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I bet it sells well... After being out of the country for two months I ended up ordering a Z9 on 12/18, I get it tomorrow, my first new "pro" sized body since the D3. By the way, the new 24-120 F4 S is simply outstanding, far better than the F mount one for sure.

Don’t you just hate a tabloid-like title on a post? Yeah…me too, but not nearly as much as the reality I and other film fans are facing in using their favorite rolls of film abroad. This Fall my wife and I have to be out of our house for 3-4 months for a remodel. Because my wife can not take time off but does work remote, she is simply going to spend the time at her mother’s place in Arizona. I on the other hand will have the ability to use this time as an excuse to travel and make new work. When in the U.S. I do this using an elaborate off road camper setup that allows me to be on the road as long as I want. And while I am planning some of that, I also want to do something really out there and go live in some cool North Atlantic islands for a couple months. All the travel and lodging logistics are well worked out and in budget but I am facing a big, BIG problem. One can simply no longer travel with film in tow overseas and expect to avoid the nasty new CT scanning technology with carry on luggage. This is such a significant issue that Kodak, Ilford and even Fuji put out bulletins about it last year, flying with film abroad is nearly a total non-starter. I went through the highly exhaustive process of contacting the security entities of each airport and there is simply no way to be assured of a hand check anymore. So flying with film abroad is for all intents and purposes, dead. I can have new film shipped to these islands via B&H or Freestyle but I am looking at two months here folks, that is at least 300 rolls of 120 for this kind of project, 500 would be preferred. I already have many times more than that in my freezer so I want to ship the film to this location ahead of me and not pay out the wazoo customs fees for film that is out of date and paid for long ago. And more importantly, I want to make sure it gets back safe and sound. Basically for the trip of a lifetime that would yield an amazing body of work and is already costing in the 5 figures, I want assurances….and I am not getting them. I have tried getting help from Ilford, Kodak, Fedex, Freestyle, B&H, DHL, ATA Carnet services, Logistics operations, Luggage forwarders, U.S. Customs, European Customs, etc. and keep getting no solid answers and quite a bit of run around. Ilford and Kodak basically gave me the virtual equivalent of a shoulder shrug and “Don’t know what to tell you”. Right now I am looking at using Fedex to ship a max of 360 rolls of the film to this place in a flat rate 10KG box for about $320, it would take me to the 25KG box to ship all 500 at a rate of $475. Then I will have to figure out a way back using DHL…and I will want it insured. It would not surprise me if I paid over $1,000 to get my film out and back and I have no idea what kind of insurance that would give me due to the oddities of customs when it comes to customs value vs carriage value. Why am I posting this out-loud-thinking one might ask? It’s real simple, for the long term we film users who want to use it abroad are going to need some serious minutia cutting help in executing this using shipping. I have worked on this daily for 2-6 hours per day for the past two weeks and let me tell you, it is maddening and draining. So I will conclude with a simple question, in regards to avoiding airport Xray, has anyone successfully shipped film out ahead to their destination and then when about to leave, shipped it back home without issue? And if so, what did it take? Thanks!

Hands down F100, better in every way. I bought my F100 in 2001 and still have it, I even use it with my 105mm 1.4E wide open and it works great with it as long as I make sure it was wide open the last time I used it on my Z cameras.

I used two 16' lengths of deep red LED strips from Superbright LED's in my darkroom. They are on a dimmer and I tested them at 1/2 power to 25 minutes before any fog started to show up. I generally use them at 1/3rd power so I am pretty good for darkroom lights, they are bright even at 1/3rd. One strand is in a semi-translucent tubing above the enlarger stations and the other along the 9' foot sink for my trays, ends up in the corner in the film processing area above the 6' foot sink. For ventilation I use two fans, a pusher at the top of the stairwell going to the basement with a filter on it and then an exhaust that pulls directly from the 9' foot sink and doubles as a shelf. It works fantastic, even with 20x24 trays full of chemistry, I never even smell the fixer. This is a full tilt fine art darkroom in which I can process 35mm to 8x10 and print up to 4x5 in sizes up to 45" x 55" using a mural paper processor. You can see in the enlarger station photo showing the rope light that the center enlarger prints ceiling to floor. Here are some pics at various stages, it is much more complete now:

