dione961,

I am not a Nikon user but Strodav has good advice so offer some additional general comments:

* f5.6 at 140mm will not achieve a shallow enough depth of field to separate the swan from the background. It will just make the background a bit blurred rather than the completely out of focus bokeh look I suspect you were hoping for. Looking at the scene in your image you would probably need a 200m f2.8 or even 300 or more likely 400mm f4 to get that on that particular scene.

* Can't be sure as your image above is low res for publishing, but swan is out of focus and the bare twiggy branches to the left appear sharp? If that is correct then the autofocus picked up the wrong target. Check to see which focusing mode you are using. If an 'area' focus then that will often happen. For a small target in a large scene such as yours, i would probably use centre point only focusing. I would then focus on the swan with the first shutter press, then reframe while holding the first press before pressing the shutter to take the picture. This suggestion also applies to such as close-to portraits - focus on the eyes then reframe for final press. Eyes nice and sharp and depending on lens/ aperture ears/ hair and perhaps even tip of nose may be off focus but it won't matter

* aperture priority is just fine to achieve what you were after, so letting the camera take care of shutter speed and ISO is perfectly reasonable on a daylight scene such as yours.

* Modern cameras tend to 'balance the speed and ISO, setting the speed near to the 1/focal_length and letting ISO adjust accordingly. (I note with my canon it sets speed to the maximum lens length - ie if I am using a 100-400mm zoom at 200mm it will typically set 1/500 rather than 1/250)

* ISO 3600 (thats 'eye-so' not 'eye-ess-oh' BTW) is not so high on a modern camera. Even today some assume ISO behaves the same as ASA on a film camera. Not so. While a 200 ASA film is twice as sensitive as a 100 ASA film, the silver grains get significantly larger the higher the ASA and are more spread out, resulting in increasingly grainy and less sharp images. With digital sensors there is no change of granularity - a 20 Mpx sensor is still 20mpx no matter what the ISO setting, so image sharpness is typically unaffected. the effect of increased ISO can be likened to reducing the size of the individual pixels to reduce the light gathering ability. As the pixels stay at the same density and spacing, the main effect of this is in low light (ie dusk onwards/ street scenes etc.) Then the light gathering ability can be reduced sufficiently that the sensor cannot tell whether a given colour (R, G B) is actually 'switched on' or not - result: either random coloured dots in the dark parts of the image (noise) or a murky dark grey where you saw colour. Easy to see if you zoom in on your PC.

Some suggestions:

* experiment with Aperture priority for landscapes and reasonably stable scenes, and shutter priority for mobile subject (sports/ children/ pets)

* experiment in your back garden/ yard with your lens to find how to get the unsharp background. As a starting point use the largest aperture you have, and begin with the distance from you to the subject about the same as subject to background.

* practise with the focusing options for your camera particularly spot focusing, and repositioning before final shutter press. For active subjects also explore tracking modes

* take a series of images in lower light with different fixed ISO, say 400-6400. Examine on your PC and see when noise starts to be intrusive to your viewpoint then that is when you should be watching auto ISO in the field. But allow for your expected usage - ie if you never enlarge to 20x16 no point 'pixel peeping' at that level, but if you typically crop and use 3/4 of an image, then enlarge to tablet size, that where you are concerned


Good luck and keep on trying and remember that modern cameras can get it right automatically probably 60 or 70% of the time, and are ok for maybe another 20% Fiddling with the setting yourself will enhance or improve the other 30%. But the real challenge - for me anyway - is the composition with the 'wow' factor :)

As I get older, weight and bulk really matter much more than even a few years ago.

As a long term Canon user, like many others I have invested in lenses, that if traded in for a complete system swap would lose much more than that on a body alone.

I had a brilliant Panasonic mirrorless as a backup or 'travel light' system. Superb as it was I very reluctantly traded for a Canon M5 mirrorless because it meant I don't need yo carry extra lenses when using as a backup. If there had been a Panasonic - EF mount converter I would still have it. The M50 is a great camera but even if newer spec than the Panasonic, is functionality not as good. Still a great camera though, and with a x1.6 crop instead of the smaller M4/3 gives x1.6 zoom benefit if required. Benefits - same system (with adaptor) for Canon EF lenses, small, lightweight, less stuff to carry etc etc.

