Here's my backup strategy:

I replaced my laptop HD with a 2 TB Crucial SSD. (Cloned the HD to the SSD and then replaced the HD with the SSD). Less exposure to a drive failure.

I purchased 2 WD 2 TB internal HDs and put them into two Sabrent SATA to USB 3.0 enclosures.

On a weekly basis I use Macrium Reflect to alternately clone to the HDs. That way I am doubly backed up and at most should my laptop SSD fail and one of the two HDs fail simultaneously (highly unlikely) I lose at most a weeks worth of data, sort of as I don't delete that weeks worth of camera pics until I am sure they are backed up to the HD. I start this before I go to bed at night and it is done in the morning (actually way before).

One advantage of this is, should my SSD fail (system corruption) I can open up the Sabrant enclosure, remove the internal HD, and replace the laptop SSD with the cloned HD. My system is up and running again and I don't need to fresh install the OS (Win10). I can then re-clone to the SSD and repeat steps one and two above.

I also on regular basis using a Seagate 2 TB HD, image my system drive and then store it at an off-home site. So if my house burns to the ground I'm still protected.

However, you should ALWAYS verify the backup or image worked. Don't trust the SW saying the operation completed successfully. That being said I have never had a problem using Macrium.

I'm probably going to seem somewhat heretical here, but if you are a beginner and it's just family pictures, then I'm guessing that you probably will probably do most of your photo sharing on a computer or if you do printing 5x7 or 8x10 will be the maximum sizes you will do. If your daughter's sport is softball then you will want some telephoto capability. The Canon and Nikon offerings at Costco feature two lenses. In the case of Nikon its a 18-55mm and a 70-300mm. Rather than dealing carrying around a camera and two lenses, and with changing lenses all the time why don't you consider something like a Panasonic ZS-60 (also offered at Costco). It's (what I consider) a pro point & shoot. Pro because it has all the exposure, focusing, etc. options of either the Canon's or Nikon's, but point & shoot because you can also put it in auto mode and let the camera do all the adjusting. The benefit is that is has a 30x telephoto built in (no lens exchanging) and that would be good for any outdoor (i.e. well lighted) sports. Yes it is a smaller sensor then the bigger cameras but it takes decent pictures and it is easy to carry around - it fits in your hand. I have one as a backup camera to my Nikon D7500 so if something should go wrong with the Nikon, I can still take some good pictures. And Costco is 90 day return policy, so you could try it out and see if it works for you.

Since my camera (Nikon D7500) has a white balance setting for fluorescent is there any need for me to carrying around a FDL filter that came as part of a filter kit that I bought? I'm guessing no.

The Tamron 18-400mm is advertised by Tamron as being for the APS-C format (from Tamron Site: "Introducing the world’s first ultra-telephoto all-in-one zoom lens for the APS-C format."). I believe the APS-C format is a 1.5 crop sensor ("Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C) is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System "classic" negatives of 25.1×16.7 mm, an aspect ratio of 3:2.")

So, IMHO the salesman is correct. This lens is for a DX format camera, and the focal length/angle of view will be from 18-400mm.

I had a Lowepro Slingshot. It's an older model of the Slingshot Edge 250 AW. When I got my D7500 I bought a pacsafe V25 thinking I would need a bigger bag, but I found that the Lowepro I already had could accommodate more. I can fit my D7500, 18-55mm, 70-300mm, and my Tamron 18-400mm lenses, as well as extra batteries, memory, and some lens cleaning brushes and blower. The current model sells for ~$110.

Many years ago I saw an ad for a right angle mirror attachment for the end of a lens. I believe it screwed into the threads of the lens (where a filter would go). You would, for example, point your camera north but would be taking pictures to the west. Never bought one, but that would be a good way to go for secretly photographing people.

I have the following:
Nikon D7500.
18-55mm DX w/VR
70-300mm DX w/VR

The camera has a menu custom setting (d9) to enable disable VR & and a AF/MF switch on the camera body. The lenses do not have any switches (VR, or AF/MF) on them. So I use the d9 setting to disable VR (if I am using a tripo. And the camera AF/MF switch if I want to use MF.