When I started in photography as a career in the late 80's you had to be very good and have polished business acumen. Now some 32 years later I am still at it and all along I have really pushed to make better and better work year on year. Thankfully that has happened and it looks like it will continue, the ideas are flowing as is the success... But...if I were starting today with the portfolio I had in my late teens / early 20's in today's climate? Well I would be starving, end of story. These days, every living and breathing thing seems to want to become or at least fancies them self a photographer, because the internet fan clubs and social media have told them they are. So what I am getting at is that you have to first do a market study in your desired genre and geographic location and see what the top of the game looks like in terms of talent. Then you have to be so realistic in gauging where your work is at among this top of the top that you end up brutally honest at how good *your* work is. This evaluation often takes getting outside opinion or even a professional portfolio review. Once you decide you want to sell your work, you simply have to go beyond the opinions of those who give you likes on social media, praise on enthusiast forums and friends and family. And yes, once you have something to sell, you have to have a keen business sense, an entrepreneurial spirit of sorts. Not only do you have to show talent behind the camera, you have to show it in how you market, that followthrough of creativity is really important. And that is across the board, regardless if marketing to individuals, galleries, etc. And finally, you mention that you see other people who at least appear to be selling work...well selling is a relative thing. Nearly anyone can convince someone at some point to pay $50 for an 11X14 of some bucolic landscape, but can they actually earn even a part time living off of it? Can they create a budget and have a profit margin become a regular thing? Or are they like the millions of enthusiasts who have built websites with the phrase "Fine Art" attached to it, showing what looks like a visual bucket list of National Parks and aspire to not much more than being able to pay for a lens or two per year... Lots to consider....lots of people want to win American Idol too. You don't know if you don't try, but be honest with your self at every step if you really have what it takes or not.

I have had my Z6II for about two weeks and it seems just fine, nice to have two card slots, AF appears better but since I am 7 weeks post op from foot surgery, I have not really done a whole bunch with it yet, mostly playing with the new 70-200 2.8 and Z mount 1.4X converter. DJI just did a firmware update to the new Ronin RS2 so it plays nice with the Z6II as well. All good, just waiting on the grip, spare batteries and the Z7II. I'll probably upgrade my second Z6 first or second quarter of next year.

I have replaced two of my three Z bodies with the new cameras, I am well invested in this system and I think the optics are incredible. I’m not really interested in what the competition is doing because I like the way Nikon cameras “think” and that allows me to not have to, just get the images made. I sure hope they pull through, they have my support for sure.

I just replaced the non-S version of the 24mm 1.8 to the S version and the S is considerably better. And since I found the 24mm 1.8G to be even better than the 20mm 1.8G, I bet the S version will be well worth the upgrade. I have been using Nikon for a living since 1988 and I have never seen such contrast, flare resistance and even sharpness like I do the Nikon S lenses.

Ah what the heck, I ordered the new 70-200 2.8. I figure I can't get by without the converter for a bit by using a longer lens and I bet the matched 1.4 S converter will be a big improvement.

Half a million photos with cameras that have pop-up flash, not half a million using the pop-up flash.

I have been using pop-up flash since the D100 and have really taken all these cameras into some pretty rough exposure and have never-ever had an issue with any of them in regards to the flash. That’s over half a million pictures with no issues. Like I said in the other post, I have kept one D750 just for the unique flash quality a pop-up flash gives, its really paid off many times.

