Last month, when Nikon had their sale going on, I purchased a refurbished Nikon D850 from NikonUSA.

After receiving it, I took a few shots with it to test it out. Then I decided to check the shutter count on the camera to see how many actuations were on the shutter. The Camera Shutter Count web site reported it at 17.

I couldn't believe it, but then I got to thinking, maybe they reset the number of actuations when they refurbish a camera. What is your thoughts about this, do they reset the shutter actuations when they refurbish a camera?

I purchased the Tamron 150-600mm lens and the Lowepro #5 case from Amazon at the same time. I received the lens in less than a week, but because the case was shipped from Japan, it took almost 6 weeks to receive it. Like MT Shooter says, the hood and the tripod collar fits perfectly inside. Very happy with my purchases.

While in the Air Force, for 3 years, from 1973 to 1976, I was stationed in Italy at a very small station, 8 man site and I lived in San Dona Di Piave, about 25 miles northeast of Venice. Needless to say, I made numerous trips to Venice throughout those 3 years. Yes, it's been 40 years ago, and a lot has changed since, almost unrecognizable when I google the area.

Most of everyone that responded to your request is pretty much correct. As for the smell, hot humid summer sultry days and no wind, there is an odor of sewage, but it is tolerable.

There is a lot to see and take pictures of. If you walk fast, you'll be able to see most of what Venice has to offer in a day, but you won't be able to enjoy the moment.

As a suggestion, I don't know how flexible your itinerary is, but I would suggest San Marino. It's a country within Italy and is one of the smallest countries (the 5th, I believe) in the world. It's primarily a country on a hill/mountain. It's about a 2 hour drive from Venice, going southwest. There is a lot of history there, and the view from any one of the 3 towers, is awesome. It's just a suggestion, but one to consider.

Hope you have a good trip and hope you will share some of those pictures with us on this site.

Here is an idea and it will save you about $14.50 - use a binder clip. Clip it onto the side of the laptop screen, tilt the screen where the front and the back wire part of the clip is lined up and your aligned. See picture, the binder is on the left and the wires are lined up. Different thickness of the laptop's screen may dictate the size of the binder clip used.

I have contemplated the storage issue for some time and this is my solution. I have a raid configured NAS (Network Attached Storage) that I keep all my current working files on. But for my archived files (files removed from my computer and network), I store on DVDs, 2 copies, one for on-site and one for off-site storage, this is done as soon as they are downloaded from the camera. Normally, I only archive RAW files, but for photos that I don't have RAW files, like scanned pictures/slides, I keep them also on DVD, unmodified.

I am more or less an observer photographic forms and rarely post on those forums. Usually I am just browsing - looking for posts that interest me. I am retired military and have been shooting for 40+ years and in my earlier years processed my own film. I still have several film cameras on hand, but now I am dabbling in the digital format and it opens a whole new world. I am in the process of converting all my pictures and slides to digital - which is an enormous undertaking. I am not a professional photographer, just a semi-serious amateur. I do not "show" my pictures, only to family and close friends. My pictures are my moments in time that I like to record for my future recollection. I do enjoy the challenge of composition, I believe it's the story behind the picture.