In my experience, if there is truly a "need" for a lens (or anything else), there is no need to ask anyone else what to do or what to choose or what to buy. The choice will be obvious, or can be made to become obvious with a little research.

I have amassed a few lenses over the years. Exactly three of them were chosen based on a specific need. The first was my Nikkor 17-55 mm f/2.8 zoom which was a very necessary replacement for my very first digital camera lens...an 18-70mm Nikkor junker that was forever useless right out of the box. A little research and a couple of questions at the camera store led directly to the solution.

The second was a Nikkor 14-24 mm f/2.8 wide angle needed for a night sky workshop. For that, I needed a fast lens with a wide view and manageable distortion for stitching panoramas. Again, a little research and a quick to a different (although admittedly less helpful) camera store led to an obvious choice. The third time was when I needed a macro lens to take some photographs at work.

In each of those cases, I could have made a different choice. It would have also solved my problem. The world would not have ended, although it is possible that I might have been a little less happy at some point.

I don't do what other people do. There's nothing about anything I do that requires that I make other people happy. I don't care what they think about what I choose.

Be a little bit brave. Make a choice. Move forward. Quit looking sideways and backward.

It's on a label on the bottom of the camera in plain view without any extra effort. No space limitations. The seller clearly just doesn't want to divulge it. The question is just why that might be. If for some reason the label is damaged or obscured, the question is the same...why might that be?

"910" is more like a date code than anything else, but none of my Nikon cameras have ever had date codes. If that number is in the S/N location, perhaps the camera is a pre-production model. But I think the seller is being shady.

The OP describes himself as a retired pharmacist and wedding photographer. My guess is that he has devined the answer since pisting his question.

Let me think about that for a minute...hmmm...let's see...

Nope.

There are two problems here...the first is whether this is a gray market product or not. That carries its own set of problems, which are real and have been discussed here a number of times.

The second issue, to me, is actually more serious. The seller appears to be working to be intentionally opaque concerning the origin and status of the product. To me, this speaks either to the fundamental ignorance of the seller or the fundamental dishonesty of the seller, or both.

Far worse than being gray market, this camera could be stolen. In that case, if it were found and recovered, it could be taken from you without compensation. If stolen, it may also have been handled roughly and damaged.

You have been counseled to move on from this "opportunity." There is a pretty long list of reasons why that is very good advice.

Some us have a specific interest in shooting with older equipment occasionally. If you are one of us, there's nothing wrong with a D700. As time passes, however, the probability of finding a D700 or any other DSLR that you would really be willing to own gets lower and lower, making the search harder and harder. More and more of what is available has been ridden hard and put up wet, as we say in Texas. So the concern over repairability is not just in case something breaks later, it is also in case what you bought turns out to be not quite what you thought it was.

I am moving on from my oldest equipment. My D810 is now my oldest camera. It will pass out of support at any moment now. As soon as the Z7iii is introduced, support for the D750vwill end. All three major manufacturers of camera equipment have adopted Sony's strategy of supporting only the current model and one or two prior models in each line.

All of this together means that you need to really consider the big "what if." What if the camera that you bought as a simple curiosity or toy all of a sudden becomes your preferred choice for shooting? Are you going to be OK with that choice being a 17 year old orphan relic?

Which camera do you use most? Which is your favorite camera? The Z6ii and the D850 are very different cameras with very different capabilities, as you have apparently discovered.

Of the two cameras, which are you most likely to choose to use with a large, heavy, awkward lens?

Despite prevalent conversation here, your D850 remains a completely competent camera. It can do things that the Z6ii cannot even dream of. I'm sure that the reason you still have it is that you are well aare of that truth.

I have no business telling you which of the two lenses to buy. Neither does anyone else. But these are the thoughts I would consider as I decided for myself.

Lots of folks seem to be very happy with their D7000 or D7100. I expect that it is a good, solid camera, even though a 14 year old model. I just rehomed my last D300 (actually a D300s), so I do not have any particular aversion to older cameras. A quick look shows that they are still listed at quite high prices when in good condition.

The important difference from your D300s is that the D7000 has the consumer user interface, which is quite different from your D300s. That may or may not be a problem for you. A key "watchout" (I believe) is that the D7000 did not get a firmware update allowing it to work with the newest "P" lenses. That also may not be a problem for you, since those are generally low-end lenses.

There are probably not a whole host of advantages for you of the D7000. I think it was made and sold at the same time as the D300. Do not sell the D300s in favor of the D7000. It is a much more capable camera.

The Artist's Statement serves as your stand-in for each work submitted or displayed. If you were standing with the viewer, what would you want to tell him? Was there anything special about the conditions? Were you granted special access? If it's an animal, have you known that animal for 20 years? Why did you select this image instead of another one similar to it? Did you make any exceptional technical choices or adjustments to make it happen? Is it the house that your great grandmother was born in?

In other words, share a little bit with the viewer about why the image is meaningful enough to you that you wanted to share it. Provide a hint to him about why it just might be of interest to him as well. If your intent is for him to develop his own story, tell him so.

I'm in your same situation. You will find the Z8 much closer to your D850. The Z7ii has the consumer operator interface.