I've just traded in my EOS6DII with Sigma 24-105 art EF for the EOS R with 24-105 RF. The difference is bulk and weight is important to me - the R + 24-105 is 1360g vs. 1650, and size is 135x180mm vs. 144x about 180 ???? (don't know overall length as don't have kit anymore, and adding manufacturer's sizes no good as camera body is measured to outside of battery compartment, and lens includes mount which goes inside body.)

Also save accessories clutter as all filters now 77m instead of 82 for Sigma. (yes I know the Canon EF 24-105 is lighter and uses 77mm filters but when i tested the Sigma was substantially better IQ)

Now for you young guys over 1/2lb in weight is no big deal but 1/2lb here are there mounts up - sufficiently that last week a long trudge up a 1:10 and often 1:7 hill I just took the camera body + lens, tripod and filters and spare battery in my pocket.

So mirrorless is just so much more portable for me - and I accept the Canon models are overpriced, has other faults (depending on your perspective), but also has benefits such as better sensor, 64k focusing points, really snappy focusing, brilliant EVF, non-clunking shutter, 5EV image stabilisation, and high burst rate. I also really like the real-time histogram in the EVF or live view (if I choose), and seeing the image preview in EVF (so much less 'chimping' :)

Of course using EF lenses saves no weight at all, in fact adds a few grams for the adaptor, but as RF 'L' lenses become available for the focal lengths I use, then I can gradually change those if I choose.

I predict in 10 years this debate will be as historical as those who advocate film is the ONLY proper photography medium, and REAL photographers ONLY use manual :)

So echoing other sentiments: if you really like the results from your Nikon lenses, compare the benefits/ downsides of changing to mirrorless. For me they were well worth it, for you, only you can tell. If they are marginal for you, sit tight. If not then if you really like your Nikon glass then hire/ test the Nikon mirrorless body. If your glass is no big deal then hire/ test a body of your choice and a couple of lenses in your favourite focal lengths.

so are Panasonic but their M4/3 cameras are brilliant!

I have or had the 7D1, 6D2 and M5 mirrorless.

Dunno how you regard equipment weight and bulk in your travels - you great photo doesn't look like a 'shot out the car windows' image!

For me weight and bulk are playing a much more significant part in my buying decisions now. Hence for me, mirrorless is the way to go - much smaller for given sensor size, less weight, great Viewfinder, image data in viewfinder etc etc. Love the M5 as my cropped backup or 'travel real light' body with the 18-150 lens with 3 other lenses (one a EF-S with adaptor) all goes in a small camera carry bag.

I am seriously looking at the EOS R for my main body.

Yes I know all the issues/ problems - it weighs almost as much with EF lenses; the EVF is not as good as optical; 'it ain't a proper camera cos it don't have a curtain shutter clunking back and forth', etc etc. Someone should have told Sony that :) and Panasonic, and Olympus, and ......

But the EOS R EVF is outstanding - bright and usable when an optical would have given up; 1000's of super fast focus points covering the whole image area; high FF pixel count so superb in low light; silent shutter - I could go on

In 10 years I predict that 'traditional' DSLRs will no longer be made, and people will wonder why they hung on so long.

So if like me you want to retain your Canon lenses (cos changing bodies is one thing, changing lenses is a whole new cost implication) then look at the M5 or M50 for cropped body or the EOS R for full frame. True they are probably overpriced - but then what camera with a Canon label isn't (or any other big manufacturer for that matter?)

As mentioned above, if your based in the UK the Small Claims Court process is easy and low cost even for claims of several £k. There are no lawyer fees as you document, and forward copies of everything on the internet. https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/court-fees

From what you say the case is clear cut - sometime even the papers arriving on their door is enough for them to get in contact. I have used the process twice in the last 15 years - once for £300 Garmin GPS which didn't perform, and another for a loan of £2000 to a (very ex) friend.

