Black Friday is now over, and Cyber Monday Deals are closing by this upcoming weekend. One of the best deals was the Nikon D500, body only, selling brand new for $1796. That price was very tempting, but I have 2 lenses I am wanting first. and I can't afford them all. I think the D500 DSLR camera is the best affordable today. There are some good ones that can compete, such as Canon's 7D Mark 2, Sony's a77II, a6500, and Nikon's D7200. Anyone know of a better, affordable, crop sensor DSLR camera that is better?

Oh, but you are so wrong! You have to shoot in raw!!! According to all the knowledgeable people who contribute to the main photo discussion section, one must always shoot in raw - period; even the novices. That makes these tests totally invalid. What good is a photo shot in 2 million ISO in Jpeg, even if the photo is still totally clear even in almost non existent light?

I just bought a Sony a77 M2 in late June and I love it! I can do stuff with the focus points that are not possible with the Nikons or the Canons. I know, I have tried. What I also like about the A77 M2 is that one now has to depress a button in order to move the dial from one mode to another. On all my other Sony cameras, used to have to super glue the mode dial in the M position so I would not accidentally switch modes. Now I have more super glue to use on my model trains.

Anyway, I pre-ordered 2 A99 ll's because I am going on a cruise to Norway in January and I want to use a different lens on each one so I don't have to change lenses. I suppose I am going to have to ask a question on the main photo section as to which lens to put on each camera because I am too stupid to understand what each lens does. I have 3 lenses (all A mount, full frame). One is a Minolta 24-85mm zoom, one is a Sigma 24-85mm zoom, and the 3rd one is a Tamron 24-85mm zoom and I don't know which one to leave at home. In addition, I am going to have some one to teach me how to shoot in Auto Mode because from what I understand so far, that is what you are supposed to do when you buy a real expensive camera. Always something.

There's a wide range in the appearance of these full moon shots, partly because people are processing them so differently. Here's my supermoon shot, processed three different ways. One with minimal contrast enhancement, then two with more radical enhancement done in Topaz Adjust, which uses local tone mapping (Topaz calls it "Adaptive Exposure). Which shot is the best? Personally I prefer the second one. Others may differ. I showed the third shot to a friend who hated it, said it looked way "overprocessed." I used Nikon D7100 with Nikon 200-500mm at 500mm ISO 125, f5.6, 1/640 sec.