Great pics!
I had the opportunity to photograph one in the Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge.

He played with us for quite a while. We found out later he had a family in the burrow a female and 2 hatchlings.

you dont mention what"version" of raw.

I shoot Nikon Raw (Nef) files and have always loaded the Nikon Codex from the nikon site.

it's always allowed me to view nef in win 10 explorer and photo viewer

I have the 18-55, the 55-200, 28-100, and a 170-500. With all that I found something missing. I rented the 18-300 a few times and loved it!
picked one up and it stays on the camera - unless hitting the refuge and then it's the big glaas

To me you should just as big of a concern about the item being stolen buying from a unknown private party. At least with the pawn shop you have a receipt and a place to go back to.

I like to wander through pawn shops - my better concern is most of the things I've seen are outdated and overpriced

I have a similar mix of lenses. They are usually fine - except when I go for some eagles or other wildlife - which seems to be more now.

As someone already stated - ebay - craigslist good source of current market price on used gear. Also b&h - keh - Roberts - a number of places that handle used gear.

Naturally - just like a car - you can start used and avoid the 1st year hit.

But an alternative if you need something outside your normal lens range is to rent - you can get a $2-3000 lens for about $125 for 7-10 days.
Yeah a couple rentals may reach a point that you could have bought a used lens.

My better half has a iphone 5 - refuses to use any online services to download photos.

So I just take the USB charging cable and plug it into my windows laptop.

Windows opens it as ext drive - iphone displays a message to approve this connection - approve it.
Then open the drive on your laptop/pc -BAM- PICTURE folder is there and ready to copy over - fast too

If you're just starting out this is a GOOD combo for you.
The lens will give you an opportunity to see the various perspectives at each focal length and then make a decision on where your "sttyle" is and where you want to go from here.
I have used this lens and it's fine - the best? - no - but very far from the worse!

Next learn your camera and all its controls - PLAY PLAY PLAY- with shooting then review the results.
Waterfalls - fun to shoot -assume you're trying to capture the soft flowing cotton look. Basics are; tripod , lowest iso your camera will handle (mine is 200, many are lower)- largest-number aperture (f32 )- then see where the Sutter speed is let that dictate a neutral density.

I have a canons can 8400.
It scans 120 as yours does - but based on other responses it MAY use a different system.

It uses holders for 35mm neg, slides, and 120 negs. There is no interlock to tell the scanner which size you're using - seems like you could make a carrier for 4x5

Sounds like some cool suggestions on monopods. Mine isn't on a monopod.

Reading about your surgeries and carrying telephoto - brought back memories of my neck issues.
If you haven't already checkout "Cotton carrier" as a camera holder. It's a vest resembling a bullet proof vest - with a holder in front that keeps the camera & lens tight to your body and you walk/hike. Weight is on your shoulders.

Works for me

If you're a casual shooter - that is not needing to shoot in raw. Maybe change brand - my friend shoots with a Sony rx10 III - his shot blow away my nikon d90!
But if you want to stay Nikon I think I would look at the d7100 or 7200.

Weight - as an older guy also - and had neck problem - the weight was killing me. I both a "Cotton carrier" system. Holds the camera tight to your chest so it doesn't flop around on walks and goes over the shoulders - resembles a bullet proof vest. Love it for hiking/walking.
Good luck

DITTO!

There are a couple of options -
But for clarity you mentioned Photoshop - of you're just getting into post processing - probably NOT the best option - lol.
Yeah if you can handle $10 a month the Adobe Creative cloud photographer package (lightroom & photoshop) is a good way to start and a way to grow into high powered software.
BUT - I know even $10 a month can be too much for us - been there - also if you're just starting post processing even these can be overwhelming.
If you're on a newer windows pc (win 8-10) - go to the "microsoft store" and search for photography - you'll find a lot of photo related software - many FREE.
I used to use Adobe Photo Express- good basic edits. (Still use it on my older tablet)

If you're shooting normal jpegs there's a lot of choices - if you're shooting RAW choices a limited
Good luck

Looks pretty cool.
I like the small feet - assuming they retract inside and it can be used as a conventional monopod

Getting long glass on a budget is always a challenge.
For me minimum lens is a 300mm.
If you want to stay DX (no reason to do that) you might look at the nikon 18-300 -this would be especially good of you're Applying street technique to birding (keeping small and unnoticed).
If that doesn't matter look at sigma 150-600.
In either case check the used &ebay markets too.
Last if you're unsure look into rental market - small cost to avoid $1k mistake

BEAUTIFUL!