NTFS is recommended for all HDD's used in the Windows environment nowadays because the FAT32 file system has a max file size of 4Gb which can be a bit limiting if you store videos on it.

Seagate Barracuda drives are very good but they had an issue with a firmware release which caused some drives to appear to lose their format and hence their data. The situation is recoverable however. refer to Seagate web site for info.

I have a 1Tb Western Digital MyBook but I use it as a backup to my Netgear ReadyNAS RAID system. I had one of the two RAID array drives fail (Seagate with the faulty firmware) and lost absolutely . . . nothing.

I've used an SMCP-FA 28-200mm zoom mostly. Covers most needs for shots of inside and outside of the aircraft but it all depends really on how high you'll go. I've been up to 5000 feet in a Piper Warrior but I doubt you'll go to that kind of altitude.

Please don't double post. Your other post contains the same question and needs only to be answered in one place to avoid confusion, mostly mine.

There have been loads on here recently, but I think they are all sold now. Your question suggests you haven't been paying attention to the other forums here like "Complete K20D kit for sale" etc. Check out the classified section.

You may have to wait a bit for another to become available.

I guess an aircraft or ship is best described as beautiful rather than handsome, hence the feminine slant, as it were.

A friend of mine has a boat in Spain and he's called it Elle, which is Spanish for 'she'.

Upwards of £50,000.00 a month according to one site I read. Another site quotes an estimate of £1.6 million a year.

Excuse me but . . . what makes this aircraft a female? (Keep it clean)

The current Pentax macro lenses are the D-FA 50 and 100mm but it's worth looking out for the older, but equally excellent F and FA series 100mm 1:2.8 macro lenses.

They are heavier and don't have the benefit of quick-shift manual focussing, but they do produce stunning results and may be a bit cheaper.

All of these lenses are AF lenses but You'll probably find, like most of us here that you'll only use them as MF lenses. So you could look for an older/cheaper still MF 100mm macro lens.

I second Mike's advice, don't consider a zoom macro lens as a permanent solution. If you really get hooked on macro, you'll soon want a proper macro lens and you'd have wasted your money on the zoom.

About the same as losing a film except you'd lose more images. I've never lost a film. Anybody else ever lost one (other than in the post)?

Which is another idea, post your used cards back home. Hmmm, maybe not.

One of the specs of a HDD is the maximum altitudes for reliable use, and transport, around 35000ft for transport I think.

If carried in hand luggage, any HDD is fine as the cabin pressure is equal to around 8000ft. It's also fine in the luggage hold if that is also pressurised, but you may not know if it is or not. Any airline that carries animals will almost certainly heat and pressurise their luggage hold.