18 - 70 on D7000. It's an old kit lens but it is crisp and clear and works great.

It is their tilt/shift lens to correct for distortions like you get when shooting up at tall buildings.

I am on a mailing list for "theclymb.com" It is a discount seller. On their site I found a camera backpack from Gura Gear. It is well made, lots of pockets, strong zippers, a backpack harness with a supportive waist belt and it goes onto airlines very well. I have been able to pack two DSLR's, 5 lenses, flashes, meters, microphones, batteries, releases etc. I watched it get dropped before being packed into a private airplane and it just bounced leaving all the contents inside well protected. It keeps all my stuff in one place so I just pick up the bag and am ready to go! As I recall I paid just over $100 for it. The down side is it is not available all the time. You may have to watch the offerings for a short spell before it is available again.

I have a pixma pro 100 printer. The good news is that it puts out very nice prints,it is convenient and works well every time I use it. I have entered photos from the printer in contests and done well so the printer is not a limiting factor. The bad news is that it goes through ink cartridges faster than anticipated and is more expensive to use than a Costco type printer. Personally I like the convenience and am willing to pay the price.

I have bought multiple lenses on e-bay. I've gotten some fantastic buys and some were just fair. In all cases the quality and service have been great! I have stuck with only Nikon lenses so I know the brand quality.

Nice crisp shots. I love the detail.

I'm indeed impressed and thankful for the responses to my question about the lost photos in Aperture. It turns out that the Aperture file was corrupted and there is a utility in Aperture that recovered the file. Thank you for helping me get onto the right track.

The next part is the good advice from you about always keeping a copy in reserve. I have done that until a few weeks ago when my confidence in Aperture was solid. Now thanks to a guy named "Murphy" I'll keep a file in reserve.

Sincerely,

C. Loren

I've been using the Carbon Fibre Manfrotto. It is an excellent quality product, but not cheap. The head for it costs about the same as the tripod! At 11+ lbs, make sure you get one that is heavy duty enough to hold your gear. You're not a lightweight!!

I have used Aperture for the past couple of years to manipulate and store my photos. I have been impressed with the program so far. Today I had a batch of photos to download into my computer. I put the SD card into the slot on my MacBook Pro and asked Aperture to download them. I put in the name of a new file and the download proceeded. After an appropriate time delay the question came up on the screen, "Delete the photos on the card?" Because Aperture has been so dependable I said "yes" and now can find the photos on neither the card nor my computer! If it makes a difference they are in RAW. Is there any way to recover them?

I have the lens and use it occasionally. It's a great lens. The only problem I have is hand holding it when I'm zooming in close. A good tripod helps a lot!

I'd suggest using the lens you already have. Before you go, play with your ISO to see how high you can go and still have acceptable quality. Then use the aperture priority and set that wide open so you will get the fastest shutter speed possible. Remember that a little loss of quality by using a high ISO is better than a blurred photo that you will not be proud of.

Have fun playing the game!

I bought a good monopod to take to Africa on safari. It did a great job of helping stabilize a 300mm lens. It has feet on it so it will stand alone and does a lousy job as a tripod. It will hold a camera up, (D7000), but a breeze will make it wave at you!

I had several old Nikon lenses and got such ridiculous offers that I finally found a photography student that would use them and just gave them away. I was happy that I found a place where they would be used and appreciated.