Don't get nervous, I've not abandoned photography or anything, just going in a little different direction gear-wise. Let me explain.
First let me say just how much I loved my Canon 5D MkII setup. It served me well for six years. I knew this camera, its lenses, and flashes inside and out. It takes amazing pictures and even more amazing video and is a system I still have and use at work. But in the everyday, and in my personal work, I found myself using it less and less. Ever since I started experiencing back issues and the resulting surgery, I just didn't want to carry around a large camera body, two large heavy lenses, flashes, and all the other accessory gear. So I didn't.
The problem with this is my life as a photographer began to diminish. I was no longer creating the body of work the creative in me needed. So I decided to sell it all, body, lenses, grip, bags, and everything else I didn't want to carry on a daily basis and move to a new system. But what?
This is a scary proposition for a photographer. Just do a quick search for Canon vs. Nikon and you'll get thousands of results and quickly find that people are VERY passionate about their choice of gear. I never really fell into that debate because I always felt that a good photographer could produce amazing imagery with any system, the basics are all the same, it's just a matter of taste. Myself, I used Nikon gear throughout my career in the Air National Guard. It just happened that when I bought my first camera system, I really liked the feel of the Canon 10D so thats what I went with. Now, some 15+ years of gear acquisition later, I found myself staring at a closet full of gear I no longer wanted to carry around and wondering what I could replace it with that still met all my needs?
I looked at some smaller Canon bodies to replace the 5D MkII but that wasn't enough. It would have been the cheapest and easiest solution but I would still have to lug around the same lenses. Have you ever shot for a full day with a 70-200 2.8L? It gets heavy fast, even if it just stays in the bag. After deciding that wasn't going to work, I started looking at other options. Eventually it was Zach Arias and David Hobby who turned me on to Fujifilm's newish line of x-series mirrorless cameras. I lusted over the X100s and the X-Pro1 but it was the X-T1 that eventually sealed the deal for me. I ordered the body and a couple lenses and was hooked right away. This is a setup I don't mind carrying. It fits in my everyday work bag easily, even when paired with a couple flashes and the images from it are outstanding.
I don't want to get into the nuts and bolts of the X-T1 as this isn't intended to be a review. There's enough of them out there. It's more a post to explain where I'm at as a photographer and why I'm excited about the art again.
So what's next? Well, I don't really know. I carry my camera with me every day now and am excited to create again. Is it because of my shiny new toy or is it something else? Again I don't know, but it doesn't hurt thats for sure.