I always enjoy reading Ken Rockwell's reviews on NIKON products for the enjoyment factor. He loves anything NIKON. Never seen a bad review from him. So if I am contemplating buying a new NIKON lens, I read his review, and then run out and buy it. Never been disappointed...so far.

A UV or clear optical glass filter on your lens does protect the lens to some degree. Any dust, dirt, debris, or moisture will be on the filter and not on your lens. I would rather clean the front surface of a filter than the front surface of an expensive lens in the field. The filter may or may not degrade your photo quality an insignificant amount but it probably won't ever be noticeable to the average person. Others will disagree as you will see by reviewing several other threads on the forum regarding filters. I use mostly B&W UV filters on all my lenses. They are not expensive. A 52mm B&W UV filter made of quality German optical glass with brass threads runs around $17. A small price to pay for the protection it provides.

I have slowly evolved to smaller and smaller as I get older and a bit more mature. As I traveled for a living for over 30 years and spent 10-15 days a month flying I thought nothing about taking along one of my Nikon DSLR's and a couple of lenses. Then when the Sony A60XX series came out I found them to be much more travel-friendly than the Nikon. Now if I'm going on a short trip I grab my Panasonic ZS40 or ZS50 that easily fits in my pocket and takes excellent photos if I do my part. As poster-sized enlargements are not a priority for me I have a lot more fun leaving the big Nikon at home and taking one of the smaller cameras. Costco sells the ZS-series cameras for around $300 and change so if you lose one or get it banged up, the loss is not as great as it would be if you were hauling around a big Nikon DSLR. For my needs, the Sony A6000 gets more use than any of the others.

Very nice photos. I was pulling for Jimmie Johnson but he just couldn't get it done.

I have to say I like what the partial human bodies add to the photos. It shows the presence of other people involved in the action and shows there is action going on around the subjects. Overall, I think they are excellent photos just as they are presented.

bsprague offered the best advice on how to get "professional" shots,

"You should be able to get those same photos. Use a telephoto lens wide open, high shutter speed, as high an ISO as needed and burst shooting. Go home with hundreds and pick the right moments."

Definitely alien spacecraft in that setting! I just knew that movie was not fictional, but nobody would listen to me. :)

A picture is worth 1000 words. That 1st photo you posted tells it all, despite the comments we've read from others regarding DX lenses on FX bodies. Thanks for the post. Very interesting and informative.

Sony is the new Leica. Small, lightweight, mirrowless, packed with some of the latest technology, and capable of outstanding results.

Most responses say "Get him a DSLR". He doesn't want a DSLR. The boy has obviously done his research as he specifies that he wants a "Sony Mirrorless Camera". If he were my grandson and he was a responsible 14 year-old, I would be looking for a Refurbished or Open-Box Sony A6000 for him. They are quite reasonable now and he will get some excellent results with the kit lens that will encourage him to pursue his dream. For a youth, I would also consider getting insurance for the camera to protect your investment. Let the boy pursue his dreams.

I'll take it. PM with payment info.
Thanks.

Just bought a Nikon Factory Refurbished lens from Adorama about 10 days ago. Everything that comes with a new lens was in the box except for the manual. And it did not come with the original box. It was in a Nikon Refurbished box and had the latest firmware installed. It was 25% off the listed price for a new one at Adorama and looks like brand new. Perfect on the outside and completely clean of dust, specks, etc. on the inside. With a 3-month warranty, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another factory refurbished Nikon lens.

Is your firmware on camera and lenses up to date?

Good luck to all the Hogs in Florida. We hope and pray for the best for you.

Yes. If you have the VR turned on in the menu it should be working as designed. If it isn't, it may take a trip back to Nikon to fix it.

It just occurred to me, if you have never updated the firmware on your camera and your lens you may need to go to www.nikonusa.com. Click on your camera/lens model and see if there is a firmware update available that you haven't installed. That could fix your problem. Just follow the directions to install the firmware per the instructions and you shouldn't have any problems with it.

If you are talking about the 18-55 kit lens, some of them had VR and some of them didn't. If you don't have a switch on the barrel of the lens, there is probably a setting in the camera menu to turn VR on if your lens has VR. It will probably be in the SETUP section of the menu. If your kit lens is one of the older ones, it may not have VR on it.

This is from the Errornet:

"New AF-P lens designation. AF-P is the designation used to distinguish these new lenses from Nikon's existing AF-S models. The full model name is 'AF-P DX NIKKOR 18–55mm f/3.5–5.6G' and the only difference between the two new AF-P models is that the cheaper lens does not have Nikon's VR image stabilization system.Jan 5, 2016".

My AF-S lens has VR on it with a switch on the barrel. The AF-P lenses may or may not have VR on them.

This may be helpful.

http://www.techradar.com/news/photography-video-capture/cameras/nikon-aims-new-af-p-kit-lenses-at-entry-level-dslrs-and-video-1312323