I was a military photographer attached to 5th Special Forces in Vietnam. I used IR film and “Black Bulbs” a couple of times, once indoors and once outside. Both locations were quite dark but not blacked out. I picked up a small amount of visible red in both situations. If the subjects were dark adapted and looking at the camera they would know something was out there.

The bulbs weren’t really black. They had a very dark red coating that you could see through if you looked closely in bright sunlight.

Later we found a way to connect a Nikon body to as AN-PVS2 “Starlight Scope” that worked better for that type of task. Then I could actually see through the viewfinder to focus and compose a shot.

The only IR images I can talk about were of a prowling tiger that chanced to come near us. That was very cool.

i have a similar problem with my shoulders hauling my camera (Nikon D610 with dual batteries, 70-300 lens). I picked up an Olympus Tough to use when I’m just wandering around but bring the “big glass” when I’m getting serious about pictures.

Two things I’ve found useful. My son-in-law gave me a harness that goes over both shoulders with a large pad in the back. That distributes the weight towards the centerline which help quite a bit.

Then I found a large wheeled “Running stroller” that I modified to hold camera, tripods. Walking stick etc. it will hold two cameras with big lenses as well as a third with a macro lens. There’s room for other items (rain gear, lunch, etc.) as well. It folds up to fit easily in the back of our Toyota RAV4 and is essential when I bring my 600mm or 1000mm (500 with 2X) as well as my wife’s similar gear. It has allowed me to continue using my older gear and avoiding totally changing my camera system.

I’m a 78 Y-O wildlife photographer with a couple of joint problems that make the trails longer and hills steeper. Depending on where you are going these ideas might help out a bit.

I have used most of the Topaz products for several years now. I added Photo AI several months ago. I frequently need to adjust and/or sharpen my wildlife images and AI does that quickly and simply.

I'll back up the idea of the Olympus TG series. I've used them for over 15 years while volunteering as a Master Naturalist. Our work takes us out in Nature most of the time. We've done pictures of alligators in the water of swamps and documented raging brush fires right on an active fire line. I've also used them wirelessly to set up camera traps or to extend in a pole down into creature's dens. I found a set of add-on lenses for 0.7X and 1.7X that are also completely waterproof. A small, two-compartment, belt pouch holds the camera, spare batteries, an extra chip, and several laminated cards with measuring grids and a color patch for keeping documentation of insects and other tiny critters.

It will fit nicely in a buttoned shirt pocket or semi-discretely in a pants pocket.

When I'm not out playing "Science Ranger" I have a collection of full-size Nikon bodies and lenses from 8 to 1500mm. But I don't haul them around with me on a daily basis. At 78 Y-O I leave that sort of thing to my son and grandchildren.

I hope this adds some ideas to your purchase decision.

Y'all Keep Shootin'

I understand your frustration.

They should also put more restrictions in the manufacture of these deadly machines. Limit the volume of fuel tanks to 10 gallons and allow only one tankful per week! No vehicle should be allowed within one mile of any school, church, or other gathering place. Persons entering any gathering place must show the appropriate identification and permit to be there!

I have an AW1. The first one leaked and I sent it to Nikon. They sent me a refurbed replacement. That worked for about a year then failed. It's parked in my camera closet along with two lenses and an AW1 to Nikon adapter.

Anybody need a couple of nice lenses ??

After we moved to California I started remembering how much I miss Port A. There are also a lot of photo attractions over on the mainland side. I could easily spend a week shooting nature in that area.

Irfanview is the editor I use for initial screening right after a photo trip. It is quick, easy, and can do quite a few functions. After I go through and remove any true photo failures (usually about 30-50 %) I sort the images into logical groups. Then I move over to Lightroom for final editing.

I donate to the author annually as the program is well worth it.

Well, phones do take “pictures”. But creating beautiful “Images” might require a bit more hardware, excellent software, and some well experienced “Wetware”. My most valuable accessory is the Nut behind the viewfinder. 🧙🏼‍♂️

Clever! Took me a couple of moments to “get it”.

Good thing is wasn’t a Nikon! (Running and Ducking for cover). 🙀😱

"I was recently asked to take some photos at a high-school baseball game."

My Grandson asked me to take some pictures at his High School Volleyball Games. Of course, the "Grandpa Code" mandates that any request is treated as a command. I made it to every home game and shot about a Zillion frames.

The gear was my Nikon D610 and a 35-85 f/4 lens. Flash was not permitted but the incandescent lighting allowed me to use 1/800 with shutter priority. f/ stop on most frames wide open. ISO went to 1600 (occasionally 3200) and the results were quite acceptable.

I created a Dropbox to share images with his teammates and got a lot of "thanks & praise" from the team.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/41gy55mdm4v82in/AADfhbW2HrAyXdHiHX9-Q93Ya?dl=0

Two ideas come out of this project.

1. ISO's above 800 can still return quite usable images for normal use. Some of the kids got 5X7 or 8X10 prints that they were delighted with. Some judicious use of Topaz AI products helps a lot.

2. There's nothing "magic" about 1/1000 shutter. I got a lot of images at 1/800 and (occasionally) 1/500. I bit of motion blur can be helpful in sports photography.


OK, tht's my nickle's worth. Have fun shooting.

Here's a shot of a Black Oystercatcher in full flight from about 50 feet away. It was shot with the lens I tried out today. This is out of my D610 set on FX. I'm happy with the result.

I just received one of these in yesterday's mail at a similar price. Compared to my Nikon 70-300 VR it is about 25% smaller and lighter. I did some wildlife shots with it this afternoon and it gave me good resolution and fast focus response on flying birds. I'm quite happy with it!

I'm showing V. 3.3.1 and when I ask about updates it says I'm on the latest version.
I'm running /windows 10 with all the current updates.

Program seems to work OK and there's no smoke coming from my laptop!