Agree, have used BR for years and never a problem. Also, their customer service is top notch! Some how I lost the strap that goes under the arm and called BR and a week later, received a new strap. They know how to take care of their customers!

Thanks Bob, just wish I was the writer. Author unknown, but hits the nail on the head! America has finally put someone in the white house that fights back instead of sitting back hoping to withstand the barrage of hate from the left.

Maybe you need to read the Bible!

Before you go spouting about Donald Trump, maybe you need to take care of the problems in your own country! Just saying..................
I will take a fighter anytime over politicians who get pushed around by lobbyists, paid off and claim they really are for America! Give me a break! I will take a Patton any day over the wimps we have had in the past!

“My Leftist friends (as well as many ardent #NeverTrumpers) constantly ask me if I’m not bothered by Donald Trump’s lack of decorum. They ask if I don’t think his tweets are “beneath the dignity of the office.”

Here’s my answer: We Right-thinking people have tried dignity. There could not have been a man of more quiet dignity than George W. Bush as he suffered the outrageous lies and politically motivated hatreds that undermined his presidency. We tried statesmanship. Could there be another human being on this earth who so desperately prized “collegiality” as John McCain? We tried propriety – has there been a nicer human being ever than Mitt Romney? And the results were always the same. This is because, while we were playing by the rules of dignity, collegiality and propriety, the Left has been, for the past 60 years, engaged in a knife fight where the only rules are those of Saul Alinsky and the Chicago mob.

I don’t find anything “dignified,” “collegial” or “proper” about Barack Obama’s lying about what went down on the streets of Ferguson in order to ramp up racial hatreds because racial hatreds serve the Democratic Party. I don’t see anything “dignified” in lying about the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi and imprisoning an innocent filmmaker to cover your tracks. I don’t see anything “statesman-like” in weaponizing the IRS to be used to destroy your political opponents and any dissent. Yes, Obama was “articulate” and “polished” but in no way was he in the least bit “dignified,” “collegial” or “proper.”

The Left has been engaged in a war against America since the rise of the Children of the ‘60s. To them, it has been an all-out war where nothing is held sacred and nothing is seen as beyond the pale. It has been a war they’ve fought with violence, the threat of violence, demagoguery and lies from day one – the violent take-over of the universities – till today. The problem is that, through these years, the Left has been the only side fighting this war. While the Left has been taking a knife to anyone who stands in their way, the Right has continued to act with dignity, collegiality and propriety. With Donald Trump, this all has come to an end. Donald Trump is America ’s first wartime president in the Culture War.

During wartime, things like “dignity” and “collegiality” simply aren’t the most essential qualities one looks for in their warriors. Ulysses Grant was a drunk whose behavior in peacetime might well have seen him drummed out of the Army for conduct unbecoming. Had Abraham Lincoln applied the peacetime rules of propriety and booted Grant, the Democrats might well still be holding their slaves today. Lincoln rightly recognized that, “I cannot spare this man. He fights.”

General George Patton was a vulgar-talking, son-of-a-bitch. In peacetime, this might have seen him stripped of rank. But, had Franklin Roosevelt applied the normal rules of decorum then, Hitler and the Socialists would barely be five decades into their thousand-year Reich.

Trump is fighting. And what’s particularly delicious is that, like Patton standing over the battlefield as his tanks obliterated Rommel’s, he’s shouting, “You magnificent bastards, I read your book!” That is just the icing on the cake, but it’s wonderful to see that not only is Trump fighting, he’s defeating the Left using their own tactics. That book is Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals – a book so essential to the Liberals’ war against America that it is and was the playbook for the entire Obama administration and the subject of Hillary Clinton’s senior thesis. It is a book of such pure evil, that, just as the rest of us would dedicate our book to those we most love or those to whom we are most indebted, Alinsky dedicated his book to Lucifer.

