maxmalossini

<p>Thank you all. Yes, I too think that this is a one time deal in terms of absolute value for that money.<br>

Now one more question: will I see a difference in overall image quality compared to my d50? Assuming all parameters equal (same lens, same exposure etc..).<br>

If there is a difference, will it be more "visible" when enlarging (like on a 13x19 print)?<br>

I know I'm asking you to simplify a bit too much, but may be you can spare a quick "yes for sure" "possibly" or "not really" type reply.<br>

(I still want to get the camera for its handling capabilities/features, but hopefully there is an advantage in the image quality as well)</p>

<p>The d200 is available new for $639 (it was $599 until yesterday).<br>

question: when is a deal like this going to repeat? In other words, how long will it take for the d300 or d700 to go down to half their current prices? I'm afraid a long time, and even then, not as low as $600.<br>

So may be, this time, waiting may not be the best strategy?<br>

I realize this choice is very personal (budget, photographic needs/style etc) but I was trying to see if there is an absolute value to this deal.<br>

I currently shoot with a d50, my first and only dslr which I bought used for $299 in October.<br>

I used to shoot with a n90s, which I liked tremendously compared to the d50. But there is no turning back to film, at least for the moment.<br>

$600-700 is about as much as I can afford (I recently bought a r2880 printer).<br>

You may say that if I can only spend $6-700 than I have no other choice but the d200.<br>

What if I keep my saved $700 for one more year: will I be able to buy a good used d300? how long for a d700?<br>

I read about the d200 poor high iso performance and battery guzzler. These may not be major issues, and again, my only choices are: keep working with the d50, or upgrade to the d200.<br>

I do not want this to be a d200 vs d300 thread (there is a big one going on already), so please try to focus on my original question.<br>

If you feel like sharing your opinion...<br>

Max</p>

<p>I have been spotting a few bw negs that are chuck full of dust. What a pain. But I'm doing it anyway because I think they are very good shots ( parks and people in Paris).<br>

As I'm using the heal and sometimes the clone tool, should I keep the size of the brush the smallest possible or is it generally a good idea to make the brush circle bigger than the spot you are removing?<br>

Obviously I know that if the spot is right in the middle of other things you have to keep the brush small, but what if the spot is in the middle of the sky, or a bushy tree or places where everything is failry uniform?<br>

Also, how easy is it for an expert eye to recognize digital artifacts (Iguess that's how you call those blemishes or darker/lighter areas in the image?).<br>

Thank you,<br>

Max</p>

<p>A question for Godfrey on your march 31, 10:41 am post:<br>

would you mind sharing your three favorites lr2 bw rendering methods? I am fairly new to lr2 (and don't have ps) so I am going "by the book" (the Kelby book) and playing around at the same time. I like my bw conversion, but that doesn't say much necessarily, in fact I also like how I play tennis, for example :)</p>

<p>just bought this dell Inspiron 530s,Intel Core2 Duo processor E7400 (3MB L2 Cache 2.80GHz,1066FSB) with card reader, vista premium 64-bit: total cost $566 with tax +ship.<br>

Hd space is not an issue because external hd are cheap, invest on cpu (cache is an important and underestimated factor) and ram instead. I wanted to make my pc a non-network pc, to keep it "pure" and fast, but ended up connectng to internet anyway. <br>

pc especially seem to load up with all kinds of crap from the internet. just keep an eye on what's running and with vista is now much easier to clean up on a regular basis.<br>

Max<br /> </p>

<p>Thank you,<br>

Ellis, do you mean that I should re-edit an image if it's going up to photonet (or other websites)? But in this way, am I not changing my was-final edit? In fact I don't think the export dialog lets you apply changes that come from the develop module.<br>

May be I should make a virtual copy, and export the virtual copy with all the fixing you mentioned?</p>

<p>No, the truth is, I am already learning so many other LR stuff that I was asking for a little free help so I don't have to try/retry check etc..<br>

What I have in mind, but not tried yet is: export as jpeg, low quality (for the size limitations?), then export into a desktop folder and then fish from there when I am in my photonet workstation and browse images to upload?<br>

LR2 is sooo much fun to use, but there are a lot of features and it takes some time to find your own best way to do things. [Currently I am trying to come up with good archiving and naming schemes, among other things.]</p>

<p>Could anyone please suggest an easy to use work flow example/procedure to [export, and then] upload to photo.net from Lightroom 2?<br>

Thank you, Max.</p>

<p>Lightroom 2. Worth every extra dollar. It will revamp/keep-under-control all your photo archives and allow all the important/basic editing.<br>

(unless you do major editing regularly)</p>

<p>This is an interesting and important posting for all of us who are new to LR. I too am having problems understanding the "big picture" of this wonderful software.<br>

I also think that those books, and online tutorials, do a good job on using the various tools, but do not address the database soul of LR. For may people this is not an issue, but for others (like me) it is an essential component to understand, otherwise I always feel like I am on shaky ground.<br>

