Having relatively recently retired, I travel frequently. As such, I can't control the environment, don't have time to set up a shot or camera settings. I haven't taken the time to learn either PhotoShop or Lightroom. I frankly use the Microsoft Windows 10 program to enhance the photos, very little cropping, increase contrast or sharpness. I almost never use the color bar to increase saturation, although the "enhance filter" might do some of it. I recently on safari mistakenly turned on date and time stamp and desperately need to learn how to remove the darn thing.

I mostly shoot traveling. I shoot JPEG+RAW all the time. I take lots of memory cards and shoot thousands of photos. I don't consider myself an expert. I mostly use the jpeg. Sending photos to others they may not be able to read the RAW images. Plus, I haven't taken the time to really go in and do any extensive post-production, but I have the RAW files if I ever do. I mostly just use some simple programs to enhance contrast, lighten when too dark and crop a little.

I bought the lens soon after it came out. I do a lot of international travel. I really don't find it to be heavy on my D5300. I notice that most of my travel shots are taken from 18-60 mm range (convert from DX). So, if you are looking for a single travel lens, I would be careful about getting a lens starting out at a mm above 35 for a DX camera. I just got back from a safari where it did fine for most shots, except where I needed a really long reach; for those I took a P900. I sometimes wonder about sharpness, however, if another lens would be a dramatic improvement. Nevertheless, it's a good travel lens and I have been happy with it. I realize there's some trade off. I frankly haven't noticed a lot of distortion on the edges but I am not blowing things up either or looking for it.

Notre Dame, March 22, 2019
Copr 2019; may not be used for commercial purposes

I love the sharpness. I have to get down to the coast for some birding.

Do not take three bodies. There's just not enough room in the Land Rovers. billnikon has good advice. I just returned from the Serengeti. For most shots I used a D5300 with 18-300 lens. I decided not to take my 200-500 nikkor F.5.6. Instead, I bought a P900, which gave me shots like this cheetah in the tree or giraffe from a distance. The 500 mm might do fine with the DX 500.

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Mine is cooler in the Seregeti or other hot climes. I wanted the least coverage of my body.

Blackrapid makes a good 2-camera harness. I found it easy to wear.
https://www.adorama.com/br361003.html?msclkid=2612fb534898199089a8a7fc3623a4e9&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%5bShopping%5d%20All%20Products%20%5bADL%5d%20%5bPLA%5d&utm_term=1100502012302&utm_content=All%20Products&adlclid=ADL-aafffcdf-82d5-4803-b1ad-f66bd318981c

I just finished a safari in Tanzania, primarily using the Nikkor 18-300 F3.5-6.3 on a DX camera. For many shots, it will be adequate. However, there are times you will need a lot more reach. It will be very difficult to hand hold the 200-500, even to use it with a beam bag. The land rovers can be cramped and difficult to shoot fromunles you are on a dedicated photo safari with fewer folks in the vehicle.

I chose not to take my 200-500. I did buy a P900 which I used for some long shots. One guy was using the zp900 exclusively.

Another option is the Nikkor 18-300DX F.3.5-6.3. It's what I use on my D5300 as my everyday lens for travel. The D3400 is no slouch; it's often rated one of the best deals around.

Thank you. Still have to change the menu but a lot faster. It always takes me forever to find what I want in the menus, three levels down. :)

Thanks to the recommendations to start at L continuous for wildlife rather than more shots per second I did look at several vids at the link someone gave on using AE/AL button to change focus to it rather than half release. It will take some getting used to but I am gonna try it. It's nice to have some videos that show you going through the menus; seeing sometimes is a lot easier than just words. Thanks so much, guys.

I am heading to Tanzania in a week. I found the spot in the menu to change to continuous shooting. I assume that is burst shooting. I want to be able to go back and forth quickly and not have to open the menu and change the menu setting. I know there are one or two buttons that I can assign. How do I set it up to trigger continuous shooting and then going back to single shot? Anyone familiar with the Nikon system, can you tell me how to set it up?

Do y'all have any advice for taking camera from air-conditioned to warm, moist. Traveling in Viet Nam I had problems leaving the boat on the river (AC) for an excursion. Would take up to 30 minutes for the condensation to go away. I had problems the night of the lunar eclipse because of the cold. Every time I left my house, the condensation never seemed to go away before I gave up.

I have two Passports. An older 1Tb and a newer, larger one because I have more than a terabyte of photos. I store photos on more than one in case one fails. I also like the different colors, so I know what is what.

Take the drive to a good computer repair service to see if they can get it up and running enough to copy your data. I don't know if Best Buy has the equipment to really recover a drive. If they can't, ask if they know a sophisticated service that might be able to recover the data. It might cost some $, but how much is your data worth? In the future, do what I do: I store my photos on at least one (sometimes two) internal drive plus two external USB drives in case one fails.