LordKOTL

I've taken mine to the beach with no ill effects. That being said, any "sealing" is minimal so caution is the watchword.  If you see a lot of salt spray, moisture in the air, or are pumping the ...

The few times I've had dust on my sensor that the auto sensor cleaning couldn't dislodge, the blower worked fine with a few puffs with the lens mount pointed down--dust particles were gone.  YMMV ...

I don't have any "portrait" samples handy.  However If I'm going for a head-only shot I grab this lens.  If I'm going for a "bust" (head & chest) I'll go with my 85 f/1.8. I bought the lens as ...

The rule I was taught was that if you need to use a rocket blower for your sensor to clean off some dust, was that you blow it while holding the lens mount facing down so that there's a good chance ...

There are a few options: (1) The Nikon SC-29 as Tony10 mentioned. Unfortunately you've got a hard wire between you and your flash. which may not be ideal in situations beyond what you're shooting now.

Yes, but with caveats. As mentioned in another post, you're going to need *a lot* of images to replicate the of an ND filter.  Like mreynolds767 mentioned...you're looking at hundreds.  From ...

Seconded.  I've had my Tenba 32l carrying 35lbs and no zipper issues and was decently comfortable to carry.

I personally don't miss it on this lens, but I shoot a FF camera and use that lens mostly for portraits--so flash somewhat negates the need for VR to stabilize the image since the flash burst(s) ...

I would definitely do that then. If you local camera shop is anything like mine, they'll let you test out the floor models if you don't have a specific piece of gear with you.  That way you get ...

the one thing that I'd give a positive to the snap locks to is that it's more idiotproof.  On the Globetrotters there's no indication of which way to urn the locks (people have unscrewed them when ...

It's all good; horses for courses and all that.  You gotta get the best tools to help you shoot within your shooting regime. I don't think there's an overall "better" in zoom vs. prime.  There's a ...

Weird...I haven't noticed any sag on the aluminum one...but then again I make sure the knobs are wrenched good and tight with the 200-500--like probably tighter than I'm supposed to tighten them. ...

Quoting this for emphasis and agreement for the OP's benefit. There is something to be said about limiting yourself to prevent overload.  If you can shoot everything there's a lot of temptation to ...

I have the aluminum version and it is decent overall tripod.  It's stable enough when shooting slower shutter speeds at 500mm and no VR. I've had it at the beach a few times and the twist-lock legs ...

No horrors except the occasional jam.  My filters and rings are both brass which helps against jamming a bit.  A filter wrench or the rubber band trick can help, but you just have to be mindful ...

I wouldn't call myself a purist, but I tend to use primes.  I don't have anything against zooms. For beginners especially I think zooms are invaluable.  If you don't know what or how you want to ...

I have the full-sized Peak Slide strap. The only "warning" you should heed is the one about the 3rd gen anchors (which you might get from 3rd party sellers). but other than that I love the strap ...

Standing pat here as well. My reasons are: (1) I can't justify the cost of the 500mm PF. As an amateur who doesn't shoot for money, My situation would make it the cost of the 500PF (approx $3.6k US) ...

^^^ He beat me to it.  Make sure you're far enough away. This lens should be able to nail focus at f/1.8--you'll be dealing with a razor thin DoF near minimum focus distance, but it should be ...

I did something similar to my 200-500 awhile back--I used a longer plate on the stock foot and had one of the carabiners for my old strap going through one of the holes--as long as the plate is ...