birding

Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply!

If I'm being completely honest, what I value most right now is the ability of the camera focus on my young/hyper kids as they do young/hyper kid things. I'm not looking for super fast burst rates, but I am looking for good AF-C. I've been spoiled a bit by my A7III - it makes it very easy to focus on faces/eyes and gives me more opportunity to frame the shot vs make sure the AF point is still on top of one of them. Yeah, I can achieve good focus with my D5300, but it's a bit more work - I get the best results with single point AF and I have to keep that point on them.

As for the non-AF features of the III and OM-1: the joystick is nice to have, but if you can move the focus box around with the d-pad that will do. HHHR is something I might use occasionally for landscapes, and USB charging is kind of nice (but not worth $300 as you said). Everything else is unlikely to get a lot of use in my current stage in life.

If I like the AF-C performance of my A7III, why am I even talking about other systems? The A7III is a fine camera, but it's one I use - not one I love. The mechanical shutter is very loud, it can be slow to turn on, the IBIS unit clunks around at my hip when I walk with it on using my peak design strap, I wish that it remembered its last phone provided GPS location like Fujis do, etc.

I had no idea Olympus had a loaner program. Interestingly, nearest location is a place we frequent for vacation/holiday. Maybe I will pick one up this summer if I haven't made up my mind by then. Thanks for the tip.