In both cases my documentation was solid as yours would appear to be - the invoices you sent, any emails, a letter from the hotel saying she stayed on your account. Well worth the few hundred you'll need to lay out (ie. £410 total for £5k-10k.) Dont forget to add interest, time on phone calls, any bank charges, disruption to your business as you waste time on the process etc.

Really pis*!$% me of with mine - especially the desparate friend who suddenly stopped answering calls - but got satisfaction, and don't forget if you lose its only the cost of the claim fees. If they lose they get a County Court Judgement registered on the big 3 credit rating agencies. Watch them try to get credit for 5 years after that. Get justice, get what you are due - and if not the CCJ judgement will get even!

depending on your itinerary of course, but when my wife and I went it was the greatest nature trip we had ever done, and nothing has beaten it since.

One of the fascinating things about it is that the great majority of the wildlife has no fear of people. Even when visiting the albatross nesting site and walking among them they took no notice at all even as close as 2 or 3 feet. Nor did the iguanas, and definitely not the tourtoise :) On that basis the equivalent of a 24-105 will cover most eventualities. Some animals or birds are not nearby so perhaps a tele zoom in the range of 100 to 400 or 70-200 equivalent depending on your budget and weight to carry. Depending on your fitness, some of the trips involved moderate walking distances (1/2 to 3/4 ml) over scrub-like terrain - not difficult but not necessarily smooth tracks either.

If visiting several islands by small cruise ship or boat, make sure you have a backpack, preferably with the strap across the chest to keep it in place - some of the ship to boat transfers can be interesting if there is a large swell, and you'll want to keep you hands free! We weren't allowed tripods on our trip, dunno about monopods.

The suggestion of something waterproof is a great addition also. If our trip is anything to go by, a visit to a beach for large sea lions, and another to swim with seals is on the cards. I took a waterproof housing but if I went again it would be a hero or similar lightweight waterproof/ sandproof action camera - while we were there the weather was great, so no need for large aperture

You will enjoy without doubt - I would go again tommorow except for the 1.5day trip there and back from UK!

As Brit tourists, my wife and I have traveled all over USA and never had a problem. NY and DC especially, the first time there we expected a robber at every corner - blame Hollywood for that :) Like any other major city there are of course areas to steer clear of, but the main tourist areas are fortunately well policed in my limited experience.

But on a weekend trip to Paris had 2 theft attempts in 200 yards! On leaving the Eurostar at Gard du Nor, did 2 things stupid (well one before I left). Firstly went to an ATM to get local cash, really should have purchased before I left. Might just as well put up a flashing light say where I kept my wallet. On the way down the escalator a gang of kids came shouting and yelling down, I stepped behind my wife to prevent her being bumped into, as they went past. Dunno why I looked down as didn't feel a thing, but saw a pair of fingers easing my wallet out of the vecro closed pocket! Grabbed his wrist and guess what - he called and screamed for the police!! Neat trick - try to explain to a cop who desn't speak English, and neither of us speaking French, that you were trying to detain a thief not molest a child! Had to let him go as several local people were advancing towards us as well.

second instance, was getting metro tickets from the machine at the bottom of the escalator and checking which station we wanted, single or return etc. A local older person came up and politely asked if I needed any help. Not wishing to appear rude, instead of telling him to loudly to 'go yea forth and multiply' I allowed him to help. His hands flashed over the buttons and I ended up with 2 single tickets for a cost of E50! To this day I still don't know how he pocketed the E35 change.

We thought we were very seasoned traveller but learn a lot within 15minutes of arriving in Paris.

On the camera front, in high risk areas I use an old tatty backpack that I put my camera bag in when traveling on public transport. I leave most at the hotel behind the front desk, along with any other valuables when we go out, only carrying what I intend to use. All that is in a smaller tatty daypack. Don't trust velcro or buttons outside of clothing. Do as French guys do - carry valuables in inside pockets which are zipped closed, or use a small 'man bag' that is worn inside a coat or has a wire through the strap and the strap across the shoulder. I know you guys from Texas may raise an eyebrow at that, lol. But better safe than sorry.

