I would also agree with the suggestion that you buy an inexpensive camera with the canon 50mm EF 2.5 macro. It is small, lightweight, inexpensive, and much sharper than the kit lens, even for non-macro work.

For dedicated macro work, you might also want to look at the 100mm F2.8 Macro. Although this is a more expensive lens, it allows you to take a "close up" from further back, so that the camera does not block the light.

The 100mm is a bigger lens though, and more expensive. And because it is 100mm, you are less likely to use it for "walking around", which the 50mm is great at.

When the A6000 came out, I could tell right away that it was a good fit for me. (It was better than anything cheaper, and cheaper than anything better.)

The A6400 seems to continue in that tradition. Hopefully Sony will keep it up with their next wave of APSC, but I fear they will not. I have already heard rumors that Sony will ditch the little pop-up flash, and design their next APSC to look more like the A7 series.

If so, I think that is a shame, but we will see what the next year brings.

Generally speaking, the plastic part of the memory card will wear out before the "memory" part does. The "memory" part is good for more than 40,000 write cycles, but the oil on your fingers will start to degrade the plastic after less than 5,000 uses.

If you keep your fingers clean, or if you leave the card in the camera, you might be able to get 100,000 write cycles, but other than that, just toss the card when it starts to corrupt files, or when it starts to look cracked.

I have been using the a6000 since 2014, and I have never tried to charge the battery while the camera was on. I would guess that the little universal port has trouble supplying enough power to run the camera and charge the battery at the same time. You might try a higher power plug (as opposed to the charger that came with the camera), but I wouldn't want to risk causing heat damage to a camera by using an incorrect power source.

I have found over the years that the best solution is to buy some high-quality third party batteries and an external charger and to carry a charged battery around in my pocket.

If you run into a situation where it is absolutely necessary to keep the camera on a charger, such as long interval shooting, I would go ahead and buy the Sony ACPW20 (or equivalent) and keep the camera plugged in.

The X-T3 is slightly larger than the Sony A6000, and as mentioned, does not contain a built-in flash. The X-T3 is a much newer camera, and is better in some other respects, but "pocketability" is not one of them.

The X-T30, on the other hand, is almost the exact same size as the Sony A6400. (It is slightly taller, but also slightly thinner.) The X-T30 is also closer to the A6400 in price, tracking speed, and image quality, (and touchscreen, of course).

If you want a camera that is truly pocketable, you might be better off looking at the Fuji X100F. By using a fixed lens, it provides you about the only ASPC camera I can think of that fits in a jeans pocket.

If you are willing to consider MFT sensors, then the Panasonic LX100ii can also be squeezed into a jeans pocket. The little Panasonic includes a 24-75 F1.7 to 2.8 lens, in about the same space as the Sony kit lens, maybe smaller. The only real downside of the Panasonic is that the "sunburst" pattern is a little weird, and the camera is not as rugged as the Fuji.

M2S and M2TS, by the way, is the MPEG-2 Transport System format. It is the format used on Blu-ray disks and Sony camcorders. Windows media player will play it, but if you want to play it on a macOS, you might need VLC or some other media player.

It would not surprise me if there are online conversion programs that will allow you to convert the file online so that you don't need the software resting on your iPad. ("Convert Files" might be able to do it, but I think you have to upload your whole file, and then download the converted file.)

Absolutely True. But every once in a while, a shot comes available for which a flash is needed. On those few occasions, it is far better to have a 16MP camera with a built-in flash than a 20MP camera with no flash at all.

(This shot is cheating of course, I was using a Sony A7Riii, and just happened to have my flash mounted.)

If more than 10% of your favorite shots are architecture or landscape type shots, then you need a lens about 18mm or wider. (This will give you 30mm or so on a crop sensor, which still a little wide for landscape, in my opinion, but will do.)

If more than 10% of your favorite shots are head-and-shoulders portraits, then you need a lens that goes out past 50mm. (This will give you 85mm on a crop sensor which is the best length for portraits, again, in my opinion.)

If you shoot in mostly daylight, don't be worried about getting a constant f4 lens. The F2.8 zoom lenses are more expensive and heavier, and not always necessary.