I recently bought a Tamron 18-400mm lens w/VR and it has both a VR on/off and a AF/MF button on the lens.

Questions are, with the Tamron lens:

If I want to turn off VR can I do it with just the lens button, or do I also need to do it on the camera menu d9? (I'm guessing only the former).

Same for manual focus. Can I just turn on the manual focus on the lens or do I need to also do that with the camera switch? For this case I have found that since I have enabled Back Button Focus with my Nikon Lenses I can manually focus (as long as I don't use the designated back button focus button) even though the AF/MF switch is set to AF. So maybe just the lens switch when using the Tamron?

Looking forward to some of you pros for advice on this one. Thanks.

Thanks for the replies. I have a Nikon D7500 and am comfortable with shooting in all modes. This is an informal test and I have a place in mind with a variety of possible subjects ranging from landscape with some distant hills to structures with some fairly detailed features. There is a park bench so I can set up the tripod, set everything out, sit down and make notes as I go along. I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

I've even jury rigged a good LCD screen hood. It's a collapsible rubber lens hood that I got along with another purchase I made. Don't need it as a lens hood, but it works perfectly to shade (hand held of course) the LCD when I'm in bright sunlight. Lot less $$ than the one I looked at from Hoodman. :)

Thanks again.

I recently purchased a new lens (Tamron 18-400mm). I would like to do some comparison shots with my current lenses (Nikon 18-55 & 70-300), as well as with the new lens using several filters that came with it (as it was a kit purchase).

To do this I would be using a tripod and taking pictures at (as close as possible) focal points of the same subjects with the different lenses, and then with then new lens both with and without the new filters (they are not name brand filters (Altura), and have mixed reviews).

I would then compare the taken photos with Photoshop and/or Lightroom (enlarged) to see what differences I can discern.

My question is since these are comparisons what mode would be best to use - totally Auto, Program, Aperture, or Manual. I usually shoot in aperture mode for most shots.

Any comments, suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

Actually it wasn't just capacitors that stored the energy. There was circuitry that converted the remaining spinning of the disc into a generator and used that to retract the heads. I worked for a company that had a patent for that.

That happens to me as well (on my Windows machine). Not sure why but to be safe don't disconnects. Best to power down first.

Pima Air Museum - lots (and I mean lots) of old planes on display including a former Air Force 1.
Arizona Sonora Desert Museum - early AM or late afternoon is best as a lot of animals are sleeping and not visible during miday.
U of A - lots of architecture type shots

I would recommend CreativeLive, a site that has a large number of video courses in photography. In particular one of their instructors is John Greengo. He has many "Fast Start" courses designed to teach you how to get going with a new camera. They are specific to a particular brand and model of the camera. I purchased his Nikon D7500 Fast Start course (for $49.00).

It consisted of 26 lessons (totaling ~4+ hours) covering the most basic and used facets of the camera. Probably even more than just basics. Excellent instructor. In addition to the videos there are several hundred slides available that he uses in the lessons. It certainly beats working your way through the several hundred pages of manuals that you can download from Nikon for this camera.

You can either stream these or download them for offline use. I've subsequently purchased several other general photography courses (Fundamentals of Photography, Travel Photography, and Nikon Lenses) from this instructor and have found them invaluable.

Check it out. Most likely there is a course for you particular camera. https://www.creativelive.com/photography

I am wanting to buy some filters (UV, CPL) for both my 18-55mm and 70-300mm lenses. There seems to be a range from inexpensive to very expensive choices. In looking at reviews for these I find that the ratio of favorable to unfavorable reviews seems to be the about the same over that range and is independent of price. So do I need to be spending a lot of $$ for filters or are the less expensive ones just as good as the expensive ones?

To use this function I've seen a technique involving using two rulers, one vertical and one at a 45 degree slope. I wonder if instead of that I could do it as the following:

1. Set back button focus mode ON
2. On a tripod, in auto focus mode, and with live view, focus manually on something with small text.
3. Then press the back button focus and see if the focus changes. (I can manually focus with back button focus enabled even though I'm in auto focus mode - 18-55 AF-P lens)
4. If focus does change then adjust the AF Fine Tune and repeat/iterate from Step 2 until no discernible change occurs

Would that work?