None of this will protect you if targeted, but if the next guy is carry a CaNikon with a large branded strap, an expensive camera bag etc then hopefully you won't be the target. I hope he won't be either but given a choice .....

The weapon of choice in parts of Europe is the knife, so if someone grabs your stuff, let it go and check the insurance.

Like Jeffhacker, equipment weight and bulk are becoming a problem as time goes by.

Also picking up on other points, I like nice kit, am not professional, and occasionally get a cracking image to be proud of - but most are equivalent of good snapshots where any reasonable camera will work fine.

I went mirrorless for my backup body quite recently getting a Canon M5 - great pixel count/ resolution, cropped sensor so extra 60% zoom on standard lenses when necessary, excellent functions, overpriced etc etc. Its a great camera, but picking up on other points elsewhere, like any cropped body it is not too great in low light but the matching lenses are compact, lightweight, but with a limited range. All the FF lenses work fine with the adapter.

Apart from the limitations of the cropped sensor, I think mirrorless is the future - how can a curtain clunking back and forth at 1/4000s be better than an electronic silent shutter? So, losing more money, having tested one, I am about to p/x my 6DII for the new EOS R with the R 24-105. Its compact, lightweight by comparison, great functions, excellent focussing and still FF for low light performance etc.

Incidently, I mentioned this to a professional photographer acquaintance and he was relatively scathing of mirrorless consdering them to be piched at amateurs. Who cares? My money, my choice and from my perspective, quiet shutter, histogram and other info optionally available in a nice bright EVF beats an optical viewfinder clunking shutter hands down :)

Why did I wait and not go to Sony a while ago - cos like most people who have invested in good lenses, and its one thing to lose money on a body, a different matter entirely to add multiple losses on several good quality lenses as well - and most manufacturers rely on this I think.

I think most of us picked our first good camera because of recommendations, or because we evaluated and it best met our needs, wants and budget at that time. Once lenses are added we are often committed unless something drastic happens in the marketplace.

I think from your message you are open to any suggestions. Mine would be: listen to suggestion here, research size/weight reviews on the internet, then go to a good, high level camera retailer and actually test the cameras of interest. Only then will you be able to check that it is comfortable for you to use. Take your own SD card so you can then check the image quality with the type of images you take.

Finally, if we want good quality retailers where we can do such things as test equipment, buy from that retailer. You may pay a small amount extra than shopping around on the internet, but the service you just received in allowing you to test has to be worth that.

Starting with the simple bit - SSD beats HD hands down every time,for performance and physical reliability (try dropping either.) I'm now considering but haven't quite got there of getting a 1TB SSD.

If I understand the question you may be using a cable to directly connect the camera to the computer/backup device. If so it is possible the camera sending data could be the slowest part. In general the closer (electronically) you can get the source to the target the better. A card in a USB3 card reader in a USB3 port on the computer is as close as it gets as the computer is almost accessing the memory directly. A direct cable link from camera to computer has the camera processor interfacing with the computer processor over a cable. With my on-the-go setup (EOS 6D, HP laptop) this was very slow by comparison but I think the 6D has a USB2 port so not surprising. Dunno what other cameras have so yours might be different. I also use more than one card, so until I get home I have 2 backups - one on the PC, another with the card itself. I reformat the cards only when I have transferred them to my local storage at home.

I was really surprised on what a difference card readers and different cables made to data transfer, and chargers and cables made to charging (not applicable in this discussion?) In some case the difference between different plug-in USB card readers was double the throughput (I used h2testw on the PC to read and write directly to a card in a card reader, similarly extension cables etc.) and in all cases card reader was faster than a cable connection to the camera with my setup. This is not lab condition testing but it gives a good idea and the results weren't marginal!

