I used the Nikon 10-24 DX lens for many years with my Nikon D7000 crop sensor camera before I went Full Frame and it brought great results. I highly recommend it.

I love my 14-24mm Nikon 2.8 lens for night skies.

Many years ago, I bought a used Nikon 10-24 mm DX lens on eBay for my Nikon D7000. That was the best $500 I ever spent. I sold it several years later on eBay for the same. It more than paid for itself plus 10x more with the multiple contests that I won and pictures that I sold that had been taken with that lens and camera combo.

I would choose the 200-500. I put mine on a mono pod for this type of shooting.

While I have a D750 full frame (FX) camera now with the 24-120 f4 lens as my primary camera, I kept my D7000 crop sensor (DX) camera as a backup and I got rid of all my DX lenses except the 18-200 VR DX lens for the D7000 and it still does an excellent job and is an all-around great flexible lens. My suggestion is to consider that one for your wife's replacement.

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I was very satisfied with Dave’s work. I sent everything to him via mail from where I live in Florida and then personally met him to pick it up when I was in Oregon visiting my family. Nice guy. Great work. Good price.

I used a Nikon 10-24mm DX for many years with my D7000, a crop-sensor like yours. Excellent for landscape shooting. Now that I have a full frame D750, I have the Nikon 14-24 FX that I use for landscapes and astrophotography.

When my D7000 was my main camera (it still is my backup to my D750), I love the Nikon 18-200 VR lens as a great all-around lens.

I've never had a Tamron so I can't give you a comparison. But I love the sharpness of my Nikon 200-500 on my D750. Consistently tack sharp. I use it on a monopod a lot more than handheld. I've only had one third-party lens and that was the Sigma 50-500 and I could never get sharp photos with it. Might have been just a bad copy or a bad model. But never been disappointed with my Nikon.

You've received a bunch of good advice already and I would concur with most all of it. We were in Yellowstone last summer after not being there for over 40 years (once in 1968 as a teenager and 1977 as a young adult). Only thing I want to emphasize is to be out early if you want to see more wildlife and have less traffic. The crowds were heavy and parking was limited by 11am or so but that may be different this year with the pandemic because many of the visitors were Asian travelers. We split a week up between Grand Tetons NP and Yellowstone NP. It was good to be back at Yellowstone and we enjoyed it but thoroughly loved spending several days in the Grand Tetons (which I just drove through before) and I would go back again today to Grand Tetons over Yellowstone, but you have to see Yellowstone at least once. In Yellowstone, you can't beat Grand Prismatic Spring, the colors are unbelievable. It's a must see as much as Old Faithful.

As one who grew up in Oregon (all my family still lives there and I go back 1-2x per year) and went to college and grad school for 7 years in VA, lived in upstate NY for 7 years and now in FL (the last 34 years), my wife and I have driven the entire USA from West to East and East to West (north, south and central routes) multiple times. We've been to all 50 states and most of the National Parks (NP). So let me suggest a few other places in your route between AZ and Yellowstone that we love the most: Sedona, AZ, Grand Canyon, Antelope (Slot) Canyons at Page, AZ, along with Horseshoe Bend. Also, Bryce NP, Zion, NP in Utah, Arches NP in Moab, UT would be highly recommended along that route. After Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, I would recommend Glacier NP in MT if you have the time and want to go that far north and west. And then others would Badlands NP in South Dakota on your way back toward SC. Of course, if you have time coming or going, Colorado has tons of awesome places to see in the Rocky Mountains. My highlights over the years have been Rocky Mountain NP, driving to the top of Mt. Evans, and Pikes Peak, and Garden of the Gods.

And then for another trip, unless you have the time this time around, would be to go on out to the Pacific Northwest. I may be a tiny bit biased but the beauty of Northern California, Oregon and Washington is hard to surpass (remember, I've been in all 50 states). The variety of the Redwoods and Sequoias, the Oregon Coast, Crater Lake NP, Olympic NP, the Cascade mountains (Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Ranier, etc) are just incredible. I have some images from most of these places on my website at www.GingerichPhotoArt.com if you care to browse.

