They are great but they generate a lot of heat. If you are going to buy one make sure it comes with a heat sink installed. There are some manufacturers that will not warranty the drive if you glue a heat sink to their drive.

-FTn

My wife came up with a brilliant idea. We have a basket in our breezeway that is stocked with Lindt chocolates and a sign on the slider that says "Delivery People - Please Help Yourselves to a Chocolate From the Basket in the Breezeway". Our packages are now being left inside the breezeway at our back door on time.

-FTn

Another red herring. The 200-500 is listed on Nikon's website as being compatible with the D500. It's in the fine print. Clean the contacts on both the camera body with 90% isopropyl alcohol and the lens and check for a firmware upgrade for the D500. If neither of those fix the issue then call Nikon for further instructions.

- FTn

You are going to love the D850. It is an incredible camera body. Just remember it demands the best glass. This year mine is getting a Nikon 105mm f1.4 for Christmas.

- FTn

Nice pun.

The big questions are, what do you want to use the lens for? What camera body do you want to use the lens on and what other lenses do you already own?

The main reason that we used to look for really fast lenses was for ease of manual focusing. It was easier to focus a 50mm f1.4 or f1.2 in dark situations like concerts and theater productions. Since most of us rely on auto focus these days ease of manual focus isn't as important.

The Nikon Nifty Fifty f1.8 is a real gem. It is really sharp and it's sweet spot is at f4. You can us it to take almost any photograph provided you can move in close enough or back far enough to get fill the frame and remain in focus. According to Ken Rockwell the 50mm f1.8 focuses faster and is sharper than the f1.4. I don't own a 50mm f1.4 so I have no first hand experience with it.

So i'd say when it comes to 50mm lenses go with the f1.8 and save your money for another lens further down the road.

-FTn

I have had good luck using EaseUS. If you go to a larger ssd drive you may also need to re-partition your new drive to take advantage of the additional space.

- FTn

And is loaded with counterfeit products. Buyer beware!

If you ever have the chance take a trip to the Morse museum in Winter Park Florida. They have one of the most amazing collections of Louis Comfort Tiffany's work, including his chapel. There are several other rooms that include windows, lamps, and art glass. Handheld photography is allowed and the exhibits are lit to make for some great photographs.

-FTn

Check out Sunset Beach. The views are amazing. This time of year there aren't that many people so the picture taking is great. Walk down the beach to the mail box and leave a message. It's only about a mile and a half from the pier.

Capture One. A bit expensive but worth the price. What you gain in improved workflow will more than justify the cost.

- FTn

The RE business is getting more and more competitive as people realize that they don't need an agent to sell a home. I sold two condos in a waterfront community in Connecticut on my own last year. I made it perfectly clear that I would not deal with any real estate agents on these sales. Unfortunately I'm now fighting with the lawyer who handled my side of the closing because he is charging me $1k for dealing with an agent who claims that she made my buyers aware of my property for sale. She did get the commission for selling my buyers previous home. I don't do RE work for several reasons. This is just one of them. The RE business is really cutthroat.

I'm holding off until Apple comes out with 5G phones. The major carriers are building the new wireless network that will be much faster and I want to be able to take advantage of it. The camera options don't really interest me all that much. I use my DSLR for everything but snapshots that I want to send to friends and family.

-FTn

Your shot of the Amish children in the back of the buggy is outstanding.

- FTn

I'm going to confess here. Early in my career I sold camera equipment in a photo shop. We were paid a spiff on everything we sold. A Canon AE-1 w/ 50mm f1.8 sold for $259. So I made an additional $2.59 on the sale. If I got the buyer to also purchase a Tiffin UV or Sky filter I made an additional $1 on the sale. If I could sell a Hoya UV or Sky it was an additional $2 and if they were on promotion another $5. UV and Skylight filters add absolutely nothing to the the image quality. The only time I use them is when shooting at the beach or around waterfalls.

- FTn