Trump’s tweets may seem rash and unconsidered but, in reality, he is doing exactly what Alinsky suggested his followers do. First, instead of going after “the fake media” — and they are so fake that they have literally gotten every single significant story of the past 60 years not just wrong, but diametrically opposed to the truth, from the Tet Offensive to Benghazi, to what really happened on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri — Trump isolated CNN. He made it personal. Then, just as Alinsky suggests, he employs ridicule which Alinsky described as “the most powerful weapon of all.” ... Most importantly, Trump’s tweets have put CNN in an untenable and unwinnable position. ... They need to respond. This leaves them with only two choices. They can either “go high” (as Hillary would disingenuously declare of herself and the fake news would disingenuously report as the truth) and begin to honestly and accurately report the news or they can double-down on their usual tactics and hope to defeat Trump with twice their usual hysteria and demagoguery. The problem for CNN (et al.) with the former is that, if they were to start honestly reporting the news, that would be the end of the Democratic Party they serve. It is nothing but the incessant use of fake news (read: propaganda) that keeps the Left alive. Imagine, for example, if CNN had honestly and accurately reported then-candidate Barack Obama’s close ties to foreign terrorists (Rashid Khalidi), domestic terrorists (William Ayers), the mafia (Tony Rezko) or the true evils of his spiritual mentor, Jeremiah Wright’s church. Imagine if they had honestly and accurately conveyed the evils of the Obama administration’s weaponizing of the IRS to be used against their political opponents or his running of guns to the Mexican cartels or the truth about the murder of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and the Obama administration’s cover-up. …

So, to my friends on the Left — and the #NeverTrumpers as well — do I wish we lived in a time when our president could be “collegial” and “dignified” and “proper”? Of course I do. These aren’t those times. This is war. And it’s a war that the Left has been fighting without opposition for the past 60 years. So, say anything you want about this president — I get it, he can be vulgar, he can be crude, he can be undignified at times. I don’t care. I can’t spare this man. He fights for America!"

author unknown, but right on!

I've owned both and both are fine lenses. I had many great photos with my 70-300 and my DX camera's. Went I went to full frame, I sold all the DX lenses and one of the first lenses I purchased was the 70-200 f2.8. Awesome lens, whether it is the version I or II.
Only you can decide if the cost can be justified. Personally, with a DX camera, I would stick with the one you own now. If however, you are going to be doing a lot of indoor sports, etc., than the f2.8 would be my only choice between the two.

Or you could find a great used 1Dx for around $3000 with less than 15k clicks! Just thought I would mentioned this.

May I ask why you shot these at 1/8000? You can use Lightroom and bring out the features in the faces.

I have owned all three of the top brands and never had a problem with any of them! My suggestion, go to your local camera store and put them in your hands and see what feels the best to you! The only reason I would recommend one over the other would be if you had a lens or two that is of a particular brand that you would like to keep. Good luck!

Okay, this is what I have done over the past 10 years. I have tried ebay and the fee's are ridiculous. I would stay away from craigslist for sure.
Personally, I have sold some high end equipment and I use http://www.fredmiranda.com , http://www.nikonians.org and http://www.uglyhedgehog.com
I have never had a problem with any of the last three and have purchased on these sites as well. I have never bought a brand new lens or camera, period. All have been purchased or sold in pristine shape. Nikonians will require a yearly subscription, as well as fredmiranda.
The last being my go to site as thousands visit this site weekly and there are some great buys and more important, good feedback from other buyers or sellers. It's not rocket science and I would never bring anything into a camera store. They are in the resell business and you won't get what your equipment is even close too. Just my humble opinion.

Purchase extra SD cards, simple solution for storing until you return. As far as accessories, that will depend on your equipment, lenses, etc. If you have a 300 prime, than a monopod. Otherwise, I would bring a wide angle lens for sure. I took most of my photos out west with my 70-200 and 14-24. Have fun, as the views are breathtaking!

I found that my go to lens for portraits was my 70-200 f2.8. I also found that at f5 and 105mm was the sharpest for shooting indoors and produced the best results. Again, this is all subjective to the shooter and what he/she is looking for. Digital is cheap and like others have stated, shoot at different f stops and lenses.

Those are great prices and should move fast for you! I loved my 300 f2.8 vr II and my D4. Sadly, I sold all! Have now moved to Canon. The D4 is a work horse and will give someone a great camera. Heck, I sold mine for $3100. Good luck and sorry to hear about your health issues.

Jules, I am assuming you are shooting in AF-C, correct? With my D4 shooting sports on moving targets, I used AF-C and held BBF in while shooting.
In the Canon, it is Ai-servo and I do the same thing!