For charging I did some simple tests then bought a tester (search ebay for usb power tester and loads will show.) I then checked all my chargers and usb cables with a nearly flat android tablet. Bottom line - most chargers and cables that I had were rubbish!! After cutting one or 2 cables apart I soon found why - the copper in the cables is probably sprayed on from a distance of 10 feet :) and some didn't look like copper at all. i scrapped dozens of cables and most of the chargers - nearly all I had.

I have now standardised on one manufacturer for SD cards with proven (by me) fast read and write, high power cables from one supplier as theirs were consistently excellent for power and data, - I'm sure others are just as good but having found ones that work for me I stopped looking. just look for usb cable 20 awg or 22 awg, sometimes also shown as 2.4A to find similar. Test one or two. Although the cable awg is typically aimed at fast charging (big copper diameter, higher current potential) I cut one open and found the data wires were also much better diameter and had actual recognisable copper wire inside. In general, shorter cables are also better than longer as resistance is directly proportional to length especially with thin wire which affects data transfer as well as charging. I don't use anything longer than 1m unless I have to.

On a side issue, chargers themselves are vary variable also. A good branded, 4 port 8amp charger (tested with the above power tester, a nearly flat tablet, and a known good cable) was significantly better than anything else I had. I now carry that charger, a USB camera battery charger (search amazon or ebay for USB charger <your battery>), and can charge my tablet, phone, 2x canon lp-e6 batteries overnight, and still have a charge port vacant for an LED night light (so don't get lost in a strange hotel room at night :) with the added advantage I can charge batteries in the car with a 2.4A dual accessory socket usb charger. If I'm on a long trip I carry a backup two port charger setup with single usb battery charger in the suitcase.

Hope that helps

Reading this it all sounds a bit obsessive even to me, but the amount of stuff I carry was driving me nuts. it has significantly cut down the cr*p I carry by a big margin, and charging and data transfer is straightforward. Its what my wife calls a 'splinter moment' (as apposed to a Kodak moment) - when a really irritating problem finally gets fixed (as when you finally get that stubborn splinter out of your finger :)

Crudy phone photo shows my complete, almost world wide USB based data transfer and charging kit for almost everything (except laptop) Note bright colours so not easily lost ... well most of the time

this is surprisingly easy to measure, although perhaps not to lab standards. However using the same process for all tests means that the results will be consistent with each other

set camera to high (or low) speed continuous. Use the image settings of your choice (JPEG, RAW, JPEG + RAW). Use a digital stop watch (on smartphone?) as the subject. manual focus (so no focus time delay).

press shutter for 1st stage (ie get ready for immediate firing of shutter)

Looking through the viewfinder, press and hold shutter as soon as stop watch reaches exact value such as 0s (this not as easy as it sounds :) - best to watch and count the seconds for 4 or 5 seconds to 'get into the rhythm',) then keep holding shutter on continuous shooting and release when you hear the shutter slow down or stutter (ie internal buffer is full, and camera must now copy to card).

Then - and this is the imprecise bit - watch the recording light on the camera and the stop watch, until the recording light goes out and note the time on the stop watch. Then you can easily calculate a lot of info:

* you pressed the shutter for the first frame on an exact stop watch value, but the first image will show a later time. The difference is the shutter latency for the first or a single frame. This can be surprisingly high. On one low priced DSLR camera I tested this was getting on for 1/2 sec! but remember it includes the quality of you pressing the shutter on an exact second.

* The difference between first and last frame number is the number of frames exposed before the shutter slows and effectively is the size of your camera buffer - I don't have exact figures to hand, and it may depend on memory card, but recall on my 6D I could take a maximum of 16 RAW before slow down. JPEG + RAW was less. JPEG only was well over 20 (again, depends on what JPEG 'quality setting you select.)

* After releasing the shutter, if you noted the time when the red recording went out after the camera finished copying from buffer to your card, the difference between that time and the time on the last image is how long the buffer take to transfer all the images. It is easy to calculate an approximate idea of the speed of the card in your camera, for a single or block of images, with your preferred image settings. I tested several different cards that I had at that time and found the Sandisk extreme Pro card to be the fastest of what I had by a good margin (not saying the SEP is the best card, but definitely best of what I had. There are obviously others as good but I worked with what I had.)

