There is a small area during the rotation of the filter that could enhance the rainbow by darkening clouds in the background. However there is a much more likely chance that the rainbow can be filter out completely.

ND grads are good for sunsets/rises if you would want to go through the trouble of packing them. A polarizer is great for waterfalls and to filter glare off of foliage but be careful because they can filter out rainbows; and there are many, many rainbows.
Enjoy your trip!

I'd also say it's too much. You could store about 2800 hours worth of HD movies (at the least 2000). So about 1000 movies or so. I don't think I've seen nearly that many in my whole life.
However, with 4k (and other large formats) on the horizon it would be more practical then. I wouldn't bother with it now.

I use Cokin P series Graduated ND filters. They are not coated and are hard to keep clean but they are fairly cheap compared to other filters such as Lee. That's why I went with them when I was getting started. Eventually I will get a better brand but Cokin P series is a great starter filter.

As for circular filters I didn't care for Cokin since the ones I found in my price range were not multi-coated. I went with Hoya which are multi-coated and I really like them. Easy to clean and scratch resistant.

#1 is nice and sharp, great job!

Astronomers and astrophysicists hate that term. Not sure who coined the phrase but it was intened for when a full moon coincides with its monthly perigee or closest point to earth in its orbit. Without the full moon correlation we would have a super moon every lunar month but at different phases.

Yes really. Distortion and softening. Landscapes aren't always taken during the day and sometimes you may want to use an ND filter for effects from a longer shutter speed. Also they are not always taken with a wide angle lens. I use a telephoto lens on some occasions to make the moon, sun, comets, etc appear bigger in the frame. The effect from wind is greatly increased.

I use a 3-way pan and tilt head for landscape photography. I find it easier to compose the shot I want by leveling the tripod which allows me to set one axis to level my horizon. Then I can manipulate the other 2 axes while keeping the frame level. When I shoot landscapes I may be in a spot for a while taking several photos, allowing time for the clouds, sun/moon, light, etc to change positions and such.
I also have a ball head I use when I need speed, such as in a zoo, botanical garden, etc where a level horizon is not as important or not relevant in some cases.
When I bought my first quality tripod I got a Manfrotto MT294A3 (I think thats the right model), it came with a 3-way head and quick release plate which is study and very handy. I eventually picked up a Manfrotto ball head which came with another quick release plate. Great for me since I have 2 cameras. I do wish I had a heavier tripod for landscapes to mitigate distortion from wind but other than that I like the tripod very much.
So in my opinion if you are doing landcapes go with a 3-way head, take your time and get the shot. If you are going to public places go with the ball head.

That is incorrect. The crop factor will always apply on a DX camera no matter which lens you use.

The Adorama link is for the printer only and the rebate is for $300.

Hey tom,

First off your D3200 does not have a crop mode. :-(
It is however a crop sensor with a crop factor of 1.5
This means that that any given focal length you use on your camera (lets go with 50mm) will have the same field of view on a full frame using a focal length 1.5 times greater. So if you use a 50mm lens on your camera it would look the same as a 75mm lens on a full frame.
What the 1.3 crop mode does is crops the already smaller 1.5 sensor to a crop factor of 1.3 so a 50mm lens using the 1.3 crop mode would look the same as using a focal lenght of 97.5 on a full frame.
I find the maths easier to understand:
50 x 1.5 =75
75 x 1.3 =97.5 (the 1.3 crops the already cropped sensor!)

Here's a tutorial and a good website to learn more about this topic and many others.
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/digital-camera-sensor-size.htm

1. Yes, you have a DX lens. The 1.3 crop mode crops the 1.5 DX sensor to boost your zoom by about 2x instead of 1.5x.
It is basically a digital zoom mode that you can combine with the optical zoom of your lens. It's at about 15MP so it should still look great.

2. As people have stated before the teleconverters can make your AF flakey at long zooms and will reduce sharpness. A pro of the do it all lens you described is that you can carry one and have all the range. The cons is that it's heavy and not as sharp as primes or lenses with a narrower zoom range.

3. You can use an FX lens on your DX camera but it will not improve the zoom, that is fixed depending on the crop of your sensor. The FX lenses tend to have a faster AF and other cool stuff like a focus ring.


You'll lose pixels in the 1.3 crop mode but I doubt you'll notice much of a difference. 15MP is quite a lot unless you want huge wall art and view it a foot away.

I've bought from both companies and they have pretty much the same policies. The prices are usually the same on just about everything, it really comes down to who has what in stock.
Adorama offers free shipping, no tax, and a free package of photo paper with this printer.

Here's a good deal with a $300 mail in rebate.
http://www.adorama.com/ICAPRO100.html?utm_term=Other&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=Other&utm_source=rflaid21866

What shooting mode do you use? Make sure it's not in SCENE mode. If using P,S,A or M modes you can go to the Shooting Menu and check your settings there. You have 6 default controls from Standard to Landscape (and possible custom ones). Each setting has it's own base level of Sharpness, Contrast, Brightness, Saturation, and Hue and each has a sub-setting to increase or decrease each attribute. Standard with -0+ sub-settings will give you a nominal photo. I like a bit more saturation and sharpness so I use +1 sat and +2 sharp. I also use Landscape mode with -0+ sub-settings and a custom control.
Also if you're having to lighten or darken your photos your metering may be set to spot, try shooting with matrix metering.

Your settings and modes you shoot plus sample photos would help us help you more.