Enough for now! Hope that helps. Enjoy your retirement. Congratulations.

I love my Nikon 14-24 wide angle lens I use on my D750. It's my "money" lens in that I've sold more images from that one lens than all my other lens put together. But I'm primarily a naturescape photographer. And in using it, I almost always anchor my images with a close-up object to draw people into the mid-part of the photo on to the main subject. If you don't make good use of it's incredible ability to be sharp as close as a foot or less all the way into infinity, then you aren't taking advantage of the capabilities of this lens. It's also one of the best astrophotography lens out there. Being a 2.8 aperture, it is great for Milky Way shooting. But, you have to determine if you shoot the kind of landscapes that require this lens because it is pricey. I bought a refurbished one from Nikon while it was on a 15% off sale so it was more reasonable and I've been very happy with. It is sharp edge to edge, top notch in every way. If you use filters, you will need a special custom filter holder because screw-on filters don't work with the bulging glass on front. I use a NISI system and that works great but that adds additional cost to owning the lens. So like anything else in life, count the cost first. I've attached a couple shots from the Nikon 14-24 and my Nikon D750.

Cayo Costa Collection


Bridge to Heaven

I agree with the TG-6 suggestions. I have had the Olympus TG-4 since 2016. Great for snorkeling, etc. At the time I bought it, it was the only compact all-weather camera that would shoot in both JPG and RAW. Not sure if that is still the case. But it's a great little camera and there have been significant improvements in the newer versions. I also have had a GoPro top of the line 3 series for 5 years. I think it is the Black 3. It's good especially for video wide-angle action images and underwater shooting. But it doesn't shoot RAW and has no telephoto range. Unless the newer GoPro's may have added those features. I do know the newer GoPro's have added a rear LCD screen that mine doesn't have.

Depends on the kind of photography you do. I use my Nikon 14-24mm 2.8 lens with my Nikon D750 for 90% of what I have available on my website for naturescapes and astrophotography. It's my money-maker. But if you don't do landscapes, then it's not worth the investment. When I travel internationally and I'm not as focused on my speciality of local Florida naturescapes, then I use my 24-120mm f4 lens 90% of the time. I take my 14-24 but I don't take my 200-500 Nikon because I don't want to carry the weight, (of course unless I'm going to go on a safari and then I'm going to take the long lens and my Nikon TeleConvertor 1.4 with it). Take a look at how I use if if you care to... http://www.gingerichphotoart.com

Lots of good advice and suggestions listed here. As one born in Oregon in the Willamette Valley, about 50 miles from the Coast, lots of great info above in the comments. All my family still lives in Oregon so I get there at least once a year or more even though I've lived in SW Florida the past 34 years. Time of the year that is best is definitely July, Aug and often into Sept. Very little rain then. Coming north from CA, definitely Bandon, Yachats, Walport, Newport, Depoe Bay, Otter Crest Loop, Lincoln City and then on up to Cannon Beach, Seaside, etc. to Astoria. Rounding every corner is a postcard view. I'm a bit biased as an Oregon-born native but I've been in all 50 states, travelled all over the world and driven all of both Atlantic and Pacific coastlines and the Oregon coastline is right at the very top! It's spectacular. Never done it in a motorhome so I'm no help there. Lots of great photography courses on the Oregon Coast but I'd just start with Google and the dates you are going to be there. There are other great spots to visit in Oregon. Crater Lake is amazing. Columbia Gorge is incredible. If you are going on up to Washington, the Olympic National Park is awesome too. And the coastal area of the park is also great (First Beach, Second Beach, etc.) is great but the rest of the Washington Coast isn't very accessible or impressive. Hope that helps. Enjoy! If you want to see a few sample images, go to my Pacific Northwest Naturescape section of my website and the locations are listed on each photo: https://www.gingerichphotoart.com/pacific-northwest-naturescapes