Oh yeah, after getting the D7100 and a few assorted odds and ends, I won't be getting any new lenses for a while. Retirement tightens things just a little. But it does give me more time to spend on my new toy.

I like to take photos of the Great Lakes ships along the St. Clair River, so a larger lens comes in handy. I have a Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR on the D7100. I've had this lens for a few years and it works great for me. On my D5100, I have the Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR that came with my semi-retired D200. I also have a 50mm f/1.8D that is great for family shots. One lens that I never used is the Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR that was part of my D5100 kit. I think I will put that on the D5100 in place of the 18-200 now that I have the D7100 with the bigger lens on it to eliminate all the overlap. I'm good for a while on equipment, but it doesn't hurt to dream about that 70-200 2.8.

Last year I gave Lightroom a try with a 30 day trial just because I always like to try new things. It just didn't make any sense at the time especially the organizing of photos so I removed it from my Mac. Now that Aperture is going away, I gave Lightroom another try. This time, I did some reading about transitioning from Aperture to Lightroom. Now the light bulb came on and it's making sense. I figure over the next few months I should become comfortable enough to decide if I want to stick with Lightroom or go with Apple's Photos when it comes out... IF Photos does what I need. My fear is Photos will end up closer to iPhoto than Aperture.

Thanks. I've worked on several different computer systems for years going back to my days at the GM Tech Center so I'm pretty familiar with manuals like this. I think it is an excellent reference manual with loads of information, but not so much a step-by-step how-to for the beginner. It forces you to jump around a lot looking for the info you need.

Last night, I downloaded the iBook version of "Mastering the Nikon D7100" by Darrell Young. It's a very good book and it was only $16.99. I also downloaded the D7100 manual from the Nikon website to my iBooks library. This way I always have the manuals handy. At home I call them up on my Mac and when I'm out and about, I have them on my iPad. In the past, I have done the same thing for my D200 and D5100.

USN 68-74

USS Bexar (LPA-237)
River Division 512
USS Vancouver (LPD-2) Probably had some of your CH-46's aboard several times.

Years ago, my brother and I would take turns being the dog when we were up north pat hunting. Back then, there were plenty of birds and that worked pretty well. We finally wised up and got some real bird dogs. Hunter is an English Setter and my brother had a French Brittany, Bonnie. Those two dogs worked great together and were a real treat to watch. Sadly, Bonnie's gone now. What kind of birds do you hunt out in CA?

Dennis2146 -

From your avatar it looks like you are a Marine. Thanks to you too for your service.

The picture shows Hunter's first birds when he was 6 months old. Those are three chukars on the log. That was 10 1/2 years ago. Shortly after that, he went to a 5 week bird dog boot camp at the Rooster Ranch up in the thumb of Michigan. He's been a great bird dog and buddy for all these years. We both still look the same and are going strong.

I figured it had something to do with increasing inventories. I think I may have a mild case of GAS coming on. Like I mentioned earlier, one of those 70-200 2.8's would sure look nice on the D7100. Of course, I would need a bigger bag too... and some filters. Maybe a new tripod.

Update!

The D7100 has arrived. The battery is being charged and I have rearranged my Think Tank bag to fit the D7100 next to the D5100. The D200 has been placed in semi-retirement, but is ready to be reactivated at a moment's notice.

Update!

The D7100 has arrived. The battery is being charged and I have rearranged my Think Tank bag to fit the D7100 next to the D5100. The D200 has been placed in semi-retirement, but is ready to be reactivated at a moment's notice.

Looks like I can go across the road to the post office this morning and pick up my new toy. Maybe I should walk over now and check to see if it's there yet. Yippee!

Great article, and the kid even has a better camera than me. But my new D7100 should arrive today or tomorrow.

Thanks all. I've been lurking around for the past few weeks and found this to be a great site full of very helpful info. It's pretty much the reason I decided to go for the D7100.

I'm a long time Aperture user and another decision I made based on several comments on this site was to give Lightroom a try. I've been playing around with it for about a week now and like it more each time I use it.

I have to be careful though because I read a lot of good things on those 70-200 2.8 Lenses. Lot's of $$$ especially with the purchase I just made on the D7100. Might be a good Christmas present from me to me.

BTW - What's this GAS I keep reading about? Is it something you get from spending too much time on this site?

Just stopped in to say hello from Michigan. I'm a retired automotive designer / old Vietnam vet. I live on Lake St. Clair and enjoy taking photos of the ships on the St. Clair River with my small collection of Nikons. They include a D200 and a D5100. But the collection is expanding. A D7100 is in transit from Adorama as I type this.

Don