Equipment Review

[Garooch]

This section will serve to be a guide to members acquiring new equipment. We should feel free to ask any members posted specifics questions under their equipment list. Members should list the type of:

1) Camera used, their make and model, size of imager, lens magnifcations, and up to 3 points they like or dislike ablut the camera

2) Software used, make and model, and up to 3 points they like or dislike about the it

3) Printer used, make and model, maximum print size, and up to 3 points they like or dislike about the it

3) Outside Services used, , and up to 3 points they like or dislike about the it

[sjasis]

(1) Most of my photos have been shot on a Canon Powershot SD500. Some of the older ones (pre-2004) were shot on a Kodak EasyShare. (2) I use Adobe Photoshop to edit my photos and to sign them. I am really not adept/literate enough outside of the most basic functions to have an opinion on it one way or the other. It's what I have, so that's what I use. (3) I have an HP PSC 1620-All-in-one printer that scans, copies and prints. I have not printed out many of my own photos, I usually send them to an online service if I want prints and (4) I usually use Kodak Gallery when I want print photos.

[sjasis]

My Canon Powershot has 7.0 megapixels and x3 digital zoom, not sure about the optical zoom. I have also used Shutterfly and find it (for my purposes) to be comparable to Kodak Gallery. I am obviously much more amateur than Garooch, because I don't understand half of what he is saying below....(LOL) but I am anxious to learn, and hope I will pick up some tips here!

[Garooch]

Garooch

Camera I use 2 cameras.
Nikon Coolpix L5 - 7.2 megapixels; x5 optical zoom, x4 digital zoom. This camera is very easy to use, but my next camera will have more megapixels (10-12) and a larger optical zoom (x10). The camera's week point is the LCD. It's just not bright enough for outdoor use, especially on a bright day. To compensate, I bought a Delkin pop up light shield (available at B&H Photo, about $15). It's helpful, but still not great. My next camera will have a view finder.

The other camera I use is my Blackberry Curve (no joke). It has a 2 megapixel camera. Pictures, without using the zoom are pretty good, with a kind of impressionistic look.

Software. I use 2 programs
Picassa2 - use this to import, enhance,manage and resize photos. It works very well, and is available as a download from Google for free.

Photo Plus 8 from Serif - us this to enhance and watermark photos. Works well, but doesn't come with any documentation. I started out with their Photo Plus 6 (free as a download), but wen I upgraded to Vista "6" was incompatible. So I upgraded to "8" ($10.).

Printer - We currently have a HP Photosmart 2510. Excellent prints up to 8 1/2" x 11".

Outside Services - Currently don't use any, but want to try Shutterfly for albums and larger size prints.

[Ron Kruger]

I’m a dinosaur. I’ve been taking and selling pictures to newspapers and magazines for over 30 years–I’ve even had a few covers published.
In the late 1980s, I paid $3,000 for the latest Nikon camera and a flash unit that would do flash fill automatically.
Technology passed me by, but I bought a professional quality scanner, which turns my thousands of slides and negatives into digital format that I can email. That’s really working fine, and I can turn some of my old Kodachrome slides into high-quality digital images. But I know I need to go digital, mostly because I can’t get great quality film anymore.
I have settled upon a Cannon 30D with image-stabilizing lenses. The only thing that is stopping me is the price. It’s about another $3,000 for what I really need for professional work, and there just isn’t much money in free-lance writing and photography. So I continue to lumber around, like a species going extinct.

[Ron Kruger]

Granma, HP has a new line of quality printers that save you about 50 percent on ink. If you print very much, I think that's the way to go. I don't do much printing, so I just bought a cheap, little HP printer at WalMart, and it prints on photo paper. Does a pretty good job too. But the ink costs are terrible. I would check out the new HPs if I was going to do any serious printing.

[Garooch]

We have an HP 2510. Prints up to 81/2x11. Prints are very impressive. Larger format printers are just too expensive. I want to try a service for larger prints.

I'm looking for another camera. There are plenty of inexpensive good ones on the market, but they all seem to lack something.

[Ron Kruger]

Hey Garooch,
I just started using Snapfish Service, and so far it looks like a good deal for developing, prints and various other services. It's owned by HP as well. They give you a site where you can upload images and choose various sizes, quantities, etc. With their high-resolution service, you can print posters if you want. I don't remember just how much it is, because I have no use of prints, but I was impressed with the prices of everything I wanted to do. Just Google Snapfish and check it out. Let me know what you think.

[Ron Kruger]

Dear Garooch,
According to the accomplished professional photographers I've queried, the thing that inexpensive digital cameras most lack is "sensor size." Almost all the pros I know have switched from Nikon to Cannon, and many of them consider the lense just as important, or more important, than the camera. They all swear by "image stabilizing" lenses.

[Ron Kruger]

Granma, you're just the woman I need to talk with. I don't need any prints. I have a professional scanner, scan the negs and turn them digital, then email them with my stories. But Snapfish doesn't have any choice of "develop only." I just got back the negs and small prints from a roll I sent in to test them, and am satisfied with the quality of their developing (much better than the one-hour joints).
Even with the small prints, the cost isn't too bad, and the prints are an aid in deciding which exposures to scan, but that isn't worth the extra cost to me. I burn a lot of film.
Is there anyone I can contact to set up a develop only situation?

[amond]

for the average user, one of the better deals around is the midrange kodak... they make a 7mp/ 12x optical zoom....saw it on a sale at sam's for 189......and fuji has a comparable model....but these are hard to find...the optical zoom is the sweet feature...the mp are just the gravy....

[Ron Kruger]

Interesting, Andy. Is the lense fixed?

[Ron Kruger]

The super macro abilities is what impresses me. I was able to get that with a bellows years ago, but the equipment was bulky and difficult to use--almost impossible to take into the field. I do quite a bit of macro work (1 to 1), and that's really good enough, but this super macro has peaked my interest and imagination.