I used to own a 5600 and it is a great camera capable of fantastic photos if you do your part. I love the swiveling screen. Mine did fine with a Sigma 150-600 lens which is similar to the size & weight of the 200-500 Nikon lens. You don't need a 'better' camera. The person behind the camera is more important than the camera/lens combination.

1. North Cascades of WA state in late spring. Been there several times. Water, water, everywhere.
2. Patagonia. Haven't been there yet. Looks spectacular in photos I've seen.
3. Denali. Haven't been there yet. From others who seen it ...'most awesome mountain I've ever seen....hard to grasp the size'.
4. Theodore Roosevelt NP in North Dakota. Been there. Love the wide open vistas.

$6,500-7,000 is probably what the market will tolerate. Any guesses as to mpx or fps rate?

The drive down toward Sasabee then over to Arivaca offers some good photo ops. Wait a few more weeks for the flowers to turn the hills colorful. Off of Park Link Rd there is the Owls Head ranch area with some pretty cool rock formations. One area that I love to hike and photograph (although a bit of a drive) is the Chiracahua Nat'l Mon. It is other-worldly in some spots. There are several great trails near the end of the road.

For lenses I would carry just the 24-70. It is wide enough for almost any shot you will find here, and with all the mpx in your 850 you can crop if you need to without losing clarity and sharpness. With the bright sunshine here you will find a circular polarizing filter a real bonus. BTW, a trip to the mostly unknown Chiracahua Nat'l Mon is a MUST. Great trails, no crowds, spectacular scenery.

I don't much care for generalizations, but most full frame lenses are of better quality than their aps-c counterparts. I have both full frame and cropped sensor bodies but almost always choose a full frame lens. The only exception is when I want extreme wide angle on a cropped body because you really can't get that with a full frame lens In spite of what he said there are no problems using your full frame lenses on your cropped sensor body. I suspect the salesman was just trying to sell another lens.

Tokina 11-20 f2.8 or the Nikon 10-24. Both are good lenses that should fill your needs. Forget the 16-35. It is a really good lens but is intended for a full frame body. It would not be noticeably wider on your 5300 than the 18-55.

Except, after trying it via the lens foot, I have found it to be a bit more awkward, at least for me. I have found that doing any extended walking carrying it in this manner allows me to keep more control over the heavy (6 or more lb) combo, and it's easier to keep it close to my body where I can keep it from banging into objects, suck as rocks and trees when hiking.

Gotta disagree. If you are carrying the combo in the horizontal position, then yeah, attach the strap to the lens foot to preserve the mount. But carried vertically, as I have for many years of carrying various camers with large lenses, I have never had a single problem. Maybe I'm just lucky.😁😁

The strap is attached via the included quick disconnects. The combination hangs vertically and is slung over my right shoulder. While I wouldn't want to do a ten mile hike like this, it is actually fairly comfortable. This is the widest of the straps offered.

A Kawasaki Concours is actually my preferred mode of transportation when going out specifically to take photos unless the subject matter requires so much gear that it becomes impractical. Being on the motorcycle does indeed make it possible to stop and get photos that would otherwise require extensive walking to get, sometimes causing so much time to pass that you miss the shot. The only 'downside' is that you don't have the space to carry a lot of lenses. But for the most part, a 'standard' zoom (24-70) and a moderate telephoto have been sufficient for just about anything I need to shoot, from bison in Yellowstone to wildflowers in spring in CO. A small extra wide (looking at a 14-30 z lens) would be handy at times.

I am so satisfied with Peak Design that I have installed them on all of my cameras. They sell different sizes and thicknesses to accommodate just about any size camera/lens combination from my tiny z50 with a 16-50 lens to my D750 with a Sigma 150-600 attached. Have never had a single problem with any of them.

I had severe astigmatism until about 5 years ago when I decided to have lazer surgery done on both eyes. I now see great at anything over an arm's length away but need readers for close up. I consider it a more than equitable trade off. There is enough adjustment in my cameras viewfinder (Nikon D750, D7500, z50, z5) that I do not need to wear my glasses when taking photos, even when fine tuning the focus on the rear screen. I do however carry a pair of 'cheaters' in my camera bag because I find them necessary for reading anything in the menu. Again, I am more than happy with my decision to have the surgery.

A Nikon z50 with a FTZ will allow you to continue using your current lenses as long as they are Af-s, af-p, or their 3rd party equivalents. I use my z50 more than my z5. The 16-50 standard kit lens is very light.....I think the camera/lens combo is under 1 pound. This combo is capable of very good photos. And unlike your 500, it has a built in flash that is perfect for fill. It is becoming my favorite body/lens combination. My D750 mostly is a dust collector since I bought the z50.

Tamron 16-300. About the same size and weight as the Nikon and Sigma 18-300s. In my experience with all 3 they perform about the same with similar strong & weak points but the added 2mm on the wide end are very useful.