With me I always tend to go for the cheapest cure and that is 'User error'

I am a terror for forgetting I touched something or adjusted something and sadly the time I find out I have done something wrong is when I look at the images I had shot :oops: :oops:

These cameras can be so complex if we want them to be, the options, the menus, the Banks we can select, it is all a minefield waiting for me to press just one single little icon.

Is it worth considering putting the camera back to the factory defaults?

OK now I really feel like an idiot. Here is what I have: Kit 28-55 nikon, Zeiss 1.4 55 mm fixed, aforementioned 70-300mm Tamron (not thrilled with) and 200-500mm Tamron. Need something to fill the gap in the middle. I want a lens that will do wildlife (near), landscape and maybe a wide angle for group shots if needed. Looked at the site but that is complicated as well. ANY help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Rick

Peter Hurley is the photographer's name. http://peterhurley.com/

He cuts the top of the head off to place the eyes approximately in the "rule of thirds" position and because he finds the the face/jaw line/neck area more expressive than whatever people do with their hair.

He shoots in the horizontal format because he likes a lot of negative space around his subject.

Just because this style works for him is not a reason for other people to copy it but they do. Go figure.

BTW, he give great workshops. If there is one in your area, do take it, but don't copy his style, copy his work ethic. He is quite extraordinary.

for the life of me i can't remember the photographer's name but he was featured in an internet article recently & is supposed to be a highly respectable, well established name in headshot photography & he typically shoots headshots in horizontal format & commonly cuts off the top of the client's head. it's now like his trademark.

Like some other posters, I'm not too impressed by his demo. One thing the manufacturers mentioned in their responses was the jolting forces, as in dropping the camera a few feet and having the bolt take the stress.

Aside from the strength of the camera's tripod socket, what about the strength of that 1/4" bolt? A quick online search turned up lots of broken tripod mounting situations. Most involved the bolt breaking when the tripod fell over, but there were also cases of the threads being stripped. Below are some of the cases I found.

*Help!!! I had an accident with my tripod today. I was mounting my Nikon D300s onto a tripod with a ball head today. I didn't seem to be using much force, but the thread of the tripod just broke off in my hand. There is maybe a few mm of the thread sticking up out of my cameras mount socket, and it's stuck in tight. Does anyone have any ideas of how to get it out? Or any ideas of how much it might cost in a repair shop to get it removed?
*I'm not sure what happened but I found it on the floor with a broken tripod mount.
*Hey, so a few weeks ago I broke the bottom part of my camera off that allows it to connect to the tripod screw.
*My tripod fell, and the tripod mount of the camera was broken.

I have Opanda on my computer to open EXIF info. Under"MakerNote" the quality setting is the third item down.