Thanks, everyone. I had no idea it was such an involved question, but for my purposes the answer is clear. Use software that is up to date for all RAW types for what cameras I use.

Thanks.

Thanks, everyone. I had no idea it was such an involved question, but for my purposes the answer is clear. Use software that is up to date for all RAW types for what cameras I use.

Thanks.

Thank you.

I think I was confusing PNG with DNG.

Suppose one converted RAW files from a manufacturer, say NEF's from Nikon, into PNG files, and then imported the PNG files into software for post processing. Can one then edit/process with the same results as if processing a RAW file? My understanding is "yes", since the PNG is lossless, but I would like to know if I that is not correct.

Thanks, as always.

Again, thank you all for your input. Four pages of thoughtful comment is invaluable.

I appreciate it very much.

Thank you Gene51, that is a great thought. I have not done much pano, but my wife is quite good at it. We will both practice up.

Thanks, everybody. Wonderful comments and advice, which greatly extends my thinking on the matter. Sounds like I shouldn't bother in this price/quality range unless, as was suggested, I get a very wide angle not covered by the zoom. I will look. Otherwise, either go way up in quality or I am unlikely to see any difference.

Tripod good suggestion, although with space limited and time off the ship not under my control, I might pass. Also, I did mean lens zoomed to shortest focal length, not wide open aperture; sorry for the incorrect usage.

Again thanks. How great to have a forum like this.

Thanks to Old Timer. Yes, I will have two zooms along.

Thanks everyone. Very helpful as always. Makes me realize that for such reasonably priced equipment, I am very lucky to have the quality I do. Leave it alone for now.

Thanks, and good luck to all.

I have never used primes, always preferring the ability to compose and crop in camera with zooms. However I am contemplating one for my Sony a6000, specifically the 20 mm which would be like 32 with Sony's 1.6 crop. We are going on an Alaska cruise, and I am thinking most of my landscape/scenery shots will be wide open, so why not the extra sharpness of a prime.

One hears how much better prime lenses are than zooms, but then also how zooms have gotten so good they are almost the same. The image quality from the a6000 is already excellent, so it is hard to believe a major improvement. I would hate spend $250 and then use it twice and never again because it is no better. Conversely, I would happily pay 3 times that much for significantly improved image quality.

Thanks for your help. Generalities would be fine; answers need not be specific to this equipment.

Avengene-

I use one called GPX Master, which works fine, so I haven't tried others. But I know there are several available. GPX Master allows control of distances so one can save battery, but even without limiting, I have not had a battery problem on the iPhone 6. It syncs with Dropbox automatically.

I use my iPhone, which is right in my pocket. Can go all day without killing battery. There are several free apps that will create GPX files and sync them with Dropbox. From there to Lightroom, and you are all set.

Again, thanks to everyone. Terrific responses.

Good advice Peterff. I can and will work it all out, but these answers today will help me greatly.

Thanks.

Thank you Gene51 and Bill de. Everyone is helping me greatly.

Minniev: for software, I have not yet developed a RAWProcessing "workflow", so no choice yet.

I have used Aperture, primarily for organization, but also a little sharpening or exposure adjustments on jpeg's. With Apple no longer supporting it, I need to settle on a new approach (hence my original post trying to better understand RAW). I have done 30 day trials on several, but not spent much time on them. I have Affinity and the Costco version of PSE, so those are 2 I've tried, which are both good. Also Aperture will deal with RAW, and even Photos, which I now use for its fantastic organization and search capabilities.

I wil guess I will settle on PSE or Lightroom CC, or maybe Affinity if I can learn how to sync adjustments and save files more quickly, but I first have to develop a quicker and better way to process.