Tokina has some good lenses. They don't focus fast (fine for stills and landscapes) and I think the manual focus method is odd; pull the focus ring down. Aside from that, that are a great value.

Can someone talk to the benefits and/or drawbacks of the monopods with the feet? Not sure what to call them, but the ones with three little legs at the bottom.

I'm curious if they are good or bad outside. Would rough ground make them wobbly?

For that lost jpeg, are you talking about an original jpeg, or an exported one from a RAW?

If it is from an export operation, maybe you never finished. I've done that before wondering where I put it. As for metadata in exports, Lightroom by default doesn't include much (I think). I use a plugin called Metadata Wrangler to selectively choose what I export.

You'll need ExFAT or FAT32. FAT32 has file size limitations (individual files), so it isn't good for video.

If everything is on the external drive, then open the Catalogue file and it will all open up. (I haven't tried this, but it should be doable). I know there are some videos out there on doing this.

Another option might be to have a separate catalogue that you export from the laptop and import to the desktop. External drives can be much slower.

Remember, move the files from inside of Lightroom, not Explorer/Finder.

465GB isn't occasional usage, sounds like both a good, full library and a great off-site backup. I only use Pixiset for a small, temporary set of images. I still think about Smugmug or some of the others to really put all the decent shots (both for sharing and backup).

Is there an upper limit for Smugmug?

Good shots. They look curiously like they are in good shape, not 100 years old.

I had very similar requirements and went with Pixieset. Free for 5GB of storage. Allows for printing to a nice print house. Tilted a little more toward someone selling, but you can make downloads free.

I think the default in Lightroom is to not write XMP sidecar files (or even jpeg updates). All of the information is in the database. If you set them to do it automatically, there is a chance of a performance hit. There is an icon on the thumbnails that will tell you the metadata has changed. When I am done, I select all and save the metadata as mentioned by Linary.

Lightroom has everything in the database. This is a way to back it up and a way to make your changes to another tool portable.

I've always used ExifTool for my Nikon - http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/

There are a lot of GUIs that use it as an engine. That said, the shutter could is stored in one of the metadata fields. Another option it to upload to a number of sites. Problem there for me is RAW files take too long and I don't always remember to shoot the token jpeg to make it easier.

I know someone who got an external drive where you could insert a card and back it up to that device. I haven't looked into them, but I really like the idea of multiple backups.

Personally, I'd go the route of multiple 64GB cards. On my 7200, I think I get 1.4k 12-bit RAW per card or 1.1k 14-bit. On a good trip, I'd go with the card backup option and have a few extra sets of cards. If I had that device, I might go with extra cards and back them up as I go (keeping the original cards and only using backup as a backup).

2.8 for sure. 24-70 is great for some shots (if you can get close and low I like it). If you are further, the 70-200 is great.

Most of the gyms my daughter played at give you really crappy angles with lots of background distractions, an annoying net or other restrictions. Shoot from up high, they might look like ants. Favorite shots were serves where I could isolate the server or net action when I could get low and near it.

Watch out for the lights. Not only are the weak, but many cycle colors so some shots can look two tone, or alternate blue/yellow/green. Fast shutter speeds can make the worse (but you need them for the action).

Volleyball is one of the harder ones, but learning it will help many others.

Take it in steps and don't try to learn it all at once. Work on the basics of exposure (ISO, aperture and shutter speed). Then spend some time on composure (rule of thirds, fill the frame, decisive moment, etc.).

As you go through each area, pick up your camera and go try. Like spend a hour doing just aperture mode. Go look at your shots. Do it again with shutter priority. Work yourself of program mode, then go back to it if you want.
The lenses don't make much difference in learning the basics. Using them will. I think sticking with one lens while you play around with figuring it out is best.
Then, once you have a handle, give yourself little projects to try. Avoid things that need a special lens like macro, really wide angles or low light.

Enjoy the fact that shooting doesn't add another cost and you can delete the "bad" ones if you want.

All good advice. I went through this last year and bottomed out on Lightroom for two main reasons. 1) There are so many tutorials out there to help learn it. 2) Organizational tools.

Some of the tools are better for sure, but with guidance, I now have a nice photography workflow based around Adobe. Know that I know so much more about all the editing options, could I get there with other tools? Yes. The Lightroom community was super helpful in getting up to speed.


Bottom line, think about what you want to program for. Organizing, basic edits, RAW processing, print production... there are options out there. I learned photography in a darkroom and really enjoy the RAW processing. I have more than enough pictures that organization and tagging are very valuable to me.