Two23 Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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Railroads, as in you're a foamer? And you want to do some Milky Way? I do both (more of one than the other.) Some thoughts. Neither subject requires a red hot autofocus system, and that's where the D500 shines. The D500 is probably best for sports and wildlife. You shoot neither. Foamer photography is probably the LEAST demanding type there is. The autofocus on D7200 is excellent, much more than you'll ever need. Really, a D3300 is overkill. As for Milky Way, that is more about lenses. I think you'd be wasting about $1,000 buying a D500. What you need is lenses. An 18-300mm for night sky shots? You are joking? Way, way too slow. Not really wide enough either. WRONG LENS! If my only choice was to go out and shoot with a lens like that, I'd just stay home.
Here's a package that will work together to do what you want. Camera--D7200. Adequate for Milky Way; overkill for RR. Buy a used one from ebay with two batteries. Lenses--the important thing. For Milky Way a Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 Note that "f2.8"--that's the important part. Some other suggestions: Rokinon 8mm f2.8, Rokinon 10mm f2.8, tokina 11-16mm f2.8, Tokina 11-24mm f2.8, Tokina 14-20mm f2. You need WIDE, and you need FAST. These lenses do it. NO WAY the 18-300mm will work for that. Wasted money. Next you need a general purpose zoom. I suggest the excellent Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 HSM OS. Excellent lens! Add a Nikon 50-300mm VR and you are pretty much set for lenses. There's one other thing that is essential for Milky Way, and I consider essential for choo-choo shots too. That's a tripod. A damn good tripod, with good ballhead. I'd budget $400 here, honestly. (I paid over $800 for my tripod and head. Best money I ever spent!) And, get an "L" bracket dedicated to your camera. (Cheap on ebay.) For software I strongly suggest Photoshop Elements, unless you want to get into Photoshop CC.
So, coming from someone who knows what's available and knows what you want to shoot, these are my real-world suggestions. Forget about that 18-300mm.
Kent in SD
WMSR Approach
WMSR Exits Tunnel
BNSF, Marshall Sub
DAIR (Dakota & Iowa RR) leaving Hudson, SD
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