tonybeach_1961

In Kona last week:

"Reach" is a combination of pixels on the target and lens resolution. As Shun pointed out, a DX cropped D780 is only 10 MP; that's nowhere near the 21 MP on target you would get from a D500, D7500, or a DX cropped D850. My suggestion for "reach" would be to upgrade your camera to 21 MP DX (either cropped FX sensor or a DX sensor) and put a Tamron 150-600mm lens on it, and keep the 70-200mm on your D780 (or D850) FX sensor when your subject is too close for 150mm on a DX cropped FX sensor or DX sensor. Some examples of what I get using these combos: D850 @ 70mm D850 @ 190mm D500 @ 460mm D500 @ 500mm (cropped)

NIKON D500 | 15mm F8 1/200 ISO100

The crescent sun peeking through the clouds on Saturday:

Arches National Park, with my D850 at ISO 64 and Rokinon T-S 24mm f/3.5 at f/11.

Definitely the Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 Art.

D850 Rokinon T-S 24mm f/3.5 @ f/11. 1/80s @ ISO 64. SMC Pentax 67 55mm f/4 w/ Mirex T-S adapter @ f/11. 1/50s @ ISO 64. The EXIF data on this one says 15mm, but it should have been the same as the first photo above, also at f/11. 1/60s @ ISO 64.

D850 w/ Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G @ 1/6400s, f/4, & ISO 220, 360 & 250 (Auto-ISO):

I told my girlfriend to throw the ball at me: D850 w/ Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G @ 24mm, f/8, 1/2500s & ISO 2500

D850 w/ Nikon AF-S VR-NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, f/8, and ISO 2200:

NIKON D850 w/ Tamron 45mm f/1.8 VC @ f/1.8, 1/200. & ISO560

D850, Tamron 150-600mm g2

Yeah, it has been my (painful) experience that acquiring old lenses is problematic because of the lack of parts, and the costs of repair to get lower quality output simply doesn't make sense compared to buying newer gear and abandoning the sunk costs of the older gear (applies to cameras too).