Of this entire post of yours, the thing that struck me the most was that you're 52yo! All along I have thought you are 30+yo based on the profile picture, which looks "young".
I agree with most of the points you mentioned, but personally I love all the improvements in AF tracking and high iso performance. These 2 features had allowed me to deliver shots which would otherwise be impossible.
If let's say one's shooting mainly stationary stuffs like landscapes/portraits with good lighting, and where you have the time to adjust, all cameras would be sufficient to capture the scenes. But for things such as S-League football matches which I shoot regularly, only the "technicaly superior" cameras such as your D4 could cut it.
Imagine this: all football matches are held in the evenings, which even with the floodlights, is still pretty dim. The football players twist and turns instantneously and requires a shutter speed of at least 1/1000s to capture. Even though I am already using the super tele 500mmf4, the iso has to fly to at least 6,400 or 12,800 for such shots. If the camera's high iso performance is poor, I would not be able to deliver good images to the S League teams/FAS.
I'm glad that technology advancements could allow me to deliver results under poor circumstances.
(And yes, the AF tracking really works, and it's rather accurate! try it on a fast lens to see the magic!]
