I have State Farm Insurance and a policy to cover my gear up to $10,000 is only $160 a year which I think is very, very reasonable. The only thing that was a pain in the butt was getting receipts for all the equipment which State Farm needed.

Good thing was that I could down load my order history from B&H Photo and Adorama. Here is the kicker I couldn't download itemized invoices from Canon, had to call customer service. They sent me via email itemized invoices for all my gear purchased through them, which was a lot.

Just don't forget all of gear like filters, batteries, bags and cases, straps which adds up to a nice penny.

What do you guys thinks about having insurance on your gear, I really never thought of it till I read about it in UHH.

I shoot Canon and all my good lenses were purchased from Canon as refurbished, one year coverage. They all look like they just came of the production line. So refurbished is as good as gold. Don't know if Nikon has a refurbished web site as Canon has.

Been there done that....

I have Optimum for phone, internet, TV and also I have a fax machine which works with this service.

What type head to use when shooting football from the side lines using a mono-pod? I shoot with a Canon 7D MKII with battery grip and the lenses range from Canon 100-400 which gets heavy after a while. Have a Canon 70-200 f/4 which needs no mono-pod. Also shoot with a Canon 70-200 f/2.8. I enjoy shooting without the use of a mono-pod but my 71 years old arthritic hands are starting to tell me something.

Now I am using a Manftotto 679B mono-pod which has been replaced a few times when the players run into it. The head I now have is a BENRO BH2 which at times is a pain because I need to lock the head in place after every play. The hands start to lock up a bit by the 3rd. quarter.

I tried shooting without the head but I just start picking up the entire camera and mono-pod, now I have the added extra weight of the mono-pod.

Any ideas would be appreciated, thanking you all in advance for your time and effort.

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Not a pro on this subject but I use a Canon PIXMA MX922 and leave it on 24/7 and so far no problems. I hope that I just didn't jinx myself?

I am using the Canon PIXMA MX922 and the screen shows that ink is low and needs to be replaced. I just keep on printing and I get a ton more out of the ink cartridge. It uses 5 ink cartridges and would cost an arm and a leg to replace every time it says to replace. Also as many of you do I purchase a different brand that is made for this printer, been using LD cartridges with no problem. Good luck no matter what you decide to do.

I have been shooting sports via the Canon 7D MKII which is a crop sensor camera. I use the Canon 2.8 70-200mm, Canon 4.5-5.6 100-400mm and also the Canon 4.0
70-200mm when I want to travel lite. Indoors I use the Canon 2.0 135mm, Canon 2.8 24-70mm, happy with the results. Just make sure you do your homework and also check reviews of cameras on YouTube.com. Good luck and have fun...

(Download)

You can use a rubber wrist band, that will do the trick. Used it on my Tamron 18-270mm lens worked fine, after I sent the lens in for a check up it came back minus the lens creep. Who Knew?

Taste like TUNA!

I have been using 3rd party batteries for some time now. Only had one problem with a battery which was hard to remove from the camera, it was swollen up. When I took it out could see the the surface wasn't flat and that's want made it hard to remove. I had that battery for four years, it paid for itself many times over. But for the price you pay, why not replace the batteries every few years. It's cheap enough. As far as shooting time, I shoot football and hockey games and average anywhere from 350-650 shots in large RAW format with no problem what soever. So I would say go with third party and check them from time to time that their shape hasn't changed. The camera I have is the 7D mk II.

It only takes a few seconds to format a card so why not format for each camera, I know that time is of the essence.