This test could easily be repeated with 1 card, then card 2, or both cards for a reasonable idea of the various card/s recording capabilities

If you just want to test standalone card faults / recording potential on a PC (don't know about Macs), then google and get h2testw and Crystal disk mark, both free. the former records a 1Mb file from end to end of the card then verifies it. Obviously a 100% pass is required. It also gives write and read (verify) times for the sequential 1MB file size. Crystal Disk Mark can be set up to test several things but for camera use I set a file size about equal to the size of RAW file I expect, then start a sequential write / read test to run for 5 or 10 minutes ie emulating the recording mode that I think probably happens in the camera (obviously not for that length of time for still images, but need a longish test to find reasonable averages for RAW.)

I test all cards with h2testw when I get them and then know there are no faults. Fortunately camera testing only needs to be done once :) But at the end of that I have excellent idea of which cards are best for performance with my use of a camera and know the read/write speeds with my environment. On a PC it is important to use a good quality card reader (USB3 in my case) and to insert into a native USB(3) slot in the PC. Be aware that some USB2 slots on older PCs may be slower than your camera. Also cheap card readers are surprisingly variable, and don't use a hub or extension cable as they can have a big impact on performance.

Getting ready to be flamed:
this topic always makes me smile. Its like blood sports, religion, and politics. The various 'camps' never seem to compromise (mostly :)

I bet the 'dyed-in-the-wool' manual photographers also insist on buying a stick shift, rear wheel drive car because an automatic front wheel drive is not for 'real drivers' (see older BMW ads.) Yea right. Good automation relieves the tedium and allows the un-distracted user to concentrate on the bit they really enjoy. If you enjoy manual in anything then great, but not everyone does.


There are 3 components to a great picture - composition, sharpness (in the right places), and exposure. For a colour image, colour balance also has great potential to make or break.

When our and about, I always leave my camera on standby, with a 24-105 lens, image stabilisation on, in Av at f8, auto focus, auto white balance, auto ISO (thats ISO not 'eye-ess-oh' by the way), and RAW+JPEG. That way, the fleeting moment when a sudden great shot appears, I have a fighting chance of getting something. Only if I have time to consider after getting the initial shot/s, will I set the camera to what I think is best to get the very best image I can. And yes, I do fully understand the obscure exposure triangle (I say obscure because it does show there is a relationship between aperture, shutter speed, and sensor sensitivity, but doesn't show what it is or in which direction it works.)

In years past while I fiddled with exposure meter, setting the shutter speed and aperture I missed more shots than I care to remember, or got the back end of something rather than the front :)

For me the composition is the art of photography, and by composition I think arrangement and lighting - its why I've got a camera. For me it is also the most difficult and elusive, and the fact that most of what I shoot ends up a shapshot doesn't stop me trying. Also, from my perspective, a great composition is when someone else say 'wow'. I find the practical mechanics both very interesting, and satisfying when I get a difficult exposure right manually. But that's the point - I use my manual expertise when I have time and the auto doesn't work too well.

To the novice today I would suggest:

Start with auto. When you choose to, or find you need to improve exposure of your preferred subject matter, try Aperture priority for general/ landscape photography, or shutter priority if your subject interest is highly mobile. Stick with auto ISO unless there is a good reason not to. When you choose to move from auto read up on good starting points (ie f/8 for portraiture, f/16 for landscapes, 1/500s for sports if you want to 'stop' the action or whatever.

If the technical component of photography really interests you, you can expand your knowledge and practical skill almost ad-infinitum but always remember a perfectly exposed, pin sharp, immaculately colour balanced image of a boring subject is still a boring photo.

oh how true! I was hunting for a particular negative to scan and reprint. When I went through them there was so much irrelevant junk I was embarrased. What posessed me to take a photo of a strange dog in a field? I could go on. When I filtered the 100 or so images what was significant was the only ones that mattered today were of the people - family, friends, and a few that set the context. And don't forget they were in film days when every frame was carefully thought out (yea, right!)

