Excuse me? I did not ask why YOU would carry a charger, I specifically asked why ONE would want to do so, in a general sense, and in conjunction with what size bag would be needed. IMO, that is not so far afield from your OP. I have noticed that there are some people on this site, more so than on others that I have joined, that are just plain rude. You, Sir, appear to be one of them. So you might get your wish; I might just resign if this trends. If you are an Administrator, remove my post, or complain about it to an Administrator, and if an Administrator wants to kick me off the site, so be it. In the meantime, I hope you have a better day; you obviously are not having a good one.

This is much more generous than NikonUSA’s policy, and I was not certain what Canon’s policy with regard to grey market cameras and lenses is. Than you.

Really just curious as to why one would want to tote along a battery charger, unless hiking and using solar energy to power it. On overnight trips I pack chargers, but keep them in a “maintenance” bag (along with a Rocket Blower, other cleaning stuff, sensor viewer/magnifier, misc. power cords, card readers, etc.) but leave all that in the room or in the car. I can see carrying chargers in the car if that is where the batteries will be charged. Otherwise, fumbling around in a camera bag for or through a charger etc. seems an unnecessary a waste of time and space. Considering that a charger and its power cord (unless the charger is a direct plug-in) can take up about half the space of a non-pro-level DSLR…?

You probably should check with the manufacturer. In the case of NikonUSA, there are different policies for cameras and lenses bought in another country or brought from another country (i.e.., not purchased by the user) and brought into the USA, and grey market cameras and lenses bought in the USA. NikonUSA has a 5-year warranty on Nikkor lenses imported by NikonUSA. I am quite certain that warranty would not be extended to lenses taken into another country. A lens brought into the USA and requiring service by the original purchaser would not get the 5-year warranty because the lens was not imported by NikonUSA, but would be serviced, and could be serviced under the 1-year international warranty. Grey market Nikkor lenses imported into the USA by non-NikonUSA importers receive no Nikon warranty (purchaser could purchase a store warranty), and NikonUSA will not service them or Nikon gray market cameras, period. NikonUSA-authorized service centers (as distinguished from NikonUSA service centers) will service grey market Nikon cameras and Nikkor lenses. It is complicated, and the above is my understanding. If others have a different understanding of NikonUSA's policies regarding their warranties (which might be unique to Nikon USA) please chime in. In this regard, I have no idea what Canon’s or other manufacturers’ policies are.

To answer the question directly, the member moving to the USA would need to provide proof of purchase as the original owner in order to have the equipment serviced, especially under warranty. If the product was grey market when purchased in another country, I don’t know, but it could be a problem. As for the other way around, I believe you’d need to verify with the Nikon importer in the UK.

I believe I mentioned this in another thread, perhaps on this site, recently. Be aware that farmers and ranchers can get touchy about photographing their crops and livestock. Think Government restrictions on yield, and PETA’s concerns. While it may be legal to take the pictures, you can get into more trouble - and not from the law - than you want if a property owner suspects your motives.

Whether the lens fits your camera depends on what kind of mount the lens has. You have a Nikon DSLR camera, so you need a Nikon “F” mount lens. BTW, as another poster stated, the f can also refer to the "f-stop.” So “F” or “f” can have two meanings.

Size usually goes along with weight - the bigger the heavier. Faster lenses (those with smaller f-numbers) let in more light, making for larger front lens elements and…you guessed it, larger size and heavier weight. And more money. Certainly at 500mm what is acceptable size and weight depend on your ability and willingness to carry the weight. Also at 500mm, the need for a good, sturdy tripod and tripod head can become critical, again depending on your capabilities and what you are photographing. Bottom line here is how much do you want to spend, how much are you able and/or willing to carry, and do you want a prime or zoom lens.

Are you "looking at” a particular 500mm, or just looking in general? What kinds of pictures are you in planning to take - sports/action (which would include birds-in-flight), sedentary wildlife, or something else?

Try focusing using Live View (use a tripod). If you get the same results, it’s probably a camera/sensor issue. If not, your lenses might be back or front focusing, and you will need to make corrections if the camera has that capability.

