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jay_hopkins

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Posts posted by jay_hopkins

    P6000

    in Nikon

    Posted

    <p>It's a model that never took off. My son picked one up at Office Max for $99. Good little walk around camera with a 5x lens.<br>

    Jay</p>

    "Sex, Lies and Photoshop" Opinion piece in the New York Times

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    <p>This is not something new, manipulating to make one's product look better in advertising. I can remember a TV commercial that was selling paper towels and they equated weight of the roll to quality. The competitor's product was on the scale and when the subject was placed on the other side of the scale it was heavier (better). When they removed the product, the scale didn't budge with the competitor's product lighter than the empty scale. If people don't realize by now that the intent of commercials/ads are dubious at best, they deserve what they get.<br />Buyer beware!<br />Jay</p>

    Value of adding ram

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    <p>Many opinions, but not really an answer. Why is more memory better? Well, it has to do with the OS and how it works. In a computer, you use both real and virtual memory to run programs. Virtual memory is where your OS uses some of your hard drive as if it were actually RAM. Let's say you have 1G installed but if you look at your system resources it says you have 1G of physical memory and 1G of virtual memory for a total of 2G. The OS and any program behave like you have 2G. The OS will put programs/data that are active at that time in the virtual memory and bring active programs/data in virtual memory into the physical memory. It's a dance that keeps the running programs in the faster physical memory and programs that are not active in virtual memory. Now remember, hard disks are slow compared to RAM so the more you rely on the hard disk virtual memory the slower your system will be because it's always reading/writing to the hard disk. When you add more physical memory RAM, you don't need to rely on the hard disk and so you will see a speed up. Faster hard disks help some but not as much as RAM.<br>

    Fast hard disks show their value when you open and close files. More RAM helps when you are working with an image because you are note using the disk during image manipulations.<br>

    Even numbers of RAM modules have to do with interleaving of data. Usually a factor in high performance computers. You will most likely have two slots for RAM, they don't need to be the same size just the same speed grade.<br>

    Bottom line: more RAM good.</p>

    PCs RAW, RAM and GIGiddies

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    While I can't comment on the file size, I can comment on the computer requirements.

     

    First, more RAM is better once the file is open. XP has a 3G limit, you'd need Vista 64 to fully utilize the 8G. For Mac, it should access the 8G fine. This will help keep the OS/application from paging to disk. Back to the 'once the file is open' caveat. If you're slurping a big file off disk, you will need a fast disk to accomplish it. 7200 rpm minimum with a big cache, but ideally you should get a work disk that runs at 10,000 rpm. That will get the data off the disk faster. 10,000 rpm disks tend to be $$$ and not as big as the consumer disks, so when you're going to work on a set of images, move them to the work disk from wherever they are stored and then move them off again when done. It would be best to get SATA 3 disks, SCSI might be better but adds to the cost and I cannot quantify the boost. Graphics card, as stated above some boost in CS.

     

    Regards,

    Jay

    Help choosing a camera for journalistic work

    in Mirrorless Digital Cameras

    Posted

    Coming back to the major constraint:

    "I would have about US$ 5 500 to purchase a camera plus lenses."

     

    This basically eliminates all the cameras you are asking about. To get start a Rebel XTi or Nikon D40 with a kit 18-55mm lens is a reasonable starting point. Both will offer good images. You could also go the Konica/Minolta route with the in-camera stabilization. All will give you good images, it's just a matter of which 'system' you want to start your investment in. Look at what those around you are shooting. Always better to be in the majority if you need help.

     

    Jay

    Deep inside yourself, you know....

    in Nikon

    Posted

    The real key here is to anticipate the action and have predetermined what shots you want to get. Speaking from the point of view of having become the 'unofficial videographer' when my daughter was in dance years ago, it takes wathing the routine tens of times - although it seems like hundreds. Once you have it in your mind, focus on one or two elements per dance routine and build up the collection over time. You might want to videotape a practice routine and review it many times to plan out your shots.

     

    The obvious downside is that you will have the song in your head always, even in your dreams. ;-)

     

    As far as gym lighting goes, you are stuck and will most likely need to go to higher ISO. If the 1.8 isn't satisfactory, I don't see how going to a 2.8 will improve things. You'll also need the burst mode. Flashes typically are not allowed at the competitions as it has the potential to distract the dancers.

     

    Jay

    Zoom while in movie mode?

    in Mirrorless Digital Cameras

    Posted

    The reason most digital cameras do not support zooming while in movie mode is that the noise of the zoom is picked up by the camera microphone obliterating any sound you might be recording. My old Olympus C4000 allows for zooming but doesn't have a microphone. Like anything in life, it's just one big trade-off.

     

    Jay

    Linux for photographers

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    As a casual photographer (not a professional by any stretch of the imagination), I would love to move to Linux. I don't need PS CS3 capabilities but as I have been investigating software, come across programs that would work fine for my limited needs. XnView for cataloging and Bibble Pro / Lightzone for editting. They may not be as elegant or powerful as PS CS3 but will do more than I will ever need in the short term. IMHO, Linux can be used today for my photographic purposes.

     

    I can see the point of view that in a large or commercial setting it would not make the grade but for a hobbyist, it's more than enough. And that is the key here, evaluate the platform based on your needs. I know for a fact that I would never use 90% of what PS has to offer. Just like using MS Word in my office environment - I don't even scratch the surface of its capabilities nor will I ever.

     

    Jay

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