Today I follow the advice of a professional who I asked the same question. His suggestions: Use a different memory card for each day. At the end of each day transfer images to a decent viewer (android 8" tablet in my case.) First quick pass, delete all images that are similar (ie 5 frames on rapid shooting of the same subject), or definitely useless (out of focus or hopelessly incorrect exposure or similar.) Then pass again. There are then 3 grades of images: keepers which you will definitely work on/ want to print or publish (5*), rejects which you would never use (0*) and maybe's (4*) which you might use if the same subject does not have a (5*). He argued if you are not to sure about a 4* why bother with 3,2,1? Finally check your images at the end of each day - this keeps the review process short and manageable. At the end of the event, do a quick review of everything you kept in case there are near duplicates on different days, and if there is something you desperately want to retrieve, you can from the cards before you reformat for the next event. He also suggested that if that seems a bit of a flog, imagine doing a review at the end of a long week of perhaps 1000s of images, or 10,000s if you are trying to find something 2 years downstream.

I did this on a bird shoot, and according to the exposure numbers, I shot almost 700 frames in 2 hours (continuous shooting, typically 5 to 8 frames at a time.) I filtered that to less than 150, and finished with 50 or so in an album.

Similarly with a 4 day trip to NY. 300+ according to exposure numbers, filtered to just over 100, 53 in the album. one double page spread but most 2 or 3 per page, gave a 26 page album which people enjoy looking at (as far as I can tell Although looking at it again, could probably remove 5 images because of similarity to others.

Some of the solutions above seem to need 3 hands?
I was once lucky enough to go on an off road photo safari in Africa (not one of the 'procession along a track'). Before joining, guide was absolutely adamant on a number of things: when among wild animals, anything over the side of vehicle is lost, even if you can see it; unexpected noise is likely to make wild animals nervous and potentially dangerous. My solution - which I still use if in a situation where irretrievable loss is possible - is a wrist strap, a lens cap on a string, the string with an elastic loop for over the lens, and velcro. A small piece of velcro on the cap, and another on the camera wrist strap. Remove cap, and stick on Velcro of wrist strap. In a bouncy, dusty, off road trip, no chance of loss of camera or cap (unless I went over the side as well), no rattles or swinging of the cap. Worked really well. If not likely to lose, just swap elastic/string cap and use a plain one.

For possible lens change I now use the Think tank belt system (providing you don't need more than 1 or 2 extra lenses. With camera on wrist or other strap can remove rear lens cap from lens in belt lens pouch, remove lens from camera body and add rear cap, with one hand on camera body put camera body on new lens still in pouch and lift out, place old lens in pouch. All with 2 hands :) Nothing touches the ground/ rattles/ or drops as either on strap or in pouch. Works really well for me in wet, dirty, or unsafe (for camera) conditions. Its also the reason I use screw in ND / CPL filters (while fully recognising the point raised above about different lens screw-in sizes.) I also use a tripod bag with strap long enough to go across my shoulder so it will stay behind my back until needed, keeping my hands free.

I used this setup in Iceland on the amazing 'Ice beach' in sub zero conditions. Much of my kit was in the bag left in the vehicle. Another photographer in another group had the 'full monty' backpack which he placed on the wet volcanic sand. While setting up his shot on the edge of the surf, a large breaker came in (we had been warned of these by our guide, who also advised 'look behind you and plan your escape route before you set up tripod'.) His group yelled a warning on which he ran back with tripod and camera in hand, tripped over an ice block under the water. Net result - expensive camera and tripod flying in the air as he fell, and everything he had including himself fully submerged, and the entire group had to leave urgently as he was then in danger with cold and wet.

