kja

Ah ok, a difference in definition of what "editing" is then. Hopefully it's clearer

How can you possibly class what a camera does in creating a photo file as editing a photo? Because often what someone will do in an editing program - adding contrast, saturation, curves etc - are things that a camera will apply to a jpeg image IN camera. Many cameras offer options for these and/or other settings that will be applied when you take the photo. I know of some tog's that custom set their styles so they do this step in camera rather than on computer. In camera it's being edited but you have no control or have to choose from presets (in general, some higher end cameras allow user custom settings). Whether you do the step before the shot is fired or after, it's still editing. Editing is all about choices, it isn't solely about removing a tree from someone's head or fixing a lousy image (see Ashanali's comments in the other thread). The reason RAW images really need some editing is because it's just data - no sharpening, no contrast, no saturation, no white balance etc is done before you choose to do it. Are there some RAW images that come SOOC and are perfect? Probably. But virtually all RAW images need something.

I think you should have something like "I shoot RAW and choose the editing that is done to my images" If you shoot jpeg, some of your editing is done in camera already so even if you don't think you are editing, you are And, poop, I meant to check "as little as possible" but I didn't LOL

ROFLMAO I love your photos of Ralph (and Roc, of course). I can't imagine my girls ever being remotely as cooperative!!

Nice!!

Yay!!! I +1 for the pushing buttons route My manuals are usually neglected coz it's way more fun to just play!! Have fun!!

Look what you've started! We all want them now!! Your work is lovely - Zero is great!!!

I love backlit and agree with ash on the dark/gloomy being nice to shoot in. Not that I ever get to shoot in anything other than blinding, sear your skin off your body while your eyeballs fry conditions, but a girl can dream, right?! One other tip, get to know your gear. The better you know your gear and the more conditions you shoot in regularly the better you'll be able to adjust on the fly without having to think about which metering mode etc that you are in. The more you shoot the more you'll be able to dial in settings that will get you in the ballpark to start with. Have fun!

Short answer on the card reader - because I don't want to jack around with plugging my camera in. What if the dogs do something crazy cute while it's downloading and I can't use it? For the $15 a card reader costs it's a no brainer for me. Anything that makes my life easier is a good thing Card readers are also faster transfer rates. It's always plugged in to a usb port on my computer so I don't have to futz with anything. There can be problems when downloading from a camera. I've never done it this way so can't speak from first hand knowledge but I'm guessing that google will come up with all sorts of information. If you're going to get the lenses, get the IS versions. They are that much better. Those two lenses are a nice range covered which should give you lots to play with and learn. They aren't the fastest lenses on the planet, but they'll do nicely to get you started and to help you decide what you really like to shoot and what your needs are. After a while you'll be able to decide if you need anything else and more importantly, what you actually want - at least in the ballpark. There are so many choices out there that having some idea before you start shopping for high end lenses can save you lots of cash You're going to love whatever you get!

Congratulations!! Here's what I would get first up - at least two memory cards. 4GB minimum each. Memory is so cheap that having a backup, even a smaller card, should just be standard. You may never use it, but what if you do need it? For a few bucks, it's totally worth it. I never go anywhere without a backup card - even when I just go out with the girls with my baby camera for some romping time. - rocket blower or similar for blasting dust and grit off with no effort. These are cheap and SO worthwhile - some lens cleaning cloths: either disposable or the microfibre or both. I only carry the non-disposable ones. - a bag: don't worry about getting the perfect bag. You're going to be buying more If you have one that you can modify to get started that's great coz your bag needs will evolve and I don't know anyone who doesn't have three or four camera bags as they try to find the right one LOL - card reader Here's what I'd get first up if I had a little extra cash - spare battery. You're going to want one of these but dslr batteries last so danged long that - for me - this isn't an essential right out of the gate. Flashes, meters, tripods, filters and other bits and bobs I wouldn't buy right away until you have your hands on your camera and figure out what YOU need. A salesperson, no matter how good, isn't really going to be able to tell you that as everyone has different needs and because needs/wants often change once you actually use the gear. If you just had to buy accessories now I would head for a flash first as it will open a whole new world for you. I don't know which kit lenses come with this body?

Those taxes and charges are so totally unreasonable. But you do need to be aware of what you might get charged when you make a decision. Best to price things up for both options and see what ends up with the most ticks in the Positive column. I believe it applies to anything that comes with an invoice and stated value ;)

PhotoRescue is like $30 so it's not expensive at all, I don't think. It *can* get crazy expensive to recover a hard drive, but generally cards not so much expense as a bit scary! I think there are other recovery programs out there that are under $100, too. The SanDisk disk-thingy has RescuePro on it. I've only bought Ultra's from SanDisk and I've gotten one of the pesky things with every card I've bought. Never used it. I also use Transcend cards because a) they're usually a totally awesome value and b) they work just as well as more expensive cards, I've found. Two other nice things about Transcend: - carry Transcend’s Lifetime Warranty. - Built-in hardware ECC technology for detecting and correcting errors

