I'm a weenie with a beenie!

Terrific. Macro is one of my favorite modes. You can keep the bees over there though. Please.

Page 15 of the manual states it works with digital cameras (in general). I also thought it was strange there were no digitals in the chart you show but my EF-610 DG Super actually works as advertised and will operate with Nikon flashes in a group.

The Grand Canyon is certainly a worthy subject for a movie. You have handled mixing of panning and zooming on the stills nicely with real video providing a less starchy experience. The music selection is awesome. I really would have liked to be able to zoom in on a couple of the views.

Buying new is no guarantee. I had to return my brand new D800 due to the LCD info display on top dropping out exposure data. Now that it has been gone over by the techs I feel confident it will hold up well. If you think of why it was refurbished you might conclude someone returned it for whatever reason and then it can no longer be sold as new. If you still get the factory support and if there is anything wrong it can be easily corrected. I admit there was some separation anxiety while mine was out for repair, but the reunion was that much sweeter.

I started into 35mm as a teen with a brand new F2S from Nikon. I had the tutelage of a pro and he also used Nikon so the brand stuck to me. Certain lenses were superb, such as the 24mm and the 105mm. I didn't own a standard lens. That camera didn't hold the type of clarity I appreciated in a 16 x 20 and so I acquired a 2 1/2 square, then a 8 x 10 camera. I soon discovered 8 x 10 enlargers are scarce so I've been waiting for the digital world to catch up. I went with the D800e since it was everything I had been waiting for (and from the manufacturer of the camera of my youth).
I have certainly been curious why no standardization of lenses exist. The obvious reason is to keep customers in one outfit....forever. There would be more competition, and thus better equipment, if there were lens mount / connection standards. There is a very nice Canon tilt lens I would love to have, but I'm not buying an outfit to get it.

I acquired Aperture first, then Lightroom having heard so much about it. While the organization features of these products are nice, I was primarily interested in the ability to adjust my photographs. Adjusting the curve in Aperture is really the only feature I think works better than the comparable feature in Lightroom. The graduated filter is awesome.

Wait and you might see a D600 refurb come available.

onOne software makes a product called Resize that may do this for you. I'm sure you can get a trial version to test it with your application.

I would say that the rights to a photo being used for 2-3 years for $800 is about right, or even a starting point depending on how it will be used.

If your job for the employer is shooting photographs then you are paid through your salary. If this is a "favor" then you need to gauge what benefit that has. Ideally you should maintain the copyright to the photographs and be paid when they are published.

Alabama always looked good in the spring. Snowing here in PA today.

Let me refrain from a punch bowl analogy. When I got my Mac Mini I loved it for what I was going to use it for. When I started to do photo editing, I purchased Aperture and found I was lacking on RAM and there was a limitation on my older Mac Mini model. I was prepared to get a Mac Pro, but with the passing of Steve Jobs there seemed like no hope of a newer model coming out. I opted for a hot PC with 16GB RAM a good monitor and haven't looked back.

The rationale behind any such instruction is to minimize the possibility of a spark or power surge that might be harmful to the electronics of either device. Inasmuch as most electronic circuitry contains capacitors that retain a charge even after the power is turned off, the instruction is probably moot. On the other hand, it never hurts to be on the safe side. One exception: Shoe mount flashes (especially older ones) often have large high voltage capacitors that can and will damage the camera and flash and, yes, even harm the photographer, if removed while power is on.[/quote]

A well build camera would have filter capacitors on each leg of a connection to reduce the impact of a spark during connection. I'm sure the manual takes the safe path by explaining to have it off. I would also take this path if I want to avoid repair costs.

I'm a fan of the Mac Mini although the monitor is a reason for selecting a great photo editing machine. The review at http://www.shutterbug.com/content/dell-ultrasharp-u2410-lcd-display-they-call-it-premier-color%E2%80%A6and-it explains that the color calibration of the Dell UltraSharp 2410 is superior.
That said I do not have one on my Mac Mini so I have chosen my Windows machine with NEC PA271W as my editing platform.

For a machine to machine connection (that is without a switch or hub in between) you will need a special Ethernet cable called a crossover. If you can afford a switch, just connect the PC and the Mac to the same switch. Then you need to setup sharing on the PC end and SMB on the iMac to see the share.

Frankly the suggestion to make a DVD sounds like the simplest solution. It also provides an archive of your files that you should create periodically anyway.