Thank you for this post, I am definitely following up and researching this subject.

There is also another solution for the future, its call your VOTE. Take a look at how your representatives voted on this issue; if they in favor of lessening your privacy perhaps you should consider voting them out so they will have more time to spend on the internet being tracked.

I use the Nikon DX 70-300 VR with my D7100 and D80; excellent results. With such a long lens I feel the VR is a necessity, not a luxury.

Excellent, love the sharp detail........

Several years ago I began to tire of constantly changing lens on my D80, noticed a good friend seemed to never need to change. He was using a 18-200 so I found a used one. I am now shooting with a D7100, the 18-200 is still my "go-to" lens and is on the camera about 90% of the time.

You will not be sorry..............

Truly fantastic shots. Never get tired of them. Keep them coming.

Thus far my Nissin Di866 (Nikon model) has filled all my previous needs with my D80 and currently with my D7100. Reasonable price and good performance.

In July we did a 21 day trip through Italy then to Switzerland where we did a river cruise on the Rhine from Basil to Amsterdam. My D80 went out on me in Rome so we were limited (that limited should be in caps) to our telephones for photography until a friend we met up with in Florence loaned me his spare D80 for the river cruise portion of our trip. Thanks to the loan of the D80 combined with my 18 - 200 lens (only lens I felt necessary to take with me) I was able to get some truly great photos that would not have been possible with the cell phones.
On our trip we traveled by plane, private coach, automobile, train, local bus, and river boat; never had a single issue with having the camera with me or carrying it on sight seeing excursions. By the way, due to my D80 malfunction (amazingly I found someone to repair it for a reasonable cost) I located and purchased a used D7100; I am most happy with the new toy.

Beautiful, beautiful shot. I especially love that the "raptor attitude" shows, even with its small size.

Fantastic shots from a most unique opportunity. I have only ever seen them in flight and never with my camera handy.

Really, really beautiful.

This will provide motivation for me to get to the Raptor Center outside Charlotte, NC in the spring.

Back in the '70's I did a great deal of u/w photography with a Nikonos II, enjoyed it greatly. About 15 years ago I decided it might be fun to pull it out and do some new shooting, checked into getting it rebuilt; was informed that the necessary body o rings were no longer available. Guess I'll put it out on eBay one of these days to sell it to a collector.

At the moment I still have a couple of old setups that work great. Olympus 5050 and Olympus Styus ???, both with u/w housing. They work great and if I get a leak in the housing, so what.

I don't suppose that I am offering anything new to the discussion; however, here's my take on it. Last Summer while in Europe my D80 gave up on me, in reviewing options for replacement and my budget I finally arrived at the D7100 on which I have constantly used the 18-200 lens. I cannot imagine a better combination for the price as the camera offers me far more options than I could ever use and the lens is not overly heavy for carrying. While I have a 70-300 it is so very heavy that I seldom use it when significant carrying is involved.

I am new to the site and have absolutely no credentials to back me up; but, I prefer the vertical. In my opinion it concentrates better on the primary subject of the photo and you get rid of a significant amount of foreground (which I think distracts from the overall impact) and gain sky in the background (which I feel enhances the overall impact).

As stated above it is now too late due to his selling of lens; however, while in Italy in July (second day) my trusty old D80 began giving me an ERR message. Needless to say it was necessary for me to spend a couple weeks with my cell phone camera. Up side was that I found a great deal on a used D7100, what a fantastic camera. I eventually found a repair service on eBay that specialized in my exact problem http://www.ebay.com/itm/REPAIR-SERVICE-for-NIKON-D80-w-Flashing-Error-Message-Err-/282227263155?.

I recommend these folks very highly. For $90 plus cost of shipping to them I now have a perfectly functioning and updated D80 as a backup (set up with a 70-300 so always available at my home for birding). They were great to work with, very knowledgeable, and extremely fast.