Short answer, is "yes" your third party Canon mount lenses should fit a newer Canon body should you decide to add one later *Some* Canon lenses will NOT fit all Canon bodies without modification. Cases in point - Canon's awesome 10-22 & 60mm macro is built for the 1.6 crop sensors (400D, 450D, 40D, 50D etc) and will not work on the 1.3 crop bodies (1DIII etc) or the full frame bodies (5D, 5DII, 1Ds etc). There is a mod you can do, but off the shelf they do not work. Another reason I have the Canon 10-22 AND the Tokina 11-16 Every Canon lens that will work on a full frame will work on a crop sensor camera, but not the other way around. To make it easy, here's a short list of the ones that don't play nice on FF (I think there are more but these are the only ones I have LOL): 60mm marco' 17-55 2.8 IS 10-22

I buy from the US but I'm not the best one to ask because I honestly don't care about warranties. Icouldn't even tell you which bits can be serviced where (for some reason I think lenses are international and bodies are country of purchase? Dunno, can never remember.) If it needs work done I just ship it to wherever I have to. Happily I can count on one hand the times any of my gear has had to go to the dr's over the past 10 years. If your order is under $1000 Aud you don't get done for GST when it arrives. Double check all amounts and details with customs - a phone call or their web site should clear stuff up, probably. I'm lovin' the dollar at the moment as I have a few things that need purchasing and there's a trip in my future - not often I have such good timing! Oh and I love my 1DIII, though my 40Ds are no slouches when it comes to freezing action either. As much as I love the 1DIII, if I was in it for shooting action, I'd be sorely tempted to buy 40Ds and some really fast, long glass instead of plunking down the extra for the 1DIII body. anniek - I have a pro tog friend who has that Sigma 70-200 and he ADORES it to bits. Says you can pry it out of his cold dead hands. And he's had the Canon IS 2.8 version but the Sigma lives on his camera. I haven't tried it and I have the Canon 2.8 IS which I love, so can't see myself adding the Sigma. I do have Sigma's 50-150 2.8 and it's totally fantastic. Factor in the price I paid for it and it's dreamy.

I use Photoshop, too. For my needs, Lightroom gets the heaviest use by far. There are things I use PS for, of course, and I wouldn't be without or similar as well as Lightroom. But LR is always being used, PS only gets opened for particular tasks.

Nice one I wouldn't be without Lightroom - I do at least 90% of my editing and everything in it. You'll love Photoshop! You won't grow out of it, that's for sure

Actually, it's called stealing. Pretty simple. It IS up to the individual to decide if it's something they think they are OK with doing or not. Some are, some aren't. Some are for a while and then change their minds and go legit. Some continue to use hacked copies forever. Some find alternative free options. Whatever, each person must decide for themselves as there is no real policing of it and virtually everyone knows someone who has a hacked copy of something and mostly no one thinks people with hacked copies are terrible people Except maybe the people who a) own the rights to the software and/or b) slogged their butts off to create the software & who like to see return on their efforts (assuming they kept rights, of course!) As said above, there's no way to tell if someone is using a hacked copy of software (unless they try to upgrade/register etc) so your images won't have a Scarlet Letter across them! Elements used to ship with things like scanners and printers and some cameras. If you are thinking of adding any hardware, you might want to look to see if it's included. I *think* you can upgrade from Elements to the full Photoshop sometimes, should you find that Elements isn't enough. But Elements is awesome and works really well for a huge number of people. There's also GIMP that is free and extremely powerful. Did you find out if your friend has a multicopy? Or maybe he isn't using it anymore and is transferring it to you? Free is good, really

Yes, Photoshop is an Adobe product. You can ask or it might be in the materials he would give you?

It depends. If he's a single license, then, yes, it isn't kosher. But if he has a multi-license and has one that isn't activated, no problemo, I reckon. One of my copies of some other software was a multi-license thingy and I'm pretty sure Adobe has the same thing.

Rhodesian Ridgeback :rolleyes: More photos -> Click here

She's totally snuggable!

Awww, too cutie! I was going to multiquote on my favs, but it would have simply been every one of the posts before me really :rolleyes: Here's one of Dora-ble and me two nights ago and I won't bore you all with my fav shot of me and MatildaLily AGAIN LOL

Bummer on the no credit card thing - that makes it tough! Glad you found someone locally to deal with it this time around. FWIW Sandisk come with a little photo recovery program diskette and Transcends have some sort of thing built in to all of their cards, I believe. Both are very good brands with the Transcends being excellent bargains, too ;)

Woohoo!! Congrats on the new toy. Get that battery charged, pop in a big card and go have tons of fun!!

I don't know why the link won't open for you, it pops right open for me when I just tested it. The link is one of the programs that Jaxx is talking about ... there are quite a few out there for all sorts of budgets, I think.