My favorite all-around Canon Lens is the EF-S 18-200 F3.5 to 5.6. It is compact and lightweight, has a great zoom range, very good image stabilization, and for the money it is surprisingly sharp.

Then, with the money you save, get the little Canon EF 50mm 1.8, and carry it around in your pocket. This gives you an emergency lens when you really want a thin depth of field for under $150.

I forgot to mention that the g85 has one advantage over the G9: The G85 has a pop-up flash built in. Since you mentioned that you take pictures from a Kayak, the G85 gives you the ability to add fill light without packing an extra flash.

The price reduction on the Panasonic might be because they are getting ready to announce a new camera. Even if the instant rebate goes away, there will most likely be deals to find for the rest of the year. In addition, if you like the G85 primarily for size and weight, there may be other MFT cameras in the near future that give you the same benefits with even newer sensors.

The D500 is being offered at only a small savings, but it might be the camera that you are more likely to get immediate use from. The D500 will focus faster (and in lower light) than your D7200. The XQD memory card is more reliable and faster than the SD cards, and the D500 gives you direct access to the ISO and WB settings. And in case you shoot video on the Nikon (which you might not, considering your MFT lenses), the D500 is obviously better than the D7200.

The D500 is much more rugged than the D7200, and offers a touchscreen, Bluetooth, and illuminated buttons.

Having said that, there is a question as to whether you would use the "high resolution mode" in the G9. The D500 does not offer anything similar, and the 80MP pixel-shift images are stunning. The G85 does not offer that, nor does Nikon.

In many other respects, your G85 is plenty good enough. The "Deep-learning" autofocus of the G9 is very good, but the G85 was not terrible. The G9 includes extra buttons and card slots, but if that is what you are craving, you can just use the D500.

Can't be done without adding a custom lens inside the adapter (to re-focus from 18mm away to 46.5mm away.)

Unfortunately adding extra glass (in this case) would cost you not only a small fortune, but would also degrade resolution and give you some distortion.

There are some much easier ways to do it: First, you could buy a better Sony camera. Sony makes several models that compete with the Nikon Z. They differ in some minor ways, but the Nikon and the Sony are both great cameras, and I have never met anyone who could look at the pictures and tell them apart.

Second, you could sell your Batis glass and buy the equivalent lenses from Nikon. If you take your time and sell carefully, you can get most of your money back from any glass that is well-maintained, and then buy Nikon glass that is every bit as good (and in one case, better.)

You might lose some money doing this, but nowhere near what you would spend on a custom adapter that is not likely to ever work.

Both of these solutions are way better than an adapter. Even if you are somehow able to duct-tape Sony glass to a Nikon, you will find that it will never perform as well as it does on a Sony. And the reverse is also true: You will find that Nikon glass on a Nikon will always out-perform Sony glass on a Nikon.

Almost all cameras these days are good enough to do pro work, but many lenses are average at best.

Pick any camera that feels good to you, but make sure you can afford at least one really good lens for it.

Post some pictures for us. We enjoy looking at pictures, and it sounds like none of us will be as critical as you are of your own work.

(In this case, I would recommend posting low-res though. You don't want to give away your work for free, nor do you need other people commenting on pixel-level issues.)

Generally speaking, Yes.

1. Make sure to use a high-quality lens. (Fuji kit lenses tend to be very good, while many Canon kit lenses are just average.)

2. Also keep an eye on your white balance. Fuji and Canon are both known for distinctive colors, but they are very different. If you like the Fuji "provia" color profile, you can re-create it in Lightroom.

3. Which Fuji are you using? The color pattern in the Fuji X-series is surprisingly good, and delivers a lot of clarity and sharpness due to the lack of an anti-aliasing filter. The T5i AA filter is built-in, and (like many other brands) gives Fuji a slight advantage for many types of photography.

AI is usually good about recovering detail in things like letters and edges that follow a regular pattern. It has a lot more trouble with things like human eyes, hair, trees. Anything where the detail does not follow a regular pattern, AI will try to create one.

In most pictures, you will have areas where this works well, and areas where it works poorly. Human skin tends to look just as good, (or better) when smoothed. Human eyes tend to look a little creepy.