Plenty of excellent advice so just to pick up on some with my two pence worth:

I dunno where the 2 pickpocket capitals of Europe are but not just the Louve in Paris, also Eurostar terminal in Paris! I experienced 2 pickpocket attempts on 2 consecutive escalators while going down to the Metro station! One of them by one of a group of noisy teenagers rushing past us with lots of noise, the culprit quietly standing behind me. I looked down to see two fingers extracting my wallet and grabbed it and him before he did a runner. He then started to yell for the police and unhappy French people started towards my wife and me so I had to let him go! There is a theory that Velcro pockets are almost pickpocket proof - nobody told the adolescents in Paris that's for sure. instead of pockets, there is a reason most French men seem to use shoulder bags and hang on to them!! I got one the same day.

I also use a good ol' US of A neoprene strap to carry my camera - not just for comfort which is most certainly is, but also to not have a strap that shouts 'steal me' in bright Canon, Nikon, or Sony colours etc. I also remove all 'billboard' tags from my camera bags, backpack etc or black them out with permanent marker if not practical. I really hope nobody steals your camera or bag, but if yours looks better/ flashier/ more expensive than mine, then I'm more inconspicuous.

If your camera or bag strap has clip releases, use a bit of Velcro 'one wrap' (not unbranded substitutes) and it will prevent accidental or deliberate unclipping.

Finally, as happened to one of our group in large public square in a long queue for a cathedral, if someone threatens you with a knife, let them take your kit.

Bottom line - my wife and I have been fortunate to travel to many interesting parts of the world for many decades and have experienced virtually no problems at all. With a few simple precautions without being obsessive you can make yourself less of a target - and keep a look about and don't go to know trouble areas is one of the best.

This reply repeats much of what has already been said and with specific lens combinations I have. Also can't speak for Nikon but expect the results to be similar.

I have spend a lot of dosh on TCs by Kenko and Sigma. In all cases the results were 'OK' but the difference in IQ (image quality) sharpness and saturation without/with a TC was obvious on looking at the images at A3 size and even A4 (Letter) - especially the x2 which was barely acceptable.

I had a Canon 70-200 f2.8 with Sigma x1.4TC on FF (full frame) which gave me about 100-280 f4 and a Sigma x2 TC for 150-400 f5.6. Also had a Tamron 150-600 which is a great lens but a TC wouldn't work because AF was lost because of the aperture loss.

So when I went out, rather than carry the lot, I took the 24-105 + 70-200 + TCs, or the 24-105 + 150-600

In an effort to reduce bulk, weight, stuff to carry I rationalised my lenses somewhat. I found that IQ of the 70-200 with x1.4, enlarged to the same visible size was better than the 70-200 with x2! So the x2 was pointless especially given it knocks of 2 stops, so any lens less than f4 to start with probably won't autofocus at f8 especially if in less than bright sunlight.

I tested the new Canon 100-400, with the Canon x1.4 TC, enlarged to the same as the Tamron 150-600 and again the IQ was better than the Tamron at 600mm (to be fair to the Tamron there is somewhat of a price difference to say the least.)

So now I have my 'light' kit (relatively light as if I really wanted to reduce size and weight I wouldn't go Full Frame):
Canon 24-70 f4 L, + 70-200 f2.8, Canon x1.4 TC for range 24- 280 at f4,
and my 'long range' Sigma 24-105, Canon 100-400, Canon x1.4 TC for range 24- 560
The weight and bulk of both kits is about the same and both go into the same bag.

They say that hindsight is 20:20 vision and if I had known what I know now I could have saved a small fortune. So my suggestion is:
Decide on what lens range and you want to cover;
Buy the best lenses you can afford as an enlarged image is often better than a longer poor lens, or a shorter lens with a cheaper TC
Pick the best zoom or prime lens/es to cover that range;
If you want a long lens, compare with actual images the benefits of a smaller zoom + TC, with a single zoom for the whole range. If you buy (as has been suggested above) a good zoom with a manufacturer's good TC the results are better (in my own experience)
Don't bother with the x2 TC as the results can be barely acceptable and the 2 stop aperture loss means the combination may not even autofocus.