M43 wasn't on my list of things to appreciate in 2024

I took my OM-5 (with the kit 12-45 zoom) along for our coast trip. I liked what I got from the combo, especially considering the low weight and small size. It was fine hanging over my shoulder for a hike with a 1700-foot climb, and it felt compact when I'd need to tighten my strap to clamor over rocks or in and out of a boat. A 3-lens + body kit works great in a Peak Design 6l sling. 

I liked the images I got out of it, minus a few issues with dynamic range and some exaggerated reds that got really out of control on a big red boat in bright sunlight. It was a 30-second operation in Lightroom to dial down the red (and sometimes orange)  saturation, but there it was. Greens are my nemesis on my Fujifilm bodies. 

Ergonomically, nothing helps familiarize you with a body like several consecutive 200-300 exposure days. I burned the fore and aft  control knobs into my muscle memory and tweaked a few settings here and there after they bothered me enough to fiddle with the menus. 

I've read that the biggest weakness in that camera's physical design—dating back to the Olympus EM versions of this body—is the baseplate: People have reported tearing the bottom out when they use it with a Peak Design Capture Clip. But I've also read that tends to  happen with much larger lenses—the "Pro" M43 lenses are pretty chunky—and it has happened with all sorts of bodies from other brands. 

That aside, and that's not minor if you're very invested in Capture Clips, it's small, weather sealed, and light. Oh, and the battery life is pretty good. I still had life in a battery at the end of the day with 350+ exposures and several minutes of 4K video. 

So, Micro 4/3  wasn't on my list of things to appreciate in 2024, and it is not lost on me that some of the influencer hype around it is literally sponsored by used gear merchants trying to unload a bumper crop of trade-ins from people looking to fund a move to larger formats.  But I hope the format endures for another iteration or two. I'd love an OM-5 with a definitively resolved baseplate issue and USB-C charging. I was going to say "and a few more weather-sealed primes," but I've got the 20mm/f1.4, which is weather sealed and great. 

If someone said, "well, Mike, this is it: your last camera," I'd probably be bummed because it's fun to play with new cameras, but the part of me that just wants to take pictures would probably be okay with that.