Ricoh/Pentax tough Camera. OM7. Sony RX100VII. Canon G7X All are excellent small cameras. Decide your price point and your priorities because they have different specs and prices.

I agree. Private reserves in South Africa, some for cameras, others for guns and bows, are amazing opportunities. They really do require a contact though. I highly recommend that you choose a company that takes you to private reserves. The national parks/reserves are also wonderful locations. The nice thing about South Africa is the general infrastructure. Traveling is more comfortable IMHO versus either Kenya or Tanzania. Also, there are many other sites in addition to the game parks. However, you won’t see wildebeest and zebra stretching as far as the eye can see in all directions in SA like on the Serengeti. There are definite differences, but animal viewing opportunities are really exceptional in all of the locations that I have experienced in Africa. We saw 10 black rhinos 3 weeks ago in Tanzania. 15 white rhinos up close in Kenya a few years back. You can get pretty close to animals in Tanzania, like below, and in Kenya and in SA.

Spring is a wonderful time to see South Africa—August through October. We drove across the Western Cape on our own without difficulty. Johannesburg is a dangerous place so we took Uber everywhere, even if for only a few blocks. A tour is nice for a safari though. I was less impressed with Kruger versus my Safari’s in Tanzania and Kenya, but it is so dependent on the animals that you happen to meet. All the parks have been wonderful. We’ve used Collette elsewhere. They are very professional.

I am extremely impressed with the focusing improvement on rapidly moving objects with the Z8, but it comes at a substantial price compared to the D600-850. My composition fairs much better when I crop a full frame in post processing versus a Dx that shoots cropped. Because of that, the higher pixel numbers are extremely beneficial. The D850 may be heavier, but the weight needs to be balanced against the 45 Mp. That said, all of the final versions of Nikon’s DSL’s are worth a close look.

I have only been in the north, so I can’t speak for Dar El Salaam or the South. In the north—Arusha, Moshi, Kilimanjaro, Serengeti etc.—the G has been at every stop. I have never seen the D.

Just got back from my third Tanzanian trip. Type G worked everywhere. Enjoy yourself.

“Professional photographer” covers a lot of imaging specialists. Wedding photographer—how do you use AI to capture a moment in time? Event photography, same thing. Portraits, same thing. Fashion, same thing, but less so. Speaking with post processing specialists, they already say that the photograph quality is almost irrelevant in regards to commercial photography. One major company has 1 or 2 photographers and 7-8 photoshop specialists employed. I suspect, though, that post processing is actually where AI will become the most valuable as an asset and destroy jobs. This will be a major hit for those hoards in advertising that manipulate us by manipulating images. In addition, I foresee someone generating a deceptive Instagram post by telling their AI program, “Do a selfie with Beth and James snuggling together in a gondola under the bridge of sighs in Venice. And get rid of the bald spot on James.”

There are archival digital discs that last decades. The problem is who knows if any devices will be able to read the disc in 20 years. Tapes degrade. Hard drives, both HDD and SSD, also degrade over time. As stated before by people on UHH wiser than me, the best way to keep digital records seems to be to continually consolidate digital materials and transfer them to new storage media every few years. The cloud also becomes an important backup.

If you have an old format but no device to read it, there are family history/genealogy centers that have about every recording device known to man and can move the data to new drives. The family history centers are supported by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, so there are several of them here in Utah. I assume they are in most cities because I have also seen them on trips to Manhattan and Hilton Head. They are open to every one. The people were very helpful, extremely knowledgeable.

The two separate appointments are a consequence of Obamacare

I like to travel light: 24-105 and maybe the 50 mm. for low light. If you are into a heavier set up, the 16-35 2.8, 70-200 f4 and the 50mm for low light and street photography. Rarely would I use the 100-400, except maybe in the Sistine Chapel where photography is banned. As a side note, I recommend taking a small binocular set to look at the Sistine Chapel detail.

Great answer. New cell phones will print up to 11x14, but cost a lot more than your OM 7 without some of the wonderful OM features.

The one question I have about the OM7 is this: How is it much different than my IPhone 15 Pro? I will never have it 50 ft deep in water. Waterproof to 6 ft is just fine for me. I really wanted to buy into its toughness, but a 12 Mp sensor is the same as most of my IPhone pictures.

Canon G7X is my travel pocket camera. Great size, raw format, sensor and a fast 2.8 lens. The technology on all the similar cameras is a few years old. The Sony has the 200 zoom lens but is slower. I chose the cheaper, faster camera, but the Sony features made the choice a difficult one. I had trouble using my iPhone with focus and depth of field problems.

My 70-300 was put in its case and has not seen the light of day since shortly after buying the D850. It is OK for the camera. For a D500, 650, or 700 it will work well, very well. I should give it to my son. I forgot about it.

The Nikon 70-200 E 2.8 is one of the best lenses Nikon has made. As good as Tamron and Sigma are now, get the Nikon. It is my favorite lens. Fast focus and sharp edge to edge. Great for portraits, landscapes, architectural detail, sports, the zoo, botanical gardens, urban settings, etc. I bought the converter when I moved to the Z8 so that I could continue to use it. It has a solid build so I would not hesitate to buy it used.