Have a look at one of these peak design tripods - aluminium or carbon fibre.

https://www.peakdesign.com/products/travel-tripod

Absolutely. Generally with my Pentax LX.

You could consider an iPad with iPencil as well. Though that might not be in your budget.

Instead of the specific camera brands, I think what you might possibly mean is a fully manual camera. If the photographer has control of the aperture and shutter speed and has the eye and experience to use both effectively, and with a decent lens, the camera is just a light tight box to hang onto ! The hyper electronic developments take the control and the thought and a lot of the skill out of the photographers hands. But, the electronic assistance can be useful depending what you’re photographing. Taking photographs in manual mode is a huge learning experience I would recommend to everyone who aspires to be a better photographer.

Generally the distinction is analogue cameras use film and digital use a sensor and a memory card.

Spot meter exposure (you’re over exposing with anything else, hence your white ball). Use a tripod and probably the longest lens you have.
It’s a lot brighter than you’d think, so start with an exposure around like 1/250 @ f6.3 and iso 400. Suggest using the self timer on the shutter to minimise shake on the tripod and you may want to increase the shutter speed to 1/500th (with suitable changes to aperture or iso of course) to help with that too. Best of luck!

I use an iPad mini with Lightroom for pitch and track side edits. Works perfectly.

Google Storm Jacket. Get the right size for your lens length and get a roll of duct tape to secure the end to your lens hood. It’s brilliant. It can be very cold and windy, but stunning for photography!

Hi, you may like to try one of these ...https://www.ultimatelenshood.com

I have one and it's brilliant.

With motorsports, the rule of thumb for blurred background on a panned shot, is to set the shutter speed at or lower than the speed of the car. If it’s doing about 150mph, set the shutter speed to 1/150 sec or less. That approach works for other sports like rugby too, so try that for horse racing too.

I run Lightroom very successfully from my iPad Mini. Very easy, simple to load and set up.

I use Lightroom on my iPad - especially good for editing on the fly for customers at sporting events. Sync with your phone and the iCloud and it’s a great solution.

I have one and its brilliant. Some versions have padded seats as well.

I stick a monopod on my 500mm and then rest the camera in the foot well, with the monopod against the seat cushion. It’s on the floor, so has nowhere to fall and the weight and lever of the combined kit stops it moving.

Pentax K1 mk ii is one to be recommended, specifically as it has an astrotracer function built in. Superb piece of kit