For travel, highly recommend a WD "my passport pro" 2TB with thunderbolt connections. Cable is built in so you can't forget it. I carry several on a trip and keep all photos on external hard drives. For home computer I have a 12 TB stack from Promise called Pegasus with thunderbolt 2 connections. All photos are on that and it is fast enough to keep me happy, not internal memory with a second 6 TB stack for backups. I have too many photos for backing up to cloud, I think.

I have no problem buying gray market lenses, but get them from Adorama; I got a Canon 300mm f2.8 graymarket from them and saved several hundred dollars. What is likely to need warranty on a lens???

I have a larger one and at first I wondered if it was a mistake; however, now I use it a lot; better than a mouse for things like masking; a friend has a smaller wireless one and he likes it. I have to put my keyboard up to get room on the desk forthe pad. Highly recommended

You might look at the ThinkTank roller bags. Not hard shell, but they are excellent. lock for security and are really well thought out. I use two when I travel.

As an avid bird photographer, focusing speed is critical. I don't know about Nikon, but the Canon 1DX focuses incredibly fast. I can shoot at 12 fps with continuous focusing and get really sharp photos. When I upgraded from 1D mk iv to a 1DX my in focus percentage for birds in flight went from 30-40% to 80%plus. However that is a very expensive solution.

I think that you are overly concerned about stabilization. I have shot well over 10,000 frames from small boats (usually fairly calm water). Usually I can use my largest tripod with Wimberly head, but with legs very minimally extended so that I can sit. Some times I do use a Monopod because I want to move rig faster. I am always using 600mm lens frequently with either 1.4x or 2x extenders. (see photo below) With this long lens I shoot between 1/1000 and 1/2000 as light allows and get tack sharp photos. I have never had problem from vibration due to outboard motor. I have attached two photos with this technique.

Note better beamer for fill flash


600mm Celestun, Yucatan, Mexico

(Download)

600mm Huntsville Ontario, Canada

(Download)

Got the same static from my wife - she complained that the weight of a Canon 5D mmiii hurt her neck so Santa brought her a fujifilm ex-2 which still have interchangeable lenses. A pro buddy of mine uses that exclusively for music promo and project covers for cd's.
Very light, great pictures if you are fussy about focus points which is not as easy as spot focus with 5D; So now she complains that it does not focus as fast! Go figure, maybe there is an advantage if you spend 3K more?? Still the fuji was the only camera we took for a long weekend in NOLA and got some great photos. In camera flash is weak - only good for 10-12 feet
Check out a lot of the mirror less stuff - I hear Sony is excellent.

You are going to have to try it or find some one with that exact equipment. Why not rent the 2xiii for a weekend??? I will tell you the 2x iii canon will autofocus with the 300 f2.8 and the new 600mm f4 just fine on a 1DX

handheld auto focus 600mm with 1.4x iii with 1DX

I use it and think it has value; the majority of my photography is wildlife and i almost never use it. However, when I have a very stable subject and have 600mm lens with perhaps a 2x extender, inspite of a huge, solid tripod, I think it improves sharpness when used with cable release. With wild life, that aint often.

I always use it for night cityscapes with longer exposures. My travel tripod is not so robust.

prague; you can't tell this small, but it is sharp

I got rid of the 100-400 as I did not like the "pump" style. Did get some good photos with it, however. I am a believer in prime lenses. I don't think anyone questions that a high quality prime lens is better than any zoom. I have both the Canon 300 f2.8 and the new version 600mm F4.0 Both are incredibly sharp but as importantly, they focus extremely fast. I also use the 1.4 and 2x extenders. I have a friend with the 200-400 with built in 1.4 and that is a great lens. I am 74 and I hand hold all of the above when necessary, but use big tripod with wimberly head a lot. At Bosque del Apache last winter, I saw hundreds of photographers there for the great BIF opportunities. 95% were using prime lenses, the others wished they were. I guess what I am trying to say, there is no free lunch. Primes are big, heavy, expensive, but have the highest quality. Very few zooms approach the quality of a prime, usually cheaper, usually much smaller and lighter. You get what you can afford that gives you the best chance for good photos.

hand held 600mm lens ISO=3200 no noise reduction


handheld 600mm lens+1.4X ISO=3200 NO NOISE REDUCTION


tripod with wimberly head in boat 600mm lens ISO=800

Amen to that list and many more. Stupid me, I did not know that Canon 1DX did not do landscape photos well. I guess I should not have taken this photo.

Question: Why don't you try a Canon 1DX and then tell me if canon has been left behind. Watch a NFL game and see how many "white lenses" are on the sideline compared to black lenses. There are so many great cameras these days, but Canon left behind? NO!

A lot of ways to do it. As one suggested have LR make a second copy. I am somewhat extra careful, so on an important photoshoot, I add an external hard drive to my mac book pro; create a folder on the external hard drive and when you plug in your camera chip into the laptop you will see its' icon. Open that up and copy all files (command C) onto the folder you created on the external hard drive (command V) I usually name these folders by the date of that day. Then you can import into lightroom from the camera chip or copy the new folder onto the internal hard drive in a file system of your choice and then import using the ADD option. That way you have a dup copy of your camera chip on an external hard drive. Please note that when you back up lightroom in only backs up the modifications to the original files. You have to back up the original photo files. When you get home, you can merge the catalog from your laptop to your (bigger?) library on your desk computer if you use one.

The best FF wildlife camera is the Canon 1DX - on a budget NO!
You cant have everything, so do your photography when the light is good and save up $$. The suggestion to rent is excellent.

I have very good frames of birds at 25,000 ISO & and shoot at 10 -12 frames per second in Raw.
I went on a photo shoot tour in Alaska and discovered there is no substitute for high end gear if you want to push the envelope and get great photos. Thousands of dollars later I am getting the photos of my dreams. Takes a while, and did not happen until after my family needs were met.

You said you got a great photo with what you have. Congratulations and be happy
Bill