I use a tripod for low-light shots and panoramas; not suitable for action shots especially from a jeep. If you do that type of photography, bring it. Otherwise, leave it home.

I do suggest a monopod, Manfrotto tilt/pivot head with quick release, and a carry sling. Get a monopod that is long enough so that you don't have to bend when it's fully extended.

I use a Benro C49F monopod; it's light, tall, and very quick to adjust. I use a Manfrotto 234RC tilt/pivot head; it's quick to release and attach. And, I use a Giottos sling strap which allows the monopod to be easily carried when not in use.

I have used ARCA quick releases, but they are not quick enough to release or attach; you have to unscrew the QR release knob enough to pull the lens off, or you remove the safety screws to slide the lens out (but then, you don't have the safety screws and the lens can accidentally slide out). Trust me, you want to be able to get the lens on and off as quickly as possible, and the Manfrotto RC system does the trick.

Also, look into a waist pouch. Can attach to a belt or a sling, but it will support the monopod without getting fouled up with your feet on the ground. If you're shooting from the jeep, I highly recommend it.

Finally, instead of a beanbag I just fold up a hand towel and lay it over the door. If I want to quickly move around, I strap it to the tripod collar so it goes with me.

The Exposure Bias displayed in the EXIF data in Lightroom is the Exposure Compensation setting in the camera when the picture was taken.

If you shoot in an auto-exposure mode (A,S,P), and if you dial in an Exposure Compensation value (e.g. -1/3EV), then the EXIF data will contain the value and Lightroom will display it as Exposure Bias (in tenths, e.g. -3/10EV).

If you shoot in Manual mode (M), then there is no Exposure Compensation, and the value is 0. Even if the exposure meter indicates over or under exposure; this is not considered Exposure Compensation.

Focus mode or white balance settings do not affect this; it's strictly whether you have set a non-zero value for Exposure Compensation in an auto-exposure mode.

Works this way for Olympus E-M1 and E-M5, both of which I shoot.

They made f/2 zooms for 4/3 (14-35, 35-100) which can still be bought. I paid twice as much for them as for the 12-40. And they are big (very big, especially the 35-100). While zooms for mFT would be smaller (primarily because they can allow significant distortion now that it is corrected in camera), they would still be pretty big. And heavy. And expensive.

Very expensive, since the market does not support them.

When I next feel the need for a big, heavy, fast zoom, I'll buy a Nikon body to attach to it. Not that I'm arguing in favor of Nikon, but I have several Nikon lenses and flashes that I use with my Olympus and Panasonic bodies, but if I'm getting a DSLR, I'll go the compatibility route. Then the debate will probably be 7100 vs 610.

Sorry, but JPG compression is not the issue when it comes to using the histogram to determine correct exposure. JPG has two forms of compression: dynamic range and data volume. Dynamic range compression is the result of using 8 bits to represent 12 or 14 bits of dynamic range.

So a JPG image may have over or under exposure where the RAW image does not. But if you avoid blown highlights in a JPG, you will avoid blown highlights in the RAW as well.

The primary issue with using live view histograms is that they do not uniformly represent the different color channels; they heavily weighted towards the green channel. Thus, they will not indicate blown highlights in the red or blue channels.

In fact, some camera models only show the green channel in the histogram; this was common with early Nikons, for example.

Easy to test; take an over-exposed image of a red sheet of paper.

Set to manual, wide open aperture, and decrease shutter speed. In live view, watch the histogram and look at the image. When you hit over-exposure, the red image will start to shift to yellow because the red channel is maxed out and the blue and green channels keep increasing. Generallly, the histogram will still show a correct exposure.

After taking the exposure, look at the color and combined histograms, and see that the red channel indicates over-exposure but the combined histogram is fine.

If your camera does not do this, but actually shows overexposure in the histogram when the red channel is overexposed, then the histogram will be useful for accurate exposure determination. Otherwise, the histogram is not accurate for exposure determination.

Good question. Same question was asked on dpreview.com in 2008 with no answer.

I think the following:

If the lens has lens creep, then the force required to change zoom by push pull is minimal, and it's probably okay.

If the lens does not have lens creep, then the force required to change zoom by push pull could result in increased wear, and I would avoid it unless you ask the manufacturer.