Sure it can, but it is kind of a PITA to hold and also exposes the off camera flash / cord setup to moisture where as the pop-up it fast and easier to keep dry. If it is a cold storm then it is not as much of an issue but for the really cool looking Spring flakes, it can get wet fast. If I ever have a choice of pop-up or no pop up on a camera body, I will always take the pop-up. The best flash is the one you have with you...;-)

That's interesting lack of imagination you are showing there, because it has a really unique look, especially with falling snow. In fact I did an entire ski lifestyle ad campaign with it based on that low angle of incidence look. David Alan Harvey used it to great effect for a Nat Geo article on Hip-Hop that eventually made it into a book. It's especially fun when used with tape on gels and upside down... I kept a D750 around just for this reason alone, it definitely serves a unique role.

It's a lens I am looking at for another purpose, it's too big for my ski outings. But yeah...that is a spendy beast!

I wish they would have announced a TC-14 in S mount in tandem with the new 70-200, I rely on that combo so much for my work I can't make the move from the 70-200 FL until they come out with one.

Much better handling with long glass, especially true of shooting a lot of verticals. I also find it handy on long shoot days to have two batteries going.

From about 50mm and shorter the Z lenses are much better than any F mount glass I have used. I have two Z6 bodies, one Z7 and one D850 if that tells you anything.

I was merely asking for it to be an option in custom function. I get what you are saying but it becomes a real mess real quick when doing something like swapping lenses in a snowstorm. According to one of my contacts at NPS, several action / adventure pros besides me are asking for the same thing, an option to close it.

I sure wish I had an option to close the shutter when swapping lenses, the dust issue due to the exposed sensor is a real PITA.

My "Cheerio" is still smoking from buying 4x 128GB XQD cards which I find plenty fast. I'll likely stick with those for the life of the cameras.

I shoot film and digital so I like camera systems that make that sandbox easy to play in. That being said, I have found Nikon mirrorless cameras to be outstanding in terms of producing great images and especially the Z lenses, just spectacular. I have one D850, two Z6 and one Z7 body, the 850 will likely be my last DSLR.

Can you elaborate on what the actual issue is? I am doing very well with the feature on all three Z bodies and all my F and Z mount glass.

I have a pretty large array of Nikon gear and the Z section is growing quickly but if it were me, I would take a Z6 and the new 24-70mm 2.8S as a round-the-world setup. I have the 14-30 F4S, 24-70 F4, 50mm F1.8S and now the 24-70mm F2.8S and the latter is just such a remarkable do everything lens it is not even funny. I am never getting rid of the 24-70 F4 because it is also excellent and I love it for skiing, climbing and hiking but the 2.8 is in another league, especially in those usually soft corners. But that is my advice to you based on your claimed needs. If it were me, I would be taking my Leica M10 and M6 and about 100 rolls of black and white film...:-)

Agreed RE improvement, they are a royal pain to use with Winter gloves and I have been riding the tech guys to give me an option in a firmware update that allows me to either toggle the mechanical shutter closed when powered off or at some other point so I can safely change lenses. Swapping lenses with the Z in any kind of weather, even wind sees the exposed sensor muck up almost instantly. Also, even if not containing a battery, these bodies need a vertical grip badly for long glass ergonomics. I'm relying on the Z6 a lot though these days so I figure at just $2K it is cheap insurance to get a second one. As far as a second slot, yes, SD would have been nice but it's not really a deal breaker for me. XQD is quite robust, the last card failure I had was in 2005 with a 2GB Sandisk Ultra-II and before that in 1995 with a 96MB PCMCIA which was essentially a 1.8" form factor hard drive for the NC-2000...those super sucked, LOL!

I ordered a second Z6 with the free adapter so now I have two which I wanted because I am still very much in the F mount lens array. But I do also have the 35mm and 50mm 1.8S lenses in addition to the 24-70S, all just incredible lenses. I think the D850 is probably the last F mount / DSLR I will buy so it is still going to pay off having all my F mount glass too. The only S lens I want now is a 70-200mm F4 but that might be awhile.