and when you read a 1000 reviews on the same camera with different people doing them... and you have the same basic info coming out... you have your sample of 1000 cameras... just sayin.
Kelly

if you are shooting Nikon, Steve Perry, who is also a member of this group has a fantastic book on focus settings... it is actually a real science if you want to get it right! Personally, for birds in flight, I like single point focus but have a button on my D850 set to go to group AF at the push of the button if I am not getting a good lock on. I keep it set to 9 points most of the time. it is an opinion as to which gives you the best focus, but you have to test them to see what works best for your type of shooting... on a canon... I have no clue as to what is available, but they do have something.
Kelly

I can promise you that this in the end becomes an opinion! But, in the end, the only way to shoot B&W in the camera is to shoot jpeg... and you only have a B&W image with no option for color... but to shoot in raw... color... gives you both images and only a minor amount of processing to get both!
Kelly

Well, I have a situation that fits pretty well here. In November of 2017 I bought a D850, and the focus tracking was not right so I sent it in and they fixed it... then on St. Patrick's day, the hot shoe quit working, the xqd card started to report errors, and the focus started to jump back and forth between spot and group. I called Nikon, they told me that they could replace it since it was already repaired once... however, at this point I dont know if that is actually going to happen based on the info that I have thus far gotten. That camera in particular is a lemon. So, if and when they do replace it, it will be refurbished and some poor sap will buy it in good faith... and get a twice repaired lemon. I wont buy a refurb because of this and I have heard of others that Have gotten the same type of lemon on a refurb. Now, Nikon only guarantees their refurbs for 90 days... some others will do 1 year, but if you buy used, then you often will get 180 days to a year... in my mind, I want the longer guarantee! Just my thoughts.
Kelly

well done!
Kelly

I too have both types of remotes, but it is because sometimes I need a remote that I can use from a distance and sometimes I want to use the remote for shooting fireworks, which, once the camera is set, it can be 100% automated so that you don't have to touch the camera again until the show is over. as Ron Popiel always said, set it and forget it! the wired remote in my bag is used more than the RF, but I dont want to be without either!

about 5 years ago I saw a gimbal and played with it... a week later mine was delivered. there are times that I simply need a tripod and not a gimbal... so I use an L bracket... it still is a great tripod head for even that situation. sure they are heavy... which means that it does not move very much... oh and that is a good thing. listen to steve perry... he speaks from the same type of experience as do I, it be $500 or so well spent!
Kelly

You have already seen many answers on both sides of this, with more I believe telling you that you would not gain a lot. I would basically tell you the same... except that the better dynamic range in the D500 or D8xx cameras are very nice... but in my opinion there has never been a better DSLR for shooting fireworks than the D200... period. I gave my D200 to my kids for Christmas this year, they wanted a good camera for taking images of their new baby... they will have good light... if you were to shoot fast sports I would tell you to upgrade in a heartbeat... if you shoot a lot of macros, then the focus stacking in the D850 may be a big help... but it is your choice.
Kelly

Roberts in Indianapolis, B&H, Adorama, are probably your safest places to buy. They all treat their customers right, do a good job with returns, and ship quickly when they have the gear in stock. it has already been said that B&H and Adorama are out of stock, well so is Roberts, but put your name on Roberts wait list... they dont make you pay before you order, so if you find one elsewhere, you can cancel with Roberts and not loose your money.

were you able to salvage the image?

thank you Dave, and you are welcome. this method will work a lot of miracles so long as the original is sharp and high quality... sometimes those are big if's but they are also beyond your control!
Kelly

you could also scan it, and then build a larger canvas at that top or bottom or even put some of the canvas on both top and bottom of your image. then you could make it have an 8x10 format and loose nothing. you would do this in photoshop. probably best to make the new canvas black or at least very dark.
Kelly

you are very welcome.

Mark smith has a book on florida birding locations and this is one of the locations that he finds to be very good. He is a you tube video guy, look him up and you can check it out there as well.

I too was having a lot... in fact, much more than a lot of neck, back, shoulder pain and a friend gave me a black rapid knock off strap some 8 years ago. I now own several black rapid straps and have them on every body. I no longer have much pain at all unless I have been carrying my camera for more than about 4 hours at a time. this is the best neck,back, shoulder pain strap that I have ever found.