If the lens rotates while focusing, then I also would not recommend it because the focus motor is attached to the lens barrel. In that case, your push/pull motion could also be rotating the focus motor. Very few lenses are like that, but the Olympus Zuiko 70-300 is, and while I haven't heard of any failures due to this kind of operation, I have heard of focus motor failure due to lens rotation caused by removing or attaching a sticky lens hood.

You can get an E-520 with kit lens (14-42mm) for around $200, and a 40-150mm lens for as little as $50. Much better camera, and currently the best Olympus that is being dumped for small money. The E-30, E-620, and E-5 are all still selling for premium dollars.

FreeFileSync has Windows and Linux versions. Time Machine and Carbon Copy Cloner are Mac-only applications.

Okay, you have a Mac, which means you have access to Unix commands, which means you have access to a very robust backup solution.

I'm assuming that you don't want to get involved with using Unix, so you want to get a software application that will do backups.

I use the following programs for backup: Synchronize X, Carbon Copy Cloner, Super Duper.

First, if you are not using Time Machine (part of Mac OS) to backup your system, then I recommend that you go get a hard drive at least as large if not larger than your system drive and configure Time Machine to regularly back up your system.

Now you have a backup; but for redundancy you want to back up important files like your photos to another drive. That's where the backup programs come in handy.

Personally, I use Synchronize X to do folder level backups; it's just easier to use. Point to the two folders (one main, one backup), tell Synchronize X to do a backup, and go. Save the configuration as a file, and when you open the file, the same backup configuration is ready to go.

First answer: There used to be devices that would transfer from memory card to hard drive via USB, usually a notebook drive but you could probably use a regular drive if you supplied power to it as well. These are old, slow, and I don't know if anyone makes them anymore.

Second answer: There are a number of devices that will transfer from memory card to included hard drive, usually 750GB or 1TB capacity. See

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Stand-Alone-Data-Storage/ci/3369/N/4000227848/c/buy/#inpage:In+Stock?gclid=CPrX2dGKssACFU4F7Aod3yoAcw

for 29 different versions.

Third answer: You don't have to transfer the files to your computers internal drive; just attach the memory card and a hard drive to your computer and copy the files directly from the card to the external hard drive. The computer is the controller for the hard drive and the card, but the files don't go to the internal hard drive.

Fourth answer: Or, you can attach the camera to the computer with a data transfer cable, or connect wireless to the camera from the computer (if your camera is capable), connect the hard drive to the computer, and copy files from the camera to the hard drive. You have to be able to access the files on the camera the same as if you were accessing the card itself. This is usually very slow compared to direct transfer from the card; but it's useful if, for example, your camera is in a cage or mounted on something where you can't access the card port.

Fifth answer: You can attach the camera to the computer with a data transfer cable and access the images with a software program (the one that came with your computer or some other one) which you have configured to store the images on the external hard drive rather than the internal hard drive. Check the user manual and see if the preferences allow configuration of the hard drive for storage of the images; but this is a common capability.

Actually, you can't do ND and GND in post processing. Here are a couple of examples:

1. Shooting flash fill from a distance, so need to keep sync speed below 1/320 (or less, depends on camera/flash), want narrow DOF for background isolation. Need ND to cut exposure.

2. Shooting flowing water or waterfall, want heavy blur with long exposure, can't close aperture enough to avoid diffraction, so use strong ND filter.

3. Shooting bright sky above and shadows below, with dynamic range greater than the camera (blown out and under exposed), you can HDR but if there's motion (like waves) then a GND can save the day.

The ND and GND filters mitigate the limitations of the camera and flash.

I shoot Olympus (E-M1, E-M5) and Panasonic. In answer to your questions:

1. The E-M1 has Electronic First Curtain Shutter, enabled with the most recent firmware update, and useful to reduce the effects of shutter shock. Works only in single shot mode, not enabled for continuous shooting.

2. The E-M1 has a wireless smartphone app. I do not find it as useful as the Panasonic app (which I use on the GH3). There is no computer application allowing tethered shooting, but you can hook up the HDMI output for viewing. Files are saved to camera, can be transferred over wifi with browser, but this will interfere with remote control via smartphone.

3. The EM1 can control the FL36R, FL50R, and Metz58 remotely (optically) using the supplied flash. Neither Olympus nor Panasonic support wireless TTL, and there are no third party applications AFAIK (but I'm still looking).

