Yeah, I get that. Some days I feel like than and want to just dump DX and move to FX, like the good old days of film cameras. But then I look at the size and weight savings and the added reach for the telephoto lenses and that urge goes away. I have a smartphone with me at all times, but I very rarely use it to take pictures. I've grown accustomed to the DX and I'm quite pleased with the pictures I can get with it. I think my next lens will be the AF-S Nikkor 200-500 f/5.6E. That will give me 300-750mm on the DX.

Yeah, I confused you a bit by talking about pixel count. You're right that it's not providing the magnification boost, but what it does is provide the number of pixels required to properly view or print the picture. It's the sensor size that provides the magnification boost.

You had the same thing with the large format film cameras, where the standard lens was something like 80mm for the 3X4 or some such. It's been a very long time since I've even played with those (multiple decades.)

A 50mm lens (doesn't matter if DX or FX, focal length is focal length) will give the DX sensor the apparent view of a 75-80mm lens (the crop factor is 1.54X, I think.)

That's not the way I understand it. In a DX camera, the sensor is smaller, but in that smaller space you have the same amount of pixels as you have in an equivalent FX camera. (The 810 has 36MP.) So in essence you have a smaller section of the picture but with an equivalent amount of pixels and that represents about a 1.5X crop factor for the DX cameras over the FF sensor.

There is a direct relationship between the magnification provided by the focal length of a lens and the size of the sensor. The smaller the sensor, the more "magnification" you get for the same actual focal length. So a DX has a 35mm standard lens and the FX has a 50mm standard lens. If you use the FX 50mm standard lens on the DX, you will get the apparent magnification of an 80-85mm lens on the DX sensor.

In a DX, you get the 50% increase in magnification for the same focal length, but the issue comes with wide-angle lenses because of that 1.5X crop factor.

I'm considering the 12-24mm but I just don't see the need for such a lens when I have several that already go down to 18mm. Of course, I'm sure the 12-24 does a much better job of rendering the wide-angle shots that a super-zoom lens, but I just don't do much of those as my predilection is more towards telephoto work. Maybe the 200-500 would be something to look at.

My current personal Trinity is the f/1.8 35mm, the f/3.5-4.5 18-140mm and the f/3.5-5.6 18-300. My most used lens currently is the 18-140; it is light and very sharp. I have several other DX lenses, which my daughter uses.

The reason I like SSDs is there's nothing to break. Hard drives fail sooner or later and for backup, SSD is great, albeit more expensive. In my laptop, I have 2 SSDs and one HDD. I store all my critical stuff on the SSDs and the data on the HHD is backed up to the cloud.

Also, Thunderbolt3 uses a USB-C connection and is essentially DP (display port) and USB-3.1 combined. You should be able to connect a USB-C drive to the Dell. I recommend the Samsun 850EVO SSD drives.

SSD. Hard drives are so 2012.

So what? The OP was vague enough that mentioning the 18-140 is not excluded. I had earlier mentioned that lens and I'm glad someone else talked about it as well. It's a great all-purpose, walkaround lens, with the FF-equivalent range of 28-210.

It's a superb lens, small, lightweight and very sharp at all settings, as far as I could tell. This lens is a sleeper, but I'm very pleased with mine and highly recommend it as an all-purpose lens.

I think you mean to say OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer.)

I have the 18-300 f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. It's the more expensive and heavy lens. I like it just fine, but it's heavy and big. My current favorite that lives on the camera all the time is the super 18-140 f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. I also understand the 18-200 is an awesome lens, but I don't have that one. I really like my 18-140 and I run around with that one and the 35mm f/1.8G in my pocket for quick access as needed. My 18-300 stays at home unless it's specifically needed.

Whereas the Ni-MH and Ni-Cad chemistry batteries did drain over time when unused, a good quality Li-Ion or Li-Polymer chemistry battery should keep its charge for several months. I keep a spare 20,000mAh battery in my CUV for any emergency and I also have a 10,000mAh battery in my computer bag to recharge tablet, phone, etc. They are on standby for months an lose very little. My Nikon batteries have been very reliable for years now. Get quality equipment.

Exactly right. I have 2 slide rules on my shelf and I have not used them in over 30 years. They are great for giving you an idea of the magnitude, great for approximation. Useless for high precision.

I must confess I haven't read such sanctimonious tripe from a bunch of poseurs in a very long time.