This is an over-simplification, but one that probably is easiest to understand. Deleting a file does not really erase it; it just makes it unavailable (except through recovery software). So the medium still has a lot of junk (the “deleted” files on it). This makes for inefficiencies in both recording and retrieving new information. Formatting the card cleans out all of the files so that the medium is junk-free.* It is important to format flash cards in the camera in which they will be used, and not via the computer. Different devices have different ways of indexing their files, and you want to be certain to have your cards formatted accordingly so as to be able to retrieve the recorded information.

*Technically, not all data is necessarily wiped off with just one pass, but that gets into various levels of erasing/formatting disks, and generally is necessary for security applications, and not casual use.

“People have been very responsive to my ad but I'm worried they don't see that my pictures may not be as "professional as they expect….” As is said, a picture is worth a thousand words, and so as to temper your potential clients' expectations, you could include some of your photos in your ad, or direct them to wherever you might have posted them. IMO, you should say how much time you are going/able to spend with each pet, especially if you are scheduling consecutive appointments. I gather you would be taking family photos that would include pets, and not just photos of pets? You might want to limit the number of pets a family can bring in, and emphasize that they must have their pets under positive control at all times!

A general starting point is to set the ISO as low as possible in order to get both the f-stop you need for the depth of focus you want, or the f-stop that is sharpest for your camera (usually a couple stops below wide open), AND the shutter speed you want to eliminate camera shake. Many use automated ISO (camera permitting) with a maximum ISO at a level where noise is still acceptable (this varies greatly with the camera and how the image will be used).

I remember when a “portrait” lens was anything from 85 -135mm (35mm film days). With the longer focal length you will get less depth of focus, depending on f-stop of course), and that can be important for out-door or non-studio portraits. Another consideration is bokeh, which is usually smoother with lenses that have more diaphragm blades.

The reason you see so many problems is because that is what users are most likely to write about. Not too many people just randomly post messages about how trouble-free their experiences have been (with anything) unless somehow prompted to do so.

I have gone through 4 or 5 MacOS systems on MacBooks and an iMac; LR perpetual licenses starting with LR 1 or 2 (cannot remember which) through LR 6, and now CC for several years, (3 major editions), and have never had to reinstall a MacOS or LR version, or otherwise debug LR.

Am I just one lucky dude, or...?

It sounds as though you did 2 imports. What kinds of files (.???) were the Google files - were they files LR could import? IF they were, one explanation could be that you COPIED some of the files (those that remained on the desktop) and MOVED the others (those that disappeared from the desktop). But you also said that you imported 6 photos into LR, selected 2, and then imported them into LR. Normally, LR will not import duplicates, so can you tell us how you did this? Did you create another catalog into which you imported/moved duplicate files (those you had already imported into the first LR catalog)? Did you name or need to rename an LR Catalog?

BTW, you probably do not need to devote an entire HD to the catalog. I doubt yours will be much over 5MB, if it is that large, after you have done all of your importing, because as others have pointed out the .lrcat file does not contain the actual images. It is essentially a database that points to the images and the changes you make in post processing. Very important - because it is a database, anytime you move images that are in LR, if you do not move, rename, etc. within LR, LR will not be able to find them. You might believe they are gone, but they are not. You simply will need to repoint LR to their new location.

Let’s look at a rather narrow, practical example working with a JPEG image and a RAW image in LR. In the Develop module the first processing instruction you have, at the top under Treatment is White Balance (WB).

With the JPEG file you have as choices:
As Shot
Auto
Custom

With the RAW file you have:
As Shot
Auto
Daylight
Cloudy
Shade
Tungsten
Fluorescent
Flash
Custom

Just off the top, the RAW file presents more data, or information, to work with, and greater flexibility in post processing to get your image to where you want it to be. This is not to say that JPEG is not fine in some circumstances. I know a professional photographer who would shoot JPEG when he wanted to be able to produce prints at the venue AND he had absolute control over, or advance knowledge of, lighting conditions. He could take more pictures because the files were smaller (he did not worry about having to change flash cards), and there was no post processing involved.

Oh not…not never. I might insinuate some stuff IS true. 😈