I recently acquired a Sony a6700 to replace a Nikon D7500 I destroyed. The new camera is significantly smaller and lighter that the old one. If I choose to use a Sony 200-600 mm lens on the a6700, I'm putting 4.5 lbs on a mount that weighs a lot less. Since the big lens has a tripod foot on a collar, that should not be a problem if I use a monopod or tripod. So far so good. However, I would like to get a good macro lens, and those tend to be big and heavy also. So I wonder, if I put, for example, a 105 mm macro lens on that A6700, can I get a tripod foot, or will I have the a6700 body on a support with the lens hanging off the front? I fear that will bend or otherwise affect the lens mount. Or am I worrying unnecessarily?

But if you got to photographyworkshop.com, you'll find all sorts of info. PWC was long ago claimed by a certain consulting company.

I bought the Nikkor 85 mm DX macro lens for my D7100 and then D7500. Great lens in my opinion. Not overly fast, but lightweight, easy to focus, good range of apertures (all the way to f/40). I use it for macro and as a general pupose 85 mm lens. As I age, the weight of my gear is becoming and increasing issue, so that may bias me. However, the lens you use is better than the best lens you don't use. :)

I shoot in full manual mode, including manual focus. I think in aperture priority mode. That is, I choose the aperture to achieve the depth of field I want, and only then worry about shutter speed and ISO. While I try to use the base ISO (100 on my Nikon D7500), I am quite willing to go as high as ISO 6400 in order get the shutter speed I want. My shutter speed varies from 30 sec (morning twilight) to 1/4000 (birds in flight). As has been noted, it all depends on what effect you want to get. My most common range is 1/30 to 1/200 of a second.

Be aware that sometime in September is when the Going to the Sun Road is closed for the winter. Check with the National Park Service website: https://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm. That depends on the snowfall, so you may be allowed over the mountain if they've not had too much snow.

As the OP, I'm interested in what you think are incorrect statements or misrepresentations in my original post. Please enlighten me.

I'm not trying to debate the value of RAW files. I shoot only RAW. But I have seen statement that one can not edit a raw file. I believe that is correct, but there are some nuances that need to be explained. So what follows is my more complete (I think) explanation.

A raw file is just the data collected by the sensor in the camera, nothing more or less. What one sees, whether raw or some other format, is a rendering of that raw data by some software program. That rendering may take the form of a jpeg file or TIFF file or GIF file or whatever file format your viewing program uses.

So when you open a raw file in ACR or Affinity Photo or any other program, what you see is that program's rendering of the raw data. If you then make changes and save the file, that saved file may or may not include the original raw data. If you save the changed file as a jpeg file, then the raw data is not saved. If you save a TIFF file, then the raw data is not save, but more data is kept than in a jpeg file. I'm not sure about other file formats.

Some programs may keep a record of changes as a sidecar file or other method. In that case, the program may keep the original raw data. Then, when you reopen the file, the rendering can start with the raw data and reapply the changes for you to see.

Make sense? Comments are welcome.

I have a really big, really heavy tripod from Really Right Stuff (TVC-34L w BH-55 head) that I use when I don't have to lug it too far. But for hiking and travel I use a MeFoto Roadtrip tripod. Really small and lightweight. I do hang my bag on the hook at the bottom of the center column for added stability. That works well as long as the wind is about 15 mph or less. The key is the added weight of my backpack. Without that, the tripod isn't much good in any sort of breeze.

I have owned that Tokina lens for several years. I use it for night skies and not much else. It is very sharp, but it is relatively heavy to lug around. You'll enjoy it.

On YouTube, there is a video predicting a Z90 this year. APS-C sensor, 33 MP and I forget what all. No date, and no confirmation from Nikon.

I use that lens on a D7500. It replaced the very old 18-105 mm lens. I have not used the 16-85 mm lens. I find my lens to be very sharp, reasonably lightweight and reasonably small. I have recently been using my 35 mm lens exclusively, but if you look at seven-oaks.net/dickspics and scroll down a bit, you'll find many images taken with the 16-80 mm lens. It is sharp, easy to focus and a useful focal length (24-120 full-frame equivalent). On the Nikon website, I note that both my lens and the 16-85 mm lens are no longer listed. I assume that means they are no longer being produced.

Affinity Photo is only $69. The price you gave was for the full suite of Affinity products. Be sure to compare like to like.

Right across the highway from Brookgreen Gardens is Huntington Beach State Park, a great place for birding and beach photography. The state park has the remains of the house the Huntington's used while they lived there and started the sculpture garden. Worth a peek IMHO.

I use a laptop with a 15.6 in screen, but I also have a second monitor that is a 24 inch screen. For me the key specs were enough memory (I got 32 GB), enough video RAM (I got 4 GB) and a reasonably current processor. I don't use the laptop screen for processing if I'm at home, and I do minimal processing on the road. For me, the smaller screen does not have enough room for the image and the Affinity Photo or Lightroom controls large enough for my poor vision. And sometimes I use my 42 inch TV as a second monitor.

I'll bite.

I carry a Mindshift Backlight 26 liter backpack with the following:
Nikon D7500
Nikon D7100
Nkkor 16-80 mm lens (24-120 mm full frame)
Nikkor 85 mm macro (122.5 mm full frame)
Tamron 100-400 mm (150-600 mm full frame)
Rain covers for the backpack and the camera
Circular polarizer and 3,6 and 10 stop filters for each lens
Blower, Brush and cloth for cleaning stuff
Headlamp, wrist strap and cross-body strap
Bracket to hold my phone on the tripod
Extra batteries and SD cards
Wired and wireless remote releases
Poncho and piece of plastic to kneel or sit on
Notebook and pen
2 liters or more of water
a protein bar or two
MeFoto Roadtrip tripod
Allen wrenches for all the stuff
And a 15 inch laptop with power supply and 2 GB external hard drive if I'm travelling overnight