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I must have been about 9 or 10 years old when the Leica M4 came out. I frequently left nose prints at our local camera store and I dreamt about how cool it would be to take pictures with a Leica and especially the brand new M4. So I kept on torturing my dad to let me buy a used Russian Leica knockoff with my saved up money but he said no every time and was insistent that they were crappy cameras. He had worked for a camera manufacturer (ADOX) building prototypes and so he knew about the dubious quality of those Russian cameras. He soon after built me a little ADOX rangefinder made out of 3 or 4 broken cameras. I had that for years until I bought a Canon FT-b.

A while ago I ran a test with my little D3300. I wanted to find out how many f/stops I could underexpose and then compensate in post before there was any discernible difference in the quality of the pictures.

I took pictures of a contrasty scene where direct sunlight flooded a room with light colored walls and very dark furniture in the shadows. I also turned off noise reduction and Active D-Lighting and shot RAW (NEF).

Needless to say I was able to underexpose 3 full stops before the white balance started to shift but even then the picture would have been perfectly salvageable.

So with that in mind I now usually have the camera underexpose 1/3 to 1/2 stop from what the meter tells me which pretty much eliminates any blown out highlights. Shadows of course still can get a bit grainy at high ISO but can be easily dealt with in post.

This is like Volkswagen saying we built more cars than Mercedes so we must be better.

Besides using the Elements RAW converter I suggest to also convert your Nikon NEF files using Nikon NX-D and then comparing the results. I noticed that Capture NX-D often provides better skin tones than third party RAW converters and also gives you the ability to adjust many Nikon camera specific settings. Nikon Capture NX-D can be downloaded for free from the Nikon download site.

https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/sw/133.html

Just accept the license agreement (checkmark) and select your region for the free download.

Not sure about Mac. I have a PC.

As soon as I connect my iPhone via USB cable to my PC it shows in my list of drives.
You have to acknowledge on the iPhone that you allow access the photos and then the folders and pictures become visible on the PC and can be copied or deleted.

Very good and free: Microsoft SyncToy 2.1 (x64).

With it you can create batch processes like either backing up or mirroring a certain folder on both drives.

Download site:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15155

When I was 12 I got a cheap darkroom setup for Christmas.

I remember sitting in the closet between all the coats spooling B/W film into a JOBO tank.

Then when the film was developed I had to move all the darkroom equipment into the single bathroom of my parents 2 bedroom apartment. The enlarger sat on top of the washing machine and the trays were on a wooden board across the bathtub.

I remember a few times where I had set up everything and had just unpacked the photo-paper my mom would be knocking on the door telling me that she desperately had to go to the bathroom.

So to answer the question, yes I do remember fondly those times but today I prefer my computer instead of having to go through all the hassle.

Yes! It is called ISO.

ISO goes up dynamic range goes down. Less noise penalty with newer sensors.

So I read some reviews on the Tamron 18-400 and it is (just as I suspected) a compromise at best. According to the reviews it's not particularly sharp, has focusing issues, a lot of lens distortion (which would have to be manually corrected) and it reaches the 400mm only when focused to infinity.

I never understood the reasoning behind someone purchasing an expensive DSLR (which is inherently an interchangeable lens camera) and then stick a large but mediocre super zoom on it. If convenience matters so much more than picture quality then why not just get one of these travel zoom camera and be done with it!

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you have said in this thread. If people have AfterShot Pro and like it who am I to try and convince them otherwise. Just like you I like to compare products and then try to find something that works for me.

Since I am a Nikon guy I used to love Nikon Capture NX-2. That program combined RAW conversion and editing all in one package and even let you edit and save NEF files natively without a sidecar file. Unfortunately NX-2 is no longer being supported by Nikon and now the NEF files of more recent cameras will no longer load.

So after purchasing a D7200 I had to basically start from scratch and find a decent RAW converter and editing program. I started using Elements then noticed that many functions can only be edited in 8-bit mode (Paintshop Pro edits for example can be done and saved in 16-bit mode). Also, the RAW converter in Elements is very basic and does not get updated when new cameras come out. So every time you buy a new camera you also have to buy the newest version of Elements. I am an enthusiast and not a professional so goodbye Adobe.

I now use Capture NX-I and DXO 10 for RAW editing and TIFF conversion and then edit the TIFF file in Corel Paintshop Pro. Paintshop Pro overall is a decent editor especially when used with NIK or Topaz plugins.

I'm still looking for that perfect RAW converter though.

NX-D is a mixed bag and definitely not a full-fledged editing program compared to what the old NX-2 was.

I use NX-D strictly as a RAW converter and pretty much only when I need more natural skin colors. Nice is that NX-D has the ability to manipulate in post many of the actual camera settings like picture control, noise reduction, D-Lighting and white balance.

Unfortunately lens correction only covers Nikon lenses. I have several Tamron and Tokina lenses and when using those I have to resort to an older version of DxO for RAW conversion.

All in all it is a pretty functional RAW converter but certainly not a complete editing package. I do hate the clumsy interface. You get what you pay for I guess.

I also have a D7200 which I love and so I am curious as to what your reasons are to upgrade to a D500 or D750. I have used the D7200 for all kinds of photography and it never let me down or gave me the feeling that it was inadequate for the job. I do have a carefully selected lens collection that accommodates my type of shooting. Thanks for your input!

I think (and this is my own personal opinion) that super-zooms like the 18-200 are really no longer needed on modern high megapixel DX cameras.

Modern DX cameras will brutally reveal the flaws of any lens and only show their full potential when used with good to excellent glass.

Most of my shots with my D7200 are done now with primes or short zoom lenses. My walkaround lens is a 17-50mm f/2.8 which works great for vacation shooting. I can count the times on one hand where I really missed or needed the range of a telephoto lens. Also, if bad comes to worse and I really need that extra range, with 24mp there is a lot of room to crop.

Yes, I have and use telephoto lenses but they are relegated to special type photography like portraiture or wildlife. Only then will I stick that tele on my camera and it comes off as soon as I am done.

I bought AfterShot Pro 3, installed it played with it...and then never used it!

I thought at first it would be a good fit since I use PaintShop Pro 2019 as my main editing program. I was also lured in since it promised lens correction for third party lenses. As other people have mentioned the RAW (NEF) conversion is mediocre and the lens correction doesn't work very well or not at all depending on the lens.

So now I am using an older version of DXO Optics Pro which gives me the correct lens correction for all my camera and lens combinations. If I really want to nail skin tones I use Nikon Capture NX-D even though I hate the interface and logic flow of that program.

I sort my pictures in a simple Windows folder structure by occasion and date so I don't have to rely on proprietary software.