I got eaten alive by mosquitoes getting the Black-crowned Night Heron over two days. That was to be expected since I was sitting in brush by the pond. My dump luck is still working. I got out of the truck set up the tripod and 600mm,walked over the road edge and shot the Bittern. For the jet I was out in full sunlight all day but with my sun hat and long sleeve white shirt. The hummer is pretty standard shooting using 1/8000 and fill flash.

I tried using 3rd party ink in my Epson 7880 printer. I had to get some kizmo to reset the computer chip, but that never worked good. Then the had the computer chip installed with double sided tape. Now one chip has come off inside the printer. I will to have the Epson doctor make a house call. If I would stayed with Epson inks I would not have this problem now.

I never take the cards out of my 6 Nikon bodies. I plug the camera into the computer with a cable and I reformat in the camera. By taking the card out you run the risk of bending a pin on the camera or reader when reinserting the card. In fact when using a card reader takes just has long because you have to move the images from the card to a folder on the computer. Using a plug in cord Nikon transfer 2 makes the folder for you.

No It was a USA D300 from KEH but was a lemon from Nikon. Nikon finally took the camera back and replaced it with a D300s with 750 clicks- no charge. I had the Mack warranty on the camera. That warranty will be honored by KEH, maybe Nikon and Midwest Camera Repair.

Also there is a Mack warranty. It is a policy that you can buy for that lens or body. I had a Mack warranty with a D300 I got from KEH. The camera went back twice for repair and never cost a dime.

I now have a zip lock Hefty 2.5 gal bag that I'll keep on my baby buggy that I use to transport photo gear and a cooler. I have a garbage bag in the lid of my 200-500 case and I have a Lens Coat raincoat for my 600 that's clipped to its tripod and I have a rain suit for me so now I'm covered.

I was on St. Paul Island that is part of the Pribilof Island chain in Alaska and there was no TV or radio in the hotel I was at. So I had no knowledge of the approaching mist front when we headed out to shoot flying puffins after dinner. When I left the house on the 4th to shoot fireworks the weather broadcast had a rain front 40 miles south. The forecast was partly sunny and dry for the evening.
Todays cameras are not really cameras they are hand held computers and they are full of circuit boards, computer tape circuits, etc. They do not have springs & gears that my FTN has. So putting it my car in the sun would not harm it. I do not appreciate the snarky comments of some, it shows their lack of knowledge on photography.

In 2003 I was on St Paul Island and we were at a cliff side shooting flying Puffins when an off shore mist came rolling in and one of my F5's stopped working. I went back to the hotel opened the camera and let it set for 8 hours. I picked it up put on a lens and it worked perfect for years. The F5 has far more mechanical components than the D810 so I'm not to worried about internal damage due to rust.

Yesterday I got caught in a rain storm without any rain gear, The D810 and 24~120mm lens got really soaked. The camera quit working while the lens works correctly. My car sets in full sun on the driveway, so I set the camera on the passengers seat without the front cap and the battery door open. I just went out to check. The stirring wheel was hot to touch and camera was also. Brought the camera inside, installed the battery and the camera works as advertised. This has happened to me twice and each time I opened the camera and left it to dry out and this has worked twice now.

This is the place in Lucas county that I can photograph Ruby-throated hummingbirds easily. Equipment used was D810 on a Nikkor 600mm F:4G VR with a SB-900 that was plugged into a Propac PB960. I set the flash at 1/4 power and my MagMod flash extender gets the light out to about 20'. In fact all it really does is add a catch light. My shutter speed was 1/8000 at F:6.3 at 640ISO> Also I'll include a couple Indigo Buntings from another Metro Park.

Nikon, Steve Perry and E. J. Pieker (Naturescapes) has confirmed to me that if I use Nikon Transfer 2 it will keep and apply my set up for Picture control, white balance, Active D-lighting and other I set, It applies them to the raw file when its downloading. This only happens if you plug the camera into the computer and activate Nikon Transfer 2. The other plus is I don't remove the card from the camera and chance bending a pin

I have the 70~180mm macro zoom. It is very very sharp lens. The reason you have not heard of it is because it is so good owners don't let them go. Also longer macro lens give much better working distance.

Here is a collection of shots I got this year on the boardwalk.

I use a jogger-stroller with pneumatic ball-bearing wheels (3) and it goes thru gravel, grass, mud, sand and anything else I can throw at it. I hauls my 600mmF:4, 2009-500 and 2 full frame bodies and flash equipment and also a camp chair and cooler. Only cost me $30.00.

I use a $30 runner baby buggy. I load I my Nikon 600mmF:4 G VR/D810 and my 200-500 with a D800, a small seat, a small cooler and I'm set. I can spend all day out there and it hasn't cost a dime plus my back feels wonderful at the end of the day.