For example, I figured out that when I export an image as a jpeg (and possibly other formats), LR actually creates a new file in the new format, and your original is still where it was initially. So, if you do "export" you are actualy creatring new files just like wes baker said above. This simple and important piece of information cannot be easily and ditrectly found in these books/tutorials.<br>

On the other hand I believe that if you export with the same name and same format to the same location, then you are actually overwriting the original file (though I haven't tried it).</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thank you Patrick.<br>

[by the way, I visited Montreal last summer, I loved it!]<br>

Max</p>

<p>I'd like to try some high-end papers from Epson.<br>

I couldn't find any on their website. I believe that other manufacturers do offer sample packages. Is it right?</p>

<p>Scenario: I am doing final edits to a few jobs at the same time, such as 10 bw portraits, 4 color street photos etc. Then I go to the print module and start to set up the print job, which of course is different for each situation above.<br>

Each takes me a while (like half an hour), so I would like to get all these jobs ready for print (r2880) and then connect the printer and actually print them quickly.<br>

So the question is: can I save each print job (I'm not talking about print presets, but the actual job with the actual images and all) and then when I start my "print session" pull them out and start printing?<br>

This would optimize my time in getting the printer ready, start proofing handling papers etc..<br>

I did try one thing: I printed to file instead of printer, and I noticed jpg file was created for each of the pages that were to be printed, in this case there were four images per page. But this jpg files are only 1.6 mp large while each of the original four photos was like 5 or 6 mp.<br>

I hope I make sense. Thank you.</p>

<p>What options do I have to remove scratches (scanned bw negatives) in lightroom 2? I'm trying to use the heal brush (it works great with dust) but it's kind of frustrating, these are loooong scratches, although quite thin. Or may be there are "plug-ins" that I could use in LR2?<br>

Thank you, Max</p>

<p>I knew it was going to happen!<br>

Last night I spent about 20 minutes converting an image to bw. Then I used ctrl z to undo something but I guess I was in the wrong place to use ctrl z or may be I typed something else, anyway LR jumped back to the Library module with another image on screen, then I tried to go back and did some other keyboard shortcuts, or better say wrongcuts. As I was messing with all this I realized that my laptop is too slow to keep up with these jumping back and forth, so when I stopped touching the keyboard, LR was still jumping from one module to another, from one editing staus to another...end of the story; I lost my bw conversion, or at least I believe I did ("the catalog contains all your edits" Mark said above, so I'll try to look into the catalog?)<br>

I know that this is completely my wrong doing, but it does underline my original question: all your editing work is up in the air and I wish there were a quick way to tie it to the ground (what I usually think as "save"): I edit my image->I like it->I fix/secure it for good.<br>

I'll be more careful next time, and figure out a practical workflow solution for my needs.</p>

<p>Thank you for all these good suggestions.<br>

If I may, I have another more direct question: what would be your choice for naming/keywords and import for this situation:<br>

I see my two children every weekend on a regular basis and take pictures of them.<br>

I do have a "children" folder, but it's getting hard to manage.Also, there are not necessarily big events to go by (such as "hike to the creek"), often it's just us hanging around the house/neighborhood.</p>

<p>I really like the "lightness" of lightroom: you import and work on your raw files, make virtual copies and even print within lightroom, no need to convert, reformat, "save". But this is exactly what concerns me: it's so easy to make changes, (especialy accidental changes) that then I don't know anymore what was the "final"version I really liked.<br>

The other day I edited a portrait and I really liked it (and printed it), but then I wanted to try some extra tweaking and I had a hard time going back to where I liked it. The history panel was not easy to follow because of the dozens steps I had done to the image.<br>

Or let's say that I go back to one of my keepers after a few days and for one reason or another I want to increase the brightness just to see it better. Well, I've just changed what I considered my final version! That's no good! I guess the history panel is what I need.<br>

So my workflow question #1 is: once I "finished"an image should I export it/reformat and leave it outside of Lightroom? From what I read it seems like even some pros keep everything inside of Lightroom, though for me this seems rather risky.<br>

Question #2, somewhat related to #1: What if lightroom were to crash? Are all the edits stored in the backup outside of lightroom?<br>

I'm not a pro, and the only demanding client I have is myself:)<br>

Thank you, Max.</p>

<p>I don't know your needs, but I would definitely go for a Lightroom update. It has so many improvements AND lets you do some fairly extensive editing/retouching. In the meantime you can keep learning more of photoshop and eventually "buy more actions".<br>

Take care, Max</p>

<p>What if I make a virtual copy of a raw file and then I like more both versions? For example I want to keep a bw image AND a color image of the same file? In other words, how can I save a virtual copy as a file on its own? And how can I do it "neatly" (when I tried to export the virtual copy I got so messed up with file naming and formatting and lost track of where it all went).<br>

Thanks,<br>

Max M</p>

<p>Thank you.<br>

I actually realized that this topic is also on lynda.com video tutorial, but to tell you the truth your description is more thourough and complete to me. You should get paid! :)</p>

<p>Can you whiten teeth in Lightroom 2, and if so, how? Tried the brush/heal but with no acceptable results.<br>

I have no Photoshop.<br>

Thanks, Max.</p>