No such Superzoom lens is going to perform as well as a series of shorter zooms, or a series of Prime lenses, would. You won't get National Geographic Cover quality images from any of them. However, for my own purposes, my Sigma 18-250mm; 1:3.5-6.3, DC Macro OS HSM lens works well enough to suit me. It is not a true macro, but is close enough for me. Whether it is "best", or not, I doubt...as I doubt all. The one which is "best" at being a true Macro may have a fuzzier focus. The one which focuses "best" may have more Chromatic Aberration. You will never get the one, all around, always best for everything every time, everywhere, anything....because it does not exist....not in: lenses, cameras, meters, flash units, or anything else. If you do editing, you may be able to tolerate some Chromatic Aberration, which you can mask, more than you can tolerate fuzzy focus, which you can't so easily fix. Decide what you want the lens to do for you, and what problems you are, and are not, willing to deal with, and then choose on that basis. Read a lot of lens reviews on multiple sites / in multiple magazines, and decide what will work best for you. That is the key...."best for you"...not "best", or "best overall"....since only "best for you" really exists. Your: needs, editing capability, budget, artistic view, etc, come into play.

As for the "GFY" stuff, I'm so long that I actually could. Don't be jealous.

Nikon offers several Macro lenses in their F-Mount line. I think there is a 40mm, a 60mm, and a 105mm, and perhaps more. These should fit any F-Mount camera, or adaptor.

The DL models have been delayed twice. The latest I heard was that they were finally cancelled. Nikon may change it's mind, again, and bring them out, onto the market, or it may not. Wait, and see...or don't. If you can stand to wait a year, or two, to see what happens, do so. If you want a new Nikon before then, there are other models to consider.

For compact (CX sensor format) images, I tried a refurbished Nikon 1 S1, and got a Nikon FT-1 lens adaptor for it, so I can mount my Nikon F-Mount lenses on the camera. I currently have a Nikon PC 35mm f/2.8 lens mounted on it. I can carry it around, and use it as a regular lens-the CX format gives me a 2.7 crop factor, so the 35mm lens has the field of view of a 94.5mm lens. When I want to shoot something tall-a large tree, or monument, or building-I turn a screw, and 'shift' into PC mode, and get a nice image without the distortion a non PC lens would give. There are other Nikon 1 models available, or were, with more MP, and features. If thy have not also been discontinued, try one of them.

It is entirely viable. The fact that other-even smaller, and larger-nations do it proves that. We don't do it because oil, and auto making, companies bribe our politicians to not do it. Welcome to America...where money talks, and all else walks.

Auto makers spend billions opposing it.

From what I have heard, the DL series was cancelled. If you can find one, it sounds like a good deal. Go to Nikon for the specs.

There are religious / philosophical sites all over the internet. Take such BS to one of them.

I found such to be common. The shops did not stock Pentaxes, and so denigrated it to talk shoppers into buying what they did carry. I found the same in gun shops, scuba shops, etc, when I wanted a model which was not in stock.

No. Most local shops are gone because: they did not carry the makes / models people wanted, they did not have enough nearby free parking, their prices were too high, they did too much false advertising...ripping off newbies, trying to get a refund / replacement through them was a big pain when they sold you a lemon and you wanted to be rid of it, too often they were staffed by morons who knew nothing about photography, cameras, lenses, etc, and so they mis-informed new to the hobby buyers, and their hours were inconvenient for working folks. Online shopping 24/7, via specialist sources who know what they are doing, without having to leave home-let alone deal with traffic, parking, parking tickets, etc, is much better, and so more popular. The customer is King, and needs to be catered to. When local shops forget that, and cater to the shop owners more, they lose business.

I have gotten warrantied US lenses from Amazon.

It should work fine. The FX lens will throw an image larger than the sensor, so there will no vignetting, as there would be with a DX lens on an FX sensored body.

UV filters for protection are rather useless. If something bashes the lens hard enough to damage the filter, and the lens, you gain nothing. If it breaks the filter, but not the lens, the filter shards will scratch the lens. It is better, and cheaper, and less risky, to become aware of what your lens is near, so it does not get bashed into things. Become less clumsy, and your worries will cease. I have never had a filter used for protection, and have never damaged a lens. I also have never had a 'gun accident'...because I am aware of where my guns point, and I never put my finger on the trigger until I am on target, and ready to fire. Filters for protection are for lazy thinking snapshooters who don't want to bother becoming aware. Filters also do often cause flare, ghosting, and other problems I'd rather not deal with. If I use a filter, it is for something other than lens protection, and then I take extra care to avoid the flares, etc. A little thought goes a long way.

There is no such thing. Every lens, camera, etc, is a trade-off. You get some less great features to get some other greater ones. A long zoom range is great for being able to get all sorts of shots while walking around with just one lens. It is convenient. It will not, however, get the sharpest, most detailed, images. For better images, you need to go with several shorter range zooms, or more Prime-non zoom-lenses. What matters most to you...image quality, or carry convenience? You can't have the best of both in the same package.

I got one for my Girl Friend. I am 64 years old, and all of my Grandfathers are dead. The GF likes her 8 inch Kindle Fire, a lot. It is an recently updated version of an earlier 8 inch model they had offered previously. It is less awkward to hold than my 10 inch model.