Thanks. I was hoping you’d comment. I appreciate your knowledge and clarity.

Thanks for cutting to the chase succinctly.

Thank you for good photo and financial insights. I have a d500 and D850 and just need to keep their strengths and weaknesses in mind. Will pass on $ info to those kids who mostly have kids of their own now.

If I want to improve a Nikon D500 image (20.5 mb), can it be made comparable to that of a D850 (45.4 mb)?

If so, how? Is that equally so for JPEG and RAW formats?

What are the trade offs?

Many thanks! I feel the way I did in analyzing family finances to pay for three undergraduate degrees at state schools in NC. The goals were for all of us to be debt free when they graduated. The kids were 1, 4, and 8. I could define various goals, factors, and assumptions. But I was never confident in my ability to set up the equations accurately. FYI the Andrew Tobias Managing Your Money program had a fill-in-the-blank section that handled it well. The upshot was that I needed to make more money and I figured the potential of my day job exceeded that of any side enterprises.

On the Amsterdam to Basel leg in 2015, I had a D7100, 18-200, 50mm 1.8, 12-24, and a small flash.

If I had to do again with that equipment, I wouldn’t change a thing, except make sure I bought 2 more 64mb SD cards and add a collapsible rubber lens hood

I used the flash inside Marksburg Castle and a few other places, maybe 6–8 times.

Because of the bus rides to sites not on the river, sometimes I used the motor drive as fast it would go. That’s because my trigger finger wasn’t fast enough!
On the bus I would have tried to eliminate reflections by using the rubber lens hood slightly against the window.

Dear R T Creed,
Thanks for your reply. I’ll get the lens so my response is from current reality instead of memory. I’ll send info and photos via email if you don’t mind sharing yours.

Fred Alexander
aeroscribbler@gmail.com
Cell 828-506-5869
Franklin, NC

I have a 35mm Canon with viewfinder. If interested, I’ll take some pictures. Please PM me.

Assume you have a 2.8 lens. My understanding, and my copy, is very sharp.

Shutter speed, VR being on sports setting, and steadiness can be factors you can test to eliminate. Check out sharpness with camera on a tripod or table etc shooting something not moving.

Might ask those other photographers about their settings, too. And search how to make sharp pictures, which includes post-processing in at least an inexpensive program like Photoshop Elements.

During a week in Haarlem and Amsterdam in 2018, I found my 24MB Nikon D610 and Nikon 24-70 f2.8 was perfect for me more than 95% of the time.

A 20mm Nikon F2.8 was helpful, though not absolutely essential in some churches. Cropping was my telephoto.

A small SB-400 allowed bounced flash.

If I had it to do again, it I’d just change from the D610 to my D850, though it would be a bit heavier.

We used public transportation and walked, according to my Fitbit, just over 50 miles. I was glad my camera gear was relatively light.

Spent a day at magnificent Keukenhof Gardens in Lisse, and lesser times at the beach and Teyler’s Museum in Haarlem. In Amsterdam, we went to the Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank House, National Maritime Museum, Van Gogh Museum, Zaanse Schans windmill and crafts park & technology museum and probably other places I’ve forgotten.

But for having visited Kinderdijk with its many windmills earlier, we would have gone there.

Hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did ours.

Next thing you know, a cancer/heart insurance fee will be proposed for cigarettes.

Nikon or Canon amp? :)

I’d like to buy both and will PM you shortly.

I used to think my gear decisions were (or should) be based on the notion that “the image is the object.” If I had the time, interest, and funds, then gear would be fairly obvious.

While that notion is still true for me, I find that the process is second. I’ve been using Nikon DSLRs since 1969.

My current cameras and lenses do what I need them to do. Ninety-Nine percent of my photos are family,
outdoors, macro wildflowers, air planes, and humorous sights.

My D850, D810, and D500 are good enough. Nearing 74, it is clear that much lighter gear is in my future if my body and mind allow.

No doubt I’d enjoy the mirrorless Nikons, but simply don’t need them.

A 24-70 on a D610 was all I needed for a week in and around Amsterdam, Keukenhof, and Haarlem. Used 20mm a few times in churches and cropped instead of carrying a telephoto.

This fit my photography, allowed me to keep up with our adult kids, and yielded 4x6 prints that are liked. A few 16x20 canvas prints looked good, too.

Amazing! Though I’m still working on grandchildren, birds, and stars, I was fascinated by the article and photos.