Hmmm. A couple thoughts. Batteries lose capacity as they age, and also with the number of charge-discharge cycles. They may simply be worn out. However I wonder if it's possible your charger has a problem? Do you have a friend with a charger that you can try? Or you could buy new batteries and try them if they do the same thing then it's definitely the charger.

One more thing... always carry spare batteries.

Exactly. Battery performance is affected by many things, temperature being a big one. When cold they deliver less total energy, when hot more energy. Rate of discharge is a factor. They run down faster at higher discharge rates. There manufacturing variances, not every battery is the same. Some have a little more some a little less capacity. That's why they say "typical" in the spec. You can usually get the details of how the capacity was measured from the manufacturer, if your so interested.

Having said all that, a 2500 mAH battery will have more capacity than a 2000 mAH battery, under the same conditions.

Indeed. However the quality of the starting photo has an effect on the quality of the finished photo. Start with a "less than stellar image", then the post processed (PP) result is..... less than stellar. And it took more time because it was less than stellar to start with.

Good exposure is a necessary but not sufficient condition for a good quality image. Other factors include composition, lighting, timing...

The quickest way to a great PP result is to start with a good quality, which includes well exposed, image.

Something else to consider:

http://photographylife.com/what-is-focus-shift

Interesting interpretation.

I think I prefer this one:

"The basic idea is this: the correct exposure is the one that gives you the results you want for the processes you use. This means, assuming that you always want the best image quality, that there's usually only one correct exposure. Forget anything you read about exposure latitude: just work your exposures as accurately as you can."

source: http://www.idigitalphoto.com/dictionary/exposure

50 might be a little wide on a full size camera but the D200 uses an APS-C sensor. The crop factor is 1.5x. I have used the 50mm on my D7000 (APS-C) and had good results with portraits.

Lots of good suggestions here. Lighting is all important.

The 50 or the 85 are great for portraits.

:thumbup:

Have you read any reviews on the lights you are considering?

Strobist is a very good web site on lighting and it covers speed lighting as well. http://strobist.blogspot.com

This brings up a question in my mind. I have a D7000 with two slots and two identical cards installed. If the main card fails will the camera write the image to the other card? Has anybody experienced a card failure in a two-card camera? What happened?

I can see where that convienence would make sense for a pro who needs to change lenses fast and frequently.

However one thing to keep in mind is that the exposed cap is subject to accumulation of dust and debris. That dust/debris may transfer to the back of the next lens that is attached to it. Dust and debris on the back of a lens could end up inside the camera and on the sensor.

Store a PDF version of your camera manual on your smart phone for quick reference to lesser used functions.

It can be done with Aperture. First you need to create a PNG file with the watermark. Store it in a folder/file where you can always find it, something like Pictures/MyWatermarks/2014_c.png Inside Aperture select Aperture>Presets>Image_Export and create a new export preset. Check the box "Show Watermark" and choose the watermark file.

Not simple. Also you need to consider scaling. The scale watermark check box doesn't work the way you expect. I don't use it, I make different sized png file watermarks for different image sizes. I find that about 350x35 works well for 1024 wide images.

Go back to Aperture>Presets>Web_Export and choose the preset with the watermark, that way when you upload a file to a social media site it will have the watermark stamp.

Go back to Aperture>Preferences>Export and choose the watermark preset for e-mail exports. That way you will have the watermark stamp on all images sent through e-mail.

You can watermark a group of images by selecting and exporting them to a file on your computer.

I can't wait to see the answers to this question.

I like to carry a camera when riding. Sometimes I go to shoot a sunset in the mountains and riding the motorcycle makes it much easier to pull off and shoot. I also carry a camera when I travel. I don't try to carry a whole kit or extra lenses etc. I have tried various packs over the years and I seem to always come back to some type of a back pack. The sling packs are nice but they shift when riding. I found a 2 strap camera "sport" pack that is compact and I good for riding, but it's a little too big for one camera and too small for two. Still it's the best I have found so far for my purposes.