Sometimes I see a lot of meanness on this site. People without understanding the economies of other members, throw out recommendations about buying like they are the ultimate authority on a subject, or right out boast like they think others are stupid for not buying the best on the market. Some people skimp whenever they can due to their financial situation. Obviously, you can't buy a generic Nikon, Canon, Sony, or Olympus body so while someone may have funds for that, they may need to skimp elsewhere. Someone in another post actually said they would not buy a non-OEM battery because it might be made in a foreign country! Guess what -- your OEM batteries are made in a foreign country! Other answers berate members for buying 3rd party items like battery grips. Hey, maybe they don't need the grip that can fall off a 100 ft. cliff and survive, maybe they just like a grip that affords a better hold when using the camera in a vertical orientation. Someone else said they would only buy HP cartridges -- I have an answer for that -- professional equipment like printers using eight or more cartridges notwithstanding, if you own a printer that you paid a couple of hundred dollars for, you didn't buy a printer, you bought into a very expensive ink program. Those lower-priced printers are so cheap because when you buy one, HP, Canon, or any others the manufacturer has you by the balls! You will be paying through the nose for your ink. Epson, and now Canon and HP have printers that use tanks which are easy to fill and cost a fraction of what cartridges do. Another possibility is that when it comes to batteries who knows who makes them? There may only be two plants in Japan/China/Taiwan that make all of them and just put different names on them. Look at the round head flash from Neewer, Bolt, and Godox they are all the same unit, just a name change. When someone asks for advice, it would be nice to see people respond with their recommendations and not put others down for things like not using OEM equipment. I would bet 75% of people here who act like people are stupid for not spending the extra bucks for a Nikon/Canon/Sony battery, use a flash that is not OEM. I work part-time at Sam's Club and I've had people tell me they would only buy Everyready Batteries over the store brand. Guess what -- they are the same battery! They don't understand marketing -- they can't believe Everyready would sell us batteries that would undercut the name brand. I explain that most big retailers will have an inhouse brand and Eveyready knows if they don't sell us a generic, someone else would! This way they get all the business. Ever see two gas stations owned by the same company across the street from each other -- it's about limiting competition. While I understand some of the group has the money to buy top-drawer on all their equipment, I think putting others down (and that is what you are doing when you state I would only buy xxx) is insensitive and is an opinion you should keep to yourselves. When I was 15, I worked in a manufacturing jewelry shop. We sold Rolex watches both 14 kt. and gold plated. They looked identical so one day I asked Mr. Hays (the owner) why anyone would spend 1200 or more for a Rolex when they could have an identical watch in gold plate for a third of the price. I said no one would know the difference. Mr. Hays looked me in the eye and said, "Oh, but the owner would know". That has stuck with me for the last 58 years and I have tried to live life in a way so as not to flaunt what I have but to just respect my good fortune when something good comes my way. So UHHers, lighten up. Respect each other, give recommendations when asked, and don't come down on others for their choices. (If you are wondering about the cheap prices for Rolex Watches -- while I worked at the jewelry shop the US went off the gold standard. One day gold was 37.00 an ounce, the next day it was like 387.00 an ounce!)

Good afternoon, fellow Hedgehogians. On May 27, 2023, I posted a Topic entitled "Am I Too Old", requesting your thoughts on whether I should shoot RAW or JPEG (or both) on my upcoming trip to Brazil, and, whether I should, or could, learn Lightroom before my trip. I received so many positive and informative responses! I want to thank each of you who responded and offered advice and encouragement. I read them all, and decided, yes, I would attempt to start shooting RAW + JPEG, and would start to try to learn Lightroom for post-processing. So I got the firmware updated on my Nikon D500 (so I could use CFExpress cards), purchased a Lightroom Classic (LrC) plan, and set out on this rather daunting adventure. I have divided my time between working on camera skills and post-processing. With my camera, I am focusing on challenging light conditions and implementing some of the suggestions I received from you. With-post processing, I focused on setting up my first Catalog in Lightroom Classic, and importing the RAW "practice photos" I have taken these last few days. This morning I took some photos of birds that were fishing along the shore of our lake, and backlit against the morning sun (near my dock). It was time to take these photos and attempt to process them in the Develop module of LrC. When I was finished, the rather dim lightbulb in my head was shining a little brighter! Now I get it! Not in the technical sense-- I have barely scratched the surface and have a long road ahead before I am even minimally competent in Lightroom Classic. But now I completely understand why so many of you encouraged me to shoot in RAW, and use post-processing to address low light and exposure problems with my photos. Below are a couple of before and after examples from this morning. The first is a photo of an Egret that I took this morning. The second photo is the result of my very first attempt at post-processing. After working on the Egret photo, I pulled out hummingbird nest photo I took on May 29, 2023 and did a little post-processing with positive results. These are the third and fourth photos. So, I have a little over two months before I leave for Brazil, and I am so excited about the prospect of shooting RAW and post-processing the photos in LrC when I get back. I am so grateful for your generosity (sharing your experience and knowledge) and encouraging words...thank you again! Tom McCoppin, Lake McQueeney, Texas

My camera arrived a day after I ordered it from B & H. The manual was entirely in Chinese which I don't read. I called B & H Saturday after putting the camera together and trying to set it up on my own to ask for an English manual. They don't make them any more. Turns out that the camera I got is a gray market item which is marketed for the Asian market. This is not specified on their website and the salesman who sold it to me didn't mention it. All he said was that I couldn't get a Nikon warranty for it. Since I never buy warranties anyway, that didn't raise any red flag for me. I suppose it should have. The salesman I got this time said that many of the regular cameras and gray market ones are produced in the same factory. Perhaps my purchase has the same quality as those made for the U.S. Hope I don't come to regret this purchase in the future. I can't afford another camera in a few years.

I am a long-time Nikon shooter. I did purchase the Nikon 200-500mm lens and really liked it. Yes, it is a heavy lens. I started reading articles about having to lug that huge lens around ALL DAY LONG, and what a burden it was. So, I got rid of it. Lately I have been thinking, I don't go out shooting ALL DAY LONG, at most I am out shooting 4 hours (I am 79 years old). If I cannot carry that lens on my Nikon D7500 camera for 4 hours (at times with the use of monopod), then I need to resign myself to my recliner. I will be getting my Nikon 200-500mm lens this Thursday, can't wait. I need to stop listening to the "pros" and remember I am just a enthusiast!

Would really like your opinion on these photos and any help to make Z50 sharper. I ordered a refurbished Z50 from Nikon USA on May 24 because I wanted something smaller and the reviews were good. I have only had SLR cameras before. (I am an amateur photographer.) It looked brand new when it came and had less than a 10 shutter count. I have been enjoying using it and felt that photos were....ok. Today I decided to compare theZ50 with DX 16-50 f/3.5-6.3 to my D5600 with Tamron 16-300 f/3.5-6.3 and was surprised with the difference. Both were shot at 50mm on the P mode....same lighting and distance. What do you think? Am I just being too critical...or is my old camera better than my new one?
First photo is D5600, 2nd is Z50.
Thank you in advance for opinions.
Lauretta