These are valid thoughts, as borne out by my personal experiences. As far as I can tell, there is no real legal standard for what constitutes a "refurbished" item. For a number of years, i "refurbished" older two-way radio sets. That involved cleaning them, repairing them, usually by swapping parts from donor units, and evev doing some repainting with textured spray paint. I was not doing this for resale. It was just the only financially feasible way that I had to add operating examples of older models to my collection.

While refurbisment of camera equipment depends mightily on who is doing the refurbishing, "factory" refurbs generally consist of a quick cleaning and repacking into boxes that provide some protection while distinguishing the products from new ones. The problems generally arise when a return product damaged by a customer gets mixed in with demos and ordinary undamaged returns. Why would that happen? If you bought a new lens and dropped it, would you rather be honest about what happened and have it repaired or take it back to the store with a complaint of "never worked properly right out of the box?" Thats why most people buy refurbs with never a complaint, but a few of us have had very negative experiences. (Fortunately, my lens was rather quickly "made right" by the manufacturer, but it was not replaced.)

I have also had two cameras of different models which were bought new from the same retailer at slightly different times. Both suffered serious operational failures during their warranty period. The exchange period for each was past, so they had to go for repair. Those repairs were pretty serious, involving replacement of the main circuit board and a second (different) circuit board in each camera. I will always believe that those cameras were part of a damaged shipment...perhaps the same one. Either a truck accident, a train derailment, or who knows what?

That's why I said earlier that there is always some risk involved with a purchase, no matter where from. And no number of choruses of "I've never had a problem," or "I've never had to file a warranty claim remove that risk. You just have to understand it and be ready to respond if circumstances require it.

Finally...I still have and occasionally shoot my original digital SLR, bought in 2006. I like it, it is important to me, and I like to use it once in a while. (I've finally found homes for several other older cameras which still work just fine.) So I understand having an attachment to a camera that is no longer "current." But the photo equipment world is changing. Rapidly and radically. Its going to be getting harder and harder to maintain old stuff in operating condition. So there is some merit to some of the advice which has been given to you.

Just be aware and be prepared to be flexible.

Why do you single out landscapes? I shoot a lot of landscapes. And I take advantage of a lot of my cameras' "advanced" features and capabilities when doing so. It makes the effort more fun, gives better results, and just makes life better. I also shoot other types of photography where camera capability makes a big difference...even if it is "just" shooting JPEGs in the classroom under fluorescent lights.

I agree that a large percentage of folks here are either unwilling or maybe just too lazy to learn what their cameras can do for them. For others, the camera is just a box with a hole on one side to capture a coloring book page to be completed later.

But for a few of us, the camera is truly a tool...a tool to be completely understood, to be an extension of ourselves, and a critical link in our effort to create something worth looking at. We read the manual and seek to understand it, even if it is difficult.

A favorite comment here is that a painter doesn't fret over his brushes. Nor brag about them. That is nothing but stupid, uninformed hogwash. They agonize over their brushes. Some of them are common brushes for common tasks. Others are very special, only used for very uncommon tasks, like painting individual hairs. And don't even get them started talking about their paints or their canvases.

So yes, it matters.

The entire complexion of support and service by the three major manufacturers is changing in significant ways. The duration of support is shrinking, repair parts inventory strategy is being overhauled, and support for independent repair stations is being restructured ,(and eliminated, in some cases). It is clear that the intent of the changes is to encourage sales of new, current camera models.

I have had trouble with a couple of brand new cameras over the past 5 years. One manufacturer-sold refurbished lens had to go back for repair as well. I believe that both cameras may have been mishandled in shipment or warehousing before their sale to me by my local camera store. Evidence indicates that the lens was damaged by the original purchaser and returned, rather than being submitted for repair. Add to those a camera bought from an individual which seemed to be in good condition, but turned out to have internal problems requiring repair. No way the seller could have reasonably known about those problems to disclose them to me.

So there is always going to be some risk. You have to balance your understanding of that risk against what you are willing to pay, keeping your intended use in mind. The camera that I bought from the individual was originally intended to be a gift. Even repaired, I'm not sure that i can be comfortable giving it away, but I'll still be more than happy to keep and use it myself.

We all want to get the best deal that we can. Just be careful not to give up more than you can stand in the process.

Your statement that you "want to move up, just a bit" is intriguing. It implies that you would like to be able to do some things that the D3400 won't let you do (or at least do easily). What are some of those things? The D5600 does have some capability that the D3400 doesn't, but both cameras can still impose limitations.

I've used both of those cameras. The D5600 is more capable. But there may be other choices available that would help you more for not much more money.

No. Because he did the work. He made the decisions. Not a machine. That is a huge difference and a critical distinction. It is shocking to me that so much of the population is unable to see the difference.

It is also especially shocking here in light of the repeated vocal objections made numerous times on this very forum against allowing cameras to make exposure decisions. There is no difference in maintaining total control over exposure and maintaining total control over later processing. Or giving up control over image creation. Is there?

It worked pretty well. I remember my dad covering it with his hand to keep it from dimming the headlights earlier than he thought it should.