"Real photographers only use manual mode."
"I have super high-end cameras, but I only use manual mode. To do anything else would be beneath me."
"Any kind of automatic is for dweebs. Real (insert activity nomenclature) only ever use manual."
"I do quadratic equations with a silex."

You guys absolutely crack me up.

By not having to worry about manual settings, I can concentrate much more on composition and getting THE picture I want. Just the other night, I took pictures at an art gallery where my daughter received an award for one of her pieces. Three minutes later, I had over 40 pictures from different angles and poses and they were all properly exposed.

I love DSLRs, and with a 64GB SD card, I can shoot to my heart's content.

I currently have a D5200 also, and I'm going to be upgrading soon; trying to decide between a D500 and an FX model. And no, I don't need any help in the decision.

If you get an iPad, you will lose a lot of connectivity. I don't know how old your Samsung is but my Samsung Note Pro 12.2 tablet has an awesome screen. I too use the WMU and the image is not very clear but that's because you're only getting a preview, not the real image, which would take way too much time to transfer as you look through in real time.

To transfer the pictures to your tablet, you will not be able to read the camera's SD card using the microSD card slot in your tablet. (Note iPads do not have any microSD slots.) The formats are different and removing the microSD card from you tablet all the time is not a good idea. What you could do is get hold of an inexpensive USB OTG cable and either connect the camera's USB cable to the OTG attached to your tablet, or connect an SD card reader to the OTG cable and move the SD card from the camera to the OTG-attached reader.

I have not tried attaching the USB cable from my camera to the OTG cable on my tablet to monitor and take pictures in real time, I'm not sure that would make much difference as you would still get the low quality preview.

You can find the OTG cable here:
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Micro-USB-Adapter-6-Inch/dp/B00GM0OZ4O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489762267&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=usb+otg+cable&psc=1

This gadget allows you connect any USB storage device to the tablet and you can read and write to it.

Nice picture, too bad you were listing at the time. That's one thing I try to pay attention to as much as possible when I take pictures.

I'm enjoying the discussion on this thread, it's something that I see a lot on some other boards that I haunt. I'm a long range competition shooter (a different type of shooting,) and we have similar discussions, equipment Vs skill and so on.

I'm of the opinion that a great camera or rifle will not make you a great photographer or competitor, but I have yet to see a great competitor use anything but the best equipment (s)he can find or get. It's not quite the same with cameras as great pictures can be and are taken all the time with less than top of the line equipment, but like in long range competitions, there are times when quality cameras and lenses will be able to do things that lesser equipment just won't do.

However, as an illustration of how you can see that great competitors use great equipment, here is a little story. At the last National Matches, I was captain of a shooting team and some of our members did not get to the match. I found 2 competitors who were anxious to shoot team and were available. In team matches, the shooter does not have to account for wind or other conditions; (s)he shoots under the instruction and command from the wind coach. I spent an hour or so the evening before instructing the new shooters about my commands and what they are supposed to do and so on. Essentially, they aim where I tell them to on the target following specific cryptic commands and the break the shot within a second or two of my command to fire. For me, it's reading and interpreting the conditions and for the shooter, it's marksmanship and paying attention. It's a lot of fun. For the shooter.

So I fire my first two shooters, one of whom is a recruit. He comes up to the line with proper equipment including a real bipod and we proceed to shot a 199 out of 200 at 1,000 yards. He was grinning from ear to ear he had so much fun; this guy could shoot and follow commands. Then it was time to shoot the next recruit and that's when I noticed as he came up to position that he had a crappy bipod. My heart sank right there. We went from top of the heap to middle of the pack during that string. He could hold where I was telling him to hold but his elevation was crap and at 1000 yards, you will suffer on target. Left to right on target was great, but up and down was the pits. He could place the shot where I told him to, but his equipment was not up to the task. Where we had medaled the week before with the whole team, we didn't even register that day.

At the national level, I assumed (yes, go ahead and laugh) that the shooters all had commensurate equipment for the task and didn't even think about bipods. I had quizzed them about the bullet they were using and the powder charge and even the barrel length, just not about the bipod. If I had known, I would have procured something better but you just don't do that on the line. You don't change your equipment on the line at a National competition. Well, not if you expect to win. The bipods are very different and affect the results. It's like taking someone's P&S camera and giving them a D5 with a long telephoto lens and have them take pictures of the players at the Super Bowl for 15 minutes, with no time to read the instructions or ask questions. You go with what you brung and hope for the best.

So yeah, the equipment does not make the photographer or the competitor, but lousy equipment can surely affect the performance.