Hello everyone,

I'm new here so wanted to do a little introduction before I ask for advice. My name is Jorge, born and raised in Puerto Rico until I was 23, then in 1982 I joined the best military force on earth, the US ARMY and was active for almost 9 years. I always loved photography so my very first check bought me a nice Canon AE-1P and I loved it. I met a beautiful lady in Tacoma, WA in 1985 and guess what, I married her :) Then I was sent to Korea for an overseas tour in 1987 and while over there, I sold my camera and all the gear I had :( with the idea of getting a new model after coming back to the states. Got back to the states and no camera. I got out of the military after being sent to Desert Storm; got busy, started a family, got a job and never bought a nice camera again. I stayed in Tacoma where I live and work now. Have a daughter 22, a son 18 and still no camera and I hope I didn't get you all bored to death, sorry if I did.

Now, I still want to buy myself a "nice" camera. Costco has a Nikon D7500 with two lens bundle for $1599.00 which I think might be a nice set up, but I'm not sure about it. Can you please let me know your thoughts and advise. Thank you all in advance.

Who is this "mainstream"? Advertising and PR?

Which laboratory independently tests cameras and printers?
Which independent academic scientists or engineer studies them?
Which peer-reviewed scholarly journal publishes articles about them?
How many of the people who do write about them are paid endorsers?

About the only independent voice is Consumer Reports--and it's budget
is too tiny to even begin to adequately test cameras.

The ultimate source for most of what you hear about camera companies
is the companies themselves. Actually, this is true for the entire
"high tech" sector: few journalists understand the technology, so most
articles in the popular press are little more than re-writes of press releases.

Typical title: "<Company X> Introduces the New <Product Y>".
Or: "Which is the Best Camera Ever <Product X> or <Product Y>?"
(The fact that it might be <Product Z> that hasn't been made for
30 years is *never* mentioned.)

There is no "mainstream": just a carefully orchestrated chorus of
sales talk. Nikon's ad budget in 2001 was $18.2 mn -- that buys a
lot of opinon. Who knows what it is today? Canon's ad budget
is rumored to be even larger.

I hope you realize that people are paid by high-tech companies to
post on-line. And it's pefectly legal (at least in the USA).

The idea that public companies want to increase earnings
is not controversial. Nor is the idea that total camera sales revenue is
dominated by consumer purchases (and that the photography profession
is shrinking). Nor is the idea that the Joe Consumer is probably not the
biggest expert around when it comes to optics, electronics, and embedded
systems--or even photography.

Can people really not know that professional photographres are going
out of business all over the USA? And that camera stores are closing?
And that camera repair shops are closing? And that photo labs are
nearly extinct? Even wedding photogrphers are having a hard time
making ends meet. Obviously, this has had a big impact on camera
manufacturers: the tiny pro market would only support a small company
like Leica, not giant companies like the big Japanese makers.

Even just 20 years ago, I had my passport photo by a profesional
photographer. 50 years ago, people who wanted portraits had them
done in a photographer's studio. Less than 150 years ago, amateur
photographers were rare: photographers were mostly professionals.

Then along came George Eastman. Today the great company he founded ,
Eastman Kodak, is a shadow of its former self. George Eastman
committed suicide in 1932

Everyone knows Kodak for its cheap cameras, but only photographers
know about its excellent R&D labs and technical publications. Who
now publishes hundreds of technical papers? Not Nikon, Canon or Sony.
Prior to the 1950s, Kodak even published the formulas for its developers.
Good luck getting a frimware listing for any of today's digital cameras.

Companies and corporate titans come and go--only art is permanent.
So having an economic system that aims only to produce products
services and not great art is kind of strange. But there are few NEA
grants for photogrphers--and none for camera makers.

As for being cynical, well, there's quite a bit of that around these days,
especially in Washington, DC.