My simplistic solution may provoke some disdain but it involved no purchases and solved two problems. I use a small rollerbag carryon similar to yours and I have two well padded camera bags with only slightly smaller dimensions: a backback and a sling bag. I simply pack the camera stuff into the bag of choice and fit the bag into the carryon. If perchance I'm confronted with a situation where there's not enough space for a roller bag of any kind and I'm forced to gate check, I simply pull out the backpack or sling and carry it into the plane, and gate check the roller bag.

Looking to buy something to upgrade for my wife. She's been using various iterations of the Olympus "Tough" line point and shoot. Used them while we were cruising on a sailboat in Central America a few years ago, and she has a ton of really nicely composed shots, albeit that the IQ is limited due the camera. She likes to use the "in camera" scenes and special effects. But she's also seen some of the stuff I get with a DSLR, and is about ready to get out of the "auto" mode, and actually learn the subtleties of Aperture, ISO and shutter speed.

I've been looking at some of the "super zooms" like the Panasonic FZ1000, Sony RX10 & Nikon Coolpix P900 lines, but at the cost and size, I figure it's best she just learns to hold the DSLR with an appropriate lens. But there's lot of time she won't want to haul that around, so I started looking at some of the fixed lens options.

The two that I've narrowed it down to in that category are the Fujifilm X100F and Panasonic LX100 II.

Kind of leaning toward the LX100-II, mostly because of the (albeit short) zoom. Any thoughts suggestions or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

Below are a couple of samples of the kind of stuff she (likes &) does. These were done with the in camera modes. Not PP on a computer.

My wife and I are taking a trip to Israel and are considering a new camera. In addition to use on this trip, I also want a camera that I can use as a new retiree...looking forward to having time to pursue this more seriously than in the past.

I am considering a Sony RX 100 VI (VII?) or Fuji X T30. Obviously the Sony will travel better and the Fuji offers more potential as I develop my skills. Seems I am less likely to "outgrow" the RX 100.

Sure, this is comparing apples and oranges, but I would still appreciate your input if only one camera is in the budget. BTW since I will also need a new phone, I will try to get one with best camera available (Pixel phone 4?). Maybe this will suffice for the travel camera?

Thanks!

Look into the software that came with your camera or can be downloaded for free from the manufacturer's website. That software will be free, specific to your camera type. But ... probably not any easier to learn and use. Before you give up on Adobe, ask yourself how much training have you taken? Adobe has numerous free video training on their site. You can find even more free videos on u-tube that cover every aspect of both software from the most general getting started to the most obscure edit actions. You might also step back from trying to learn both and focus only on LR that is the easier of the two packages and is intended for all general purpose editing. Investing the time to learn how and why to use any image editing software has a basic requirement of your time and effort to learn. Free won't make even the most basic software easy to use.

Looking through photos on this site and others, I've noticed more and more pictures with (to me anyway) obnoxious HDR halos. Areas that are dark get pulled up and the brighter areas next to the dark area gets brightened also, giving it a halo effect. It winds up looking over cooked. Artistically, I can see why some might like this, but to me it just jumps out and distracts from the rest of the photo.

I was thinking about this over the last few days and realized that most modern pop music is doing the same thing. They compress the dynamic range of the recording to get a consistent volume over the length of the song. Quiet regions get amplified and loud regions get attenuated. Compared to older recordings where the loud and soft passages are an important part of the experience, these compressed recording feel very artificial and annoying, much like the over cooked HDR photos.

When I first got interested in High Fidelity sound years ago, the openness and naturalness of the sound created was always a very important part of the experience. Boom boxes and music processed for loud
clubs and radio changed the way most music got produced. Today, I think we are seeing something similar with the shift to HDR and overcooked post processing. Loud and thumpy music, loud and in your face photos.

Time for a new laptop. I plan to replace my old MacBook Pro with a new Apple laptop. I run Adobe/Lightroom Classic photographers plan. I’ve been in to visit the Apple Store on three occasions and got different recommendations each time.

First one recommended MacBook Air for better photo display. Second recommended MacBook Pro (then yet to be replaced with the just released, brand new model) with new control bar. Third recommended I special order MacBook Pro (again, the older model) with no control bar and, instead, purchase additional storage. I currently keep my main catalogue on my hard drive (I know, a no-no) with two backups, one to an external Seagate drive and another to the cloud.

I welcome any and all recommendations on model, storage, memory, etc. I know I should get my catalogue off of my hard drive so any tips or direction towards resources on that would be great as well. My thanks in advance to the awesome Hog community for your help and guidance. ~JDM

A couple months ago there was a discussion on the site about telephone photography (such a rare subject, ha) wherein someone discussed a phone app called FV5. I downloaded the app (even got the pro version that had to be paid for, few bucks) which claimed to provide the controls of a DSLR to your phone and provide a DNG (raw) file. As of this point I am still experimenting with the app; however, it does provide additional controls and does yield a DNG file. At a minimum I am finding that the DNG file provides much better data for post processing.
Using a cell phone should not be a negative in that it has gotten more people involved in capturing images and it is certainly not necessary that every image must be printed or enlarged to cover a wall. I am finding that I use a combination of my DSLR (Nikon D610) or my Samsung Galaxy 7, depending on the circumstances. On a recent trip to the BVI's I chose to use the Galaxy due to the limitations of luggage for travel and storage space on the sailboat we were chartering. Could I have gotten better photos with my DLR, possibly; however, for the most part I was satisfied with the quality of photos and I was able to do some good post processing of the images.
So, as upset as I get with the constant rudeness of the masses continually shoving their cell phones in front of my lens, I do not view their activity as being less than my attempts to work with my DSLR. Hey folks, we are all simply attempting to capture a memory.

I just noticed what may be a problem with my D600. Perhaps someone can shed some light on the issue.

I was editing pictures shot recently and the finished file sizes seemed small. I took some test shots and looked at the unedited Metadata only to discover that the file size of a picture just taken is about 15.7 Mp. The camera should produce a file size of about 24 Mp.
I am shooting RAW and FF. Is my camera going South or am I missing something in Set-up?

Any help is appreciated.