This BenQ SW2700PT 27" 16:9 Photographer IPS Monitor got the best ratings for photo editing in a couple of places; there are some larger versions, too (I do not own one, but I have been researching to replace a failed monitor). It covers 99% of the Adobe RGB color space and all of the sRGB color space. For a look at more, Google the category, i.e., "best monitor for photo editing."

I recently bought a ProMediaGear HM1 tilt head for my monopod. Like the RRS, it is a little pricey, but it's built to last. The tilt function makes the monopod much more useful than using it with a fixed plate.

I took a golf trip with three others, and picked them up at an airport where we started; I had almost all of my camera gear with me, as I had a photo tour to take on my own after the golf was finished and I dropped the others at the airport. Because we moved every day, I was leaving my camera bag in my Suburban pretty much all day every day, and I rarely found shade. What I did do was fill a cooler with ice from the hotel, along with my drinks and anything else I wanted cool, and put it on top of my camera bag or next to it (and made sure the sun did not shine on the bag). Despite a very hot truck when we got back in it, my camera gear always felt cool to the touch. I do that anytime I am hauling my camera gear and have to park it for any length of time. I suspect that would work for you, too.

Good luck.

My monitor is not calibrated (recently, at least); the colors I see in my picture above are a little more vibrant than I saw. But when I looked up a Cooper's hawk, it had solid-colored wings, instead of the checkerboard pattern on this bird and the identification pictures in Merlin for a red-shouldered hawk. I'm pretty satisfied.

Thanks.

Thanks.

This smallish hawk was perched on the crossbar holding gourds put out for swifts near a small pond (in hopes they will eat all the mosquitoes) on my home golf course today. Initially, I didn't see him--I was looking at a pair of blue jays that were trying to run him off (I realized after he was pointed out to me by my playing partner). What attracted me to the jays was that they landed in a tree very close to me, and I couldn't see any blue--they appeared gray. The hawk was not vocalizing--I think he was mouth-breathing to try and control his temperature, as the heat was miserable today. This picture is one of ten or twelve. This was my first time seeing a red-shouldered hawk, as far as I know; I have never been successful at capturing the red-tailed hawks that nest here.

For those interested: Canon 5DS R on a monopod, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, Extender EF 1.4X III, at 560mm, f/9, 1/400 sec., ISO 1600, EC +.7; cropped and adjusted in PSE 14. I probably would not have used exposure compensation if I had had a little more time--I was set up to try and capture a flier.

(Download)

Who Is Behind The Medea?

Euripides.

I have always been in favor of more--power, memory, and storage--and building your own or having it built to your specs is the way to get what you want. The latest generation of Intel chips (ten) are due--the i9 unlocked version has 10 cores/20 threads; that should be enough power and cores for any photographic work. It may take a little time until a motherboard (other than one from Intel itself) is available, but it should offer at least six SATA drive connections and two SSD slots; the best would be to mirror two one-terabyte SSDs for the operating system and programs/applications, and at least one mirrored pair of eight-terabyte hard drives (comparable to WD Black or better). The motherboard for such a system should have the capacity for 256 gigabytes of RAM; don't take less than 128--that should handle the biggest photo file sizes, and even videos very well. Ensure the board has adequate USB connections, including USB-C; any motherboard will have the other standard connectors. Use a gaming tower with adequate cooling, whether fans or liquid or a combination; get one with front- or top-panel USB connections, including a USB-C if possible. You should use dual video cards with two monitors each (unless you prefer two ultra-wides, and perhaps one card would handle it)--all matched to provide 4K resolution. I prefer multiple cards and monitors because one failure would not shut me down. Add a DVD-Bluray drive with M-Disk support, and a multi-card reader (get a better one, that has a sturdy drive for CF/CFast slots--the rest are pretty sturdy anyway). Add to this one or two eight-terabyte external drives (a mirrored pair in a RAID container would be ideal) on which you backup your data drive(s) and store in a separate location.

You can find any number of monitors that will work, but the ones you use should be IPS and easy to calibrate--the prices range from several hundred dollars to several thousand. Monitors are available now that cover the entire AdobeRGB color gamut; definitely avoid any that don't cover all of the sRGB gamut.

You are right about that. I try to avoid most of the opinion/political stuff here and stick to the pictures and discussions of photography related topics. When I do read something that doesn't pass the smell test, I try to find out if it's true, false, or something in between. As you might guess, Facebook drives me crazy.

You should research these things before you post them--this one is pretty much BS. Obama was represented by SECDEF; neither Nixon nor Bush attended the funerals as stated.

Now, does that mean your theories on "l*****t friends" is just more BS, or that you owe an apology for falsely accusing Obama and then "l*****ts"?

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/greene-report/

Canada geese also cooperate in tending the youngsters--that could be up to three or four broods. But I like the idea that all twenty-one are from one set.

The only thing I believe you must rethink slightly is your C: drive--your programs and applications write a lot of data to that drive every time you use them. For example, email programs save their data within the program directory (I have moved my email and other changing files to a different drive--I don't know whether your program will allow it or not). Word processors typically retain your personalizations of whatever sort to their directories, unless you force them to elsewhere (and this includes the program directory as the default directory for documents, templates, autocorrect entries, and autotext entries). Most other programs will do the same, unless you take steps to avoid it. It's certainly up to you how important any of that is, and what to do about it.

The only other suggestion I would offer is to consider RAID 1 mirrored drives for each of your disks. I have been very grateful more than once for a complete, up-to-date copy of my OS and programs or of my data that can be rebuilt into another mirrored set when one drive fails; the process is seamless and allows you to continue working while it takes place (I use software RAID). That really is not a backup, as physical damage to your system can get to all the drives--backups need to go to another location to be secure. Finally, mirrored drives cost twice as much (you have to buy two of each) and take up twice as many resources, so that can be a drawback; to me, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

(I dropped my Canon 5D Mark III; the repair required replacing the entire shutter assembly.)

It was about $355 (labor 219.00, parts just under 96.00), including tax and shipping, plus I paid just under $38.00 to ship it to the repair center. So, not quite $400--a plenty severe enough punishment for being careless, but not enough to make me hesitate about the repair. This was two years ago, when the camera was already six years old, too--I am waiting for the 5D Mark V (although I did buy a used 5DS R last year) instead of a 5D Mark IV. I hope Canon actually produces one and my only choice is not the EOS R5.

I dropped a Canon 5D Mark III body on the first afternoon of a river cruise as I was trying to change lenses. It showed nothing but an error code, regardless of all the tricks I tried to get it to revive. There was no chance for a repair before I returned home, but Canon turned it around in a business week. The entire shutter assembly was replaced by the repair center (essentially turning it into a new camera--no shutter actuations). It has worked perfectly since the repair.

Why do you say that the WH-200 gimbal can be used only with lenses with a tripod mounting collar? Is that something peculiar to the WH-200? With the gimbal I have, my camera will mount just as easily as my longer lenses--I just need to put a quick release plate on it.