Going digital - basic kit, travel, long-term usuage

[rachelle_m.]

I'm ready to take the plunge and buy a digial DSLR (probably the

Nikon D70, maybe switch over to Canon) but I have a few concerns

that I'd appreciate some advice on. First of all, I'd like to

mention that I have lived in Japan for the past 5 years and am a bit

out of the loop in terms of technological advances that most people

seem to know (I know many people find this hard to believe, but the

use of technology in daily life is quite limited here, other than

that of cell phones). I have an old (used)laptop with small hard

drive.

 

1. What would people recommend at the basic start-up in purchasing a

new DSLR (Nikon or Canon)? I mean this in terms of a basic kit that

you would really need: camera body, lenses, memory cards, etc.

 

2. What is the minimum amount of memory I would need on my computer?

I'm worried that I may not be able to find a compatible back-up hard

drive that would work with my computer (a lot of people have

problems connecting hardware made in Japan to those made in the

USA). Does one really need that kind of memory if you are saving

your photos to a CD and keeping them off the hard drive?

 

3. What about software progams? Is it really necessary to get

Photoshop 7? Does Photoshop also work as a good photo organizer?

 

4. In terms of travel (2-8 week trips), are there other

considerations to be taken into account? I'm planning a month-long

trip to Europe but am worried about having to buy additional

adapters/transformers for the camera, storage capabilities, etc. I

do not intend to take my laptop with me and will be spending a lot

of time outside of big cities. I was interested in getting an ipod

for additional memory storage but the seemingly low life-span of the

batteries concerns me. I really don't want to be carry all this

extra hardware, plus batteries and rechargers -- it seems more of a

hassle than film.

 

5. Does anyone know about the long-term storage of digital images?

What about future developments into digital technology? A big

concern of mine (and others) is the ability to access my photos 10,

20, 50 years from now. In terms of music in the last 30 years we've

gone from vinyl to eight-track to cassette to CD to MP3 -- will the

same thing happen in digital, or is this an unjustified fear? Also,

will the digital images degrade over time?

 

I'm a serious amateur working with an old manual Nikon and have

wanted to go automatic for some time but feel that I should probably

skip that step and go to digital instead. I'm just worried about

things that I'll have to invest in (other than the $1500 or so for

the camera and memory) that I haven't anticipated. Everyone I know

just uses advanced point and shoot cameras and I'm not able to

discuss this with Japanese salesclerks (because of my lack of

Japanese and their lack of knowledge of the products they sell) or

with North American ones, due to problems with time differences and

work schedules.

 

Sorry this is such a long post but I hope that most of these

concerns can be addressed through it!

[paul_chilton1]

Rachelle,

 

what you are asking is really too long, certainly for me, to put into words in the forum. I checked out your email address to see if you were local enough (I am in the UK) to be contacted by phone as I'm sure it would be easier to discuss these issues rather than try to type out a definitive reply. I assume you are in the US, maybe someone who is more local to you than I am would be willing to discuss all this with you.

 

Regards

[diego_alonso]

Hi Rachelle, sure there is a lot of question and my answer will not help you very much cause i am new in digital world also but a "serious amateur" also. i had a f3 a f4 and just buyed a used nikon d1. All my cameras second hand, never had a problem with them.

My subjective opinion is i recomend you to not become crazy about canon vs nikon, etc... but buy a camera which feel good to you as an instrument to take pictures for your needs. I think it´s sure the digital equipment you buy today will become obsolet? in a few years. For me this is a part of marketing from the big companies, they tell us what are our needs, and i think the secret is to have clear what is your own need.

Make this answer to yourself:

How much i want to enlarge my photos?

Do i want to store my photos in jpg or raw?

Is a fast shutter reponse really need for me?

Do i need the ultimate advance in flash?

If i would like to pass to paper a digital photo, will i process it myself or to a prof lab?

Sure you will found very helpful answers from more experienced photographs but also sure your own experience will help you more so don´t think you will invest for an equipment for the rest of your life.

Kindly.Diego.

[jim_gifford]

<<Rachelle writes: What would people recommend at the basic start-up in purchasing a new DSLR (Nikon or Canon)?>>

 

Buy a D70 with the 18-70DX lens and a Lexar or SanDisk 512MB compact flash card.

 

<<What is the minimum amount of memory I would need on my computer? I'm worried that I may not be able to find a compatible back-up hard drive that would work with my computer (a lot of people have problems connecting hardware made in Japan to those made in the USA). Does one really need that kind of memory if you are saving your photos to a CD and keeping them off the hard drive? >>

 

You need enough RAM to use photo editing software with an open, uncompressed photo file. I'd think 256MB of RAM would be on the low end of okay. Hard drive space is another issue. You're right that you don't need (or really want) to store photos on a hard drive, but rather on CD or DVD.

 

<<Is it really necessary to get Photoshop 7?>>

 

No, although everyone seems to graviate toward it eventually. With a D70 there is Nikon software available, and you could start with just that, without forking over the $600 or more for Photoshop.

 

<<In terms of travel (2-8 week trips), are there other considerations to be taken into account? (*snip*) it seems more of a hassle than film. >>

 

It certainly IS more of a hassle than film. Just take your trusty older Nikon.

 

<<Does anyone know about the long-term storage of digital images?Also, will the digital images degrade over time?>>

 

No the digital images shouldn't degrade; they're just ones and zeros. I suppose one could worry about the longevity of the physical medium used to store the ones and zeros. Anyway, the future about which you are worried is hard to predict with any certainty!

 

-Jim

[mike_elek]

<I>5. Does anyone know about the long-term storage of digital images? What about future developments into digital technology? A big concern of mine (and others) is the ability to access my photos 10, 20, 50 years from now. In terms of music in the last 30 years we've gone from vinyl to eight-track to cassette to CD to MP3 -- will the same thing happen in digital, or is this an unjustified fear? Also, will the digital images degrade over time?</I><P>

 

This is very hard to predict. In the not-so-near future, DVD will become the preferred storage medium. CDs probably will be around for a while, thanks to the music industry. But with small digital MP3 players, who can say what technology will replace them.<P>

 

Be mindful of the type of CD that you use. I'm having trouble with a number of Mitsubishi-branded CD-Rs (not CD-RW) that now are unreadable -- less than two years after they were burned. Luckily, I still have the negatives.<P>

 

I saw on a recent TV show that some CD-Rs are losing their data after just two or three years, much less than the decade or more promised by the industry.<P>

 

The primary threat to digital will be if the industry replaces DVDs with a new technology that will force users to replicate their archive. Imagine how long that might take some users.

[don_mcluckie]

re Photoshop, I would suggest you begin with either Photoshop Elements, or Picture

Window Pro. I use the latter. There is a good site that talks about it at

www.normankoren.com. There is almost nothing you cannot do with PS. That is both the

best and worst point about it. PWP is exclusively made for photography, not for all other

sorts of graphics work as PS is. Sounds like you will have a lot of fun!

 

-Don M

[steve_chan5]

What Jim said, but I'd say you should pick up a Nikon AF-D 50/1.8 as well. It is a pretty fast lens, and on the D70, it will be a good length for portraits. If you like to use shallow DOF or available light shooting, the 50/1.4 is a great lens on a D70/D100 as well.

 

Travelling for weeks with a digital camera without some kind of laptop or other hard drive for backing up data is a bad idea. Just use film for that.