4. Spec sync speed is 1/320 with the supplied flash (which is puny), 1/250 with other flashes. The camera has a PC sync port which will sync to 1/400, and will sync to 1/500 if cropped to 3:2. The E-M1 also supports FP sync to 1/8000.

Opinions:

Differences between E-M1 and E-M5 IQ are subtle, due to the different sensor and lack of AA filter on E-M1. I have noticed moire on the E-M1 in unexpected situations, but it's rare for me.

Image stabilization in E-M1 and E-M5 is same 5-axis. Not sure what you are asking about squaring up; if the camera is squared to the subject, the sensor will be as well.

I use focus peaking if I'm shooting quickly and don't have time to inspect for focus; it works okay but I usually miss critical focus. For critical focus, I use image magnification, but it's a tradeoff between time for the shot and composition.

I have not used diffraction compensation, as I usually shoot RAW and don't set aperture below f/8, but cameralabs.com has test images showing the feature as invaluable for small aperture shots.

The 60mm macro is a great lens, shoots true 1:1 with good working distance (much better working distance than my Zuiko 50mm with EX-25 extension).

I think the best adapters for manual lenses are Metabones, but I have limited experience with Nikon and Olympus lenses.

Accessories:

a. The battery grip for the E-M1 is a must have for me, for the backup battery and because I shoot portrait mode a lot.

b. I use a lot of Olympus 4/3 lenses, so have several MMF adapters.

c. I have several remote shutter cables and a wireless shutter release.

d. I use TTL cables for off camera flash (Canon compatible cables work just fine).

e. I use Pixel Soldiers for wireless flash (manual mode only, but 3 group control).

f. I use a Polaris flash meter.

g. I have OpTech utility loops attached so I can easily clip on/off a camera strap.

h. I have an AC adapter (you need the battery grip to use it) but haven't used it; but I am looking into hacking it for use with an external battery (this is one feature Panasonic supports but Olympus does not).

i. I have CPL, ND, and GND filters for all lenses.

I think the camera is very good. At some point I will probably trade my E-M5 for another E-M1. My main complaint is that Olympus doesn't support full EVF operation, and the EVF/LCD button is located on the left for the E-M1 but on the right for the E-M5. I shoot a lot of concerts, and try not to use the LCD screen. Menu and playback operations always come up on the LCD and must be transferred to the EVF with the button; easy to do on the E-M5 but requires the left hand on the E-M1.

If it's a "large group" with "tight quarters", then I don't see how one can "zoom with your feet". And 50mm on D7000 is pretty long, where a 35mm is a normal lens.

The 24-70 will probably be the best bet, but I would take the 11-16 along just in case; you can decide which is best once you see the layout and restrictions on where you can shoot.

Fowler sampling, up-the-ramp sampling, multiple exposures, dithering, pixel non-linearity, dark frame subtraction, rate fitting, sample rejection.

These are the techniques used to reduce noise and improve resolution in astronomy. If some of these can be applied to low light photography, then wouldn't that be a good thing?

Exploring different techniques to produce better results, and not accepting someone else's imposed limitations, is to be commended and encouraged, not derided.

Knowledge IS power. So it is confusing that you would claim that the more you know about a problem, the less inclined you will be to fix it. It is the exact opposite; the more you know, the more you CAN DO to fix a problem. And noise is definitely a problem with low light photography.

Many cameras will do long exposure noise reduction, but the exposures must be very long (typically >10s). This technique takes an equally long dark exposure (shutter closed) and subtracts it from the normal exposure. This mitigates the effects of some systematic noise sources (hot pixels, charge leakage) but not others (sensor pattern noise), and not random noise sources (photon, thermal, read, atmospheric).

Multiple images are a method to mitigate the effects of random noise sources, as well as non-linear systematic sources such as charge leakage.

Both techniques provide an improved final image, which can then be processed by standard noise reduction software to further enhance the image. But noise reduction on a single image is always a trade between reducing noise artifacts and sacrificing image quality. Multiple image noise reduction techniques have more information to use, and this lessens the impact on image quality.

This technique (image averaging) is described in the article

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/image-averaging-noise.htm

Averaging these images reduces the most common noise sources. What's left is a trade between object motion and noise.