Been using Eneloop batteries for years (both Sanyo and Panasonic) in my flashes. Never had a leaking issue or any other issues. The recycle time is fast on my flashes. Some of these batteries are many years old and still charge to their fullest....Pay a bit more upfront and save on the back end!!! Eneloops will always be in my camera bag.
Years ago purchased a cabinet with 5 shelves, a glass door and storage below with 2 solid doors. On the shelves I store my cameras, lenses, external flashes and a few other items. Below are my books, wipes, extra cards etc. All my gear fits in this cabinet. Each lens is in a case with silica packs and purchased one larger desiccant device to put in the cabinet itself. All my camera equipment is now in one place and organized. When I go out on a shoot pack my camera backpack with what is needed. Picked up the cabinet at a office store on a close out deal. It worked out perfect for what I was looking for and the cost as I remember was under $100. Works for me!!!
I'm not a big fan of club shopping though I have a Sam's membership I picked up on Groupon. It's OK but seems everything you buy is industrial sized. Amazon Prime is the best investment I have made. Free shipping, movies, books,music and 95% of the time a much better price on anything. Did my Christmas shopping in one morning, my grand kids toys etc. Went to a few brick and mortar stores looking for specific toys and had no luck, Amazon had them and I got them in 2 days at a lessor price than retail. Now the big one, little over a year ago for hobby fun decided I wanted to try drone photography so went to a local brick and mortar hobby store that carried DJI drones. Knew what I wanted and the price was $1400.00 plus sales tax. Checked a few places online and ended up on Amazon, Couldn't believe the price $997.00, no sales tax and free 2 day shipping. It came from a hobby shop in Georgia fulfilled by Amazon. And it's not grey market.. In my opinion the $120.00 a year for prime is well worth it, just in shipping I save that much. Yes I'm a heavy Amazon user and being a retail manager for 40+ years know prices. This is what brick and motor is afraid of, why do you think every place you shop wants your email address?
A couple years ago went to the Adobe pay service, Lightroom and Photoshop. The $10.00 a month was more than worth the investment. It's a few $3.00 cups of Starbucks a month or a 12 pack of beer. I import all my images into Lightroom, edit or batch edit them and if any need tweeking I send them to photoshop for the final tweek. You never have to worry about purchasing an updated version. Adobe updates as new cameras and lenses hit the street.
Years ago I owned the original Lightroom program which I purchased and it lasted for many years, than Abobe stopped updating it and my newer computer caused it to lose many of the options. After windows XP the program to me was useless. Bounced around to different photo programs but none to me were as good.
Lightroom and Photoshop are not the easiest to learn but once you master them they will give you the best results and save valuable time.
Thank You Andy for a great written article. I've read a lot of very helpful posts on UHH. After years of reading here think I know who posts fact, some post opinion and some just nasty trolls. As in any forum after time you realize who knows the profession and who just like to post for the sake of posting. We were all new to photography at one time and the worst thing to do to a new comer is to make them feel unwelcome by making them feel stupid in their new hobby by asking basic questions. I've seen some pretty unwelcome comments directed at their posts. ie: just read the post from whenever that explains this. They don't know, they're new. There are some that will take the time to write back explaining in a very professional manor and give help. Some are just nasty.
Extenders work fine in certain situations. I use a 1.4x extender when shooting sports at times when I need the extra reach using a Canon 70-200f4 lens. It works great, yes you will get some degradation but not that much. The 2X converter forget it, sold mine results were terrible. If using a Canon lens use a Canon Converter, Tamron use a Tamron converter for the best results.
Been using Wasabi batteries in my cameras for years and have never had any issues. All my Canons (3) run on these with battery grips. They charge fine with the Canon chargers and all charge to 100%, and last as long as the OEM batteries. Great way to save $$$...
The 5DmarkIV is a great camera. I used one to shoot wedding photographs. Great results. I mostly shoot sports and IMO the 7DII is the best camera for action sports. Outdoors I use a Canon 70-200F4.0 L lens and it produces outstanding images. Indoor sports a Tamron 70-200F2.8 (love that lens). If I need a little more use a 1.4X extender and again great results. The 10 FSP on the 7DII makes it a real sports camera to me. My favorite walk around lens is a Sigma 24-70F2.8 on the 5D. I can't compare Nikon gear as I have sold all of what I had years ago and went to Canon with no regrets.
Canon has the best customer service I have ever dealt with. Many years ago I sent a Camcorder in for repair. They actually called me from the USA explaining what had happened and what they were going to do to repair it at no cost. Got the camcorder back in 2 days it worked just like new. More recently I sent in my old 5D in for a cleaning, maintenance and the click count. For the $130. it was worth it to me to have them do it (this was the first time I put a nickel into this camera). To my surprise it had almost 100,000 clicks on it. It came back with a clean bill of health. Canon is a great company that stands behind their products, very honest and great customer service.
Lightroom, Photoshop, and (the free open source, which I don't care for) Gimp are all not easy to learn. Practicing with our DLSR's and lenses got us better. The same will get you better in post processing. The tools in Photoshop are incredible (once learned) and I don't even know all of them. It takes lots of time and effort. These programs are not a one click fixes all. You try to learn these in a few weeks you will get eyeball burn...it takes time a effort but the results in the end are worth it...My opinion.
Everybody's needs differ. Over many years I have used various post processing programs (some free and some paid). Still have the original version of lightroom (not compatible any longer). Over the years cameras, lenses and operating systems change. This results in the program being non compatible with older versions of photo programs. Adobe lightroom and photoshop for $10. a month gives you all you will ever need. Something new comes out and an update is right behind. There is plenty of free information out there to get you started and advance. A paid book I bought years ago written by Tony and Chelsea Northrup on Lightroom CC was a great read and very reasonably priced. Lightroom is not to hard to learn but not the easiest, photoshop does have a bit of a learning curve to it to get the most out of it. Practicing with both, transferring from lightroom to photoshop to get that perfect result. Give up a 12 pack of beer a month and bang it's paid for.
I use Wasabi batteries in my Canon 7DII, 5DIII and T5i. Find them to work as well as OEM batteries. Been using them for years with no issues. The savings is well worth it.
Been using Wasabi batteries in 3 Canon cameras for years. Have never had issue with them in any of my battery grips. Depending how much you use your camera be it 3rd party batteries or name brand they only have so many charges to keep you at 100%. I write the date my batteries when I receive them. After a couple years (sometimes less depending on use) I just replace them. Wasabi prices and quality allows you to replace them without breaking the bank. Buying 4 Wasabi's less than 1 Canon battery. The amount of clicks is about the same.
The 7DII is a tank of a camera. Shoot a lot of sports and this is the best body I own for sports both indoor and outdoor. The 10 FPS is a plus. Paired outdoor use a Canon 70-200 f4 L lens, indoor use a Tamron 70-200F2.8 (and if needed a 1.4X extender, which I use) . I have a 5D and late last year sent it to Canon for a "tune-up" cleaning etc. as it had almost 100,000 clicks on it. It didn't need any replacement parts (thank god) but it got a clean bill of health, to me it was worth the money to get it tuned up. Canon repair let me know every step of the way what they were doing. They also sent back with the checkup the actual click count on the camera. IMO the 7dII or the 5DIII are both excellent camera bodies and would service your needs. Don't think you will be as satisfied with the 6DII.
The 2 Canon lenses I use the most is the 24-70 f2.8 (all around) and my favorite is the 70-200 f4 for outdoor. Both are awesome lenses and cover 85% of what I shoot.