Well, I certainly won't argue with experts!

I do know that new batteries register 20% on my Watson charger.

I guess it is time for me to confess that I don't have a Nikon camera. My original reason for asking this question was the occasional Nikon user who is looking for an inexpensive 50mm lens around f/1.4 .... the Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4 had an excellent reputation back in the day. You all have convinced me that was a lousy idea ... are comparable Nikon lenses also reasonably priced?

If the negatives are worth digitizing then they should be worth digitizing 'right', not finding the cheapest way of getting the job done - purchase a scanner!

or prudent. I purchased my first adjustable camera in 1969 and my second in 1973. Ever since then, my routine when I purchase a new primary camera has been to get a new bag for the new camera and pack the old one away as backup. Recently I was looking at used K-5 cameras and found one listed on eBay by a professional who regularly 'rotates' his cameras. He had recently purchased a new K-3ii so it replaced his K-3 as primary camera; the K-3 replaced his K-5ii as secondary camera; the K-5ii replaced his K-5 as backup camera; the K-5 was now up for sale.

There is more to photography than trying to be the next Ansell Adams - 'street' photography, nature, sports .... all kinds of photography can involve an impulsive snap decision to take a picture and don't involve modifying light or the background. For 'street' photography in particular, a cell phone might be an excellent choice, because it wouldn't attract attention.

I describe much of my photography as 'street like', because people are an integral part of the image, and it is essential that they not react to the presence of my camera.

added: photographs taken by cell phone would fit into the sections we already have, so images from them could be put into Gallery, Traditional Street & Architecture, etc

The Sigma 18-270 I had did slip a little, but more importantly, that much zoom forces compromises on the design team. I retired the lens in short order.

I didn't realize Canon made an AF variant of the FD mount. Was the motor in the body??

da Vinci doesn't count??

At one time, I tried to 'time' my pictures to avoid people, because I didn't want anyone to be blocking anything. Today I realize how sterile those scenes are.

I think you'll have to be patient while Linksys gets their act together.

In today's US culture, I wouldn't take any pictures of kids unless some of mine own were in the group, and I wouldn't 'feature' any but mine own.

I don't understand why you would resurrect this thread. That section has been around awhile, I hear. If you have questions or observations, making them there would make more sense.
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-27-1.html

I'm guessing every worthwhile image will get a title sooner or later .... because we need some way of referring to it. For example, news images don't normally get titles, but say 'Napalm Girl' and almost everyone will think of Nick Ut's picture.

You're not inappropriate. I'm just an amateur, so I hope I'm not putting myself at risk.

As far as ethics go, I eventually settled on the Olympics procedures to govern my workflow. That basically means I start with SOOC JPEG, and then limit myself to certain basic operations - insuring the image is plumb {respects gravity}, minor adjustments to color levels, minor sharpening, and cropping.

This relates to this thread because I need to be close SOOC. Given time, I can spend many minutes choosing perspective; once I have chosen shutter speed to stop motion and aperture to give sufficient DOF, I want exposure to be as correct as I can get it. The photograph of the dragonfly presents special challenges - its length demands small aperture, but its motion demands high shutter speed, and focus needs to be right on. Not knowing where it will land, and its tendency not to stay anywhere very long puts a strain on manual adjustments. I tend to use 'P' mode, because my Pentax camera allows me to make last second adjustments, adjusting shutter speed by flicking my forefinger off the trigger to the front 'e-dial' and adjusting aperture with my thumb on the rear 'e-dial'. Once I get a KP, which seems to handle high ISO settings very well, I will experiment more with 'TAv' mode, which is like 'M' mode, but the camera adjusts ISO setting to make my other settings work.

Thank you to everyone who replied! I have better understanding than I did yesterday.