 factor Cropped sensors are acceptable. Good luck sorting this out!

Get the Fusion Drive, it really speeds things up. compared to a normal hard drive.

I have a red TG-5. Tough as nails. Pictures pretty darn good, not as good as my DSLR. Great for wet situations, have used underwater a few times, taken it skiing. Small and tough, no lens extension, waterproof, shoots RAW if you want, does what it is supposed to do.

Thanks for the ideas on safari camera settings. I just got back from a photo safari in South Africa Sabi Sands and Kruger Park and had all the same issues you described.

I was using auto ISO most of the time which seems to work well for me. Then used Program or Shutter Priority depending on whether I wanted fast or not. Worked pretty good but I did run into depth of field problems which your Aperture method would help to fix. I like the idea of setting the minimum shutter speed at 1/500 for a game drive vehicle. I used exposure compensation more than I had before, especially when we were after dark and using a spot light.

It was my first safari and I found it more tricky that I thought due to the range of light, starting at or before dawn for the morning drive and then going from bright sun to dusk and dark for the afternoon drive. I really had to hand hold all the time which was OK with 300mm and crop sensor but might be a problem with a bigger lens.

If I'm lucky enough to have another safari, I'll give your method a try.

Mark