jongaus

<p>It's very much faster than before. Slow browsing has been one (of several) reasons I haven't been active on pn for quite a while.</p>

<p>Some times View NX cannot open a photo, then it hangs up the whole PC. Seems it's using all the CPU forever, and I have to press <ctrl><alt><del> to kill the ViewNX process. This happens also when I direct ViewNX to the folder containing the problem file, even if the file is not opened. ViewNX is obviously not able to open or create the thumb nail image. If the folder containing the problem file is the default folder, it's not possible to use ViewNX at all, it hangs before I get the time to redirect ViewNX to another folder, and I have to delete the file from Windows explorer. The problem files are typically photos made by Photoshop Elements v 4.0. I don't know what is wrong, the problem seems to occure quite arbitrary. Window explorer or other programs (PS Elements, DxO) never have any problem opening these files. My computer is a three-year-old HP Amilo portable running Windows XP home edition v5.1, with SP 3. This behavour has been experienced for all the latest View NX version the last three years, my current version is 1.4.0.</p>

<p>The 50mm f/1.8 is my sharpest lens and the one with best contrast and color reproduction. It is very suitable for conserts if you are able to get close enough, and a brilliant portrait lens. Here is a concert shot taken with this lens:<br>

http://www.photo.net/photo/3606526</p>

 

<p>In 30 years from now, when you have the 10th generation iPhone integrated with the 10th generation Kindle, integrated with a 10-300mm zoom camera with the ISO performance of Nikon D3s, few will remember why we bought DSLRs back in the old days. These gadgets will not be phones or cameras, bat personal communication devices. The available apps will decide their pattern of use. And beware: Keep your paper books in a safe place, they will be very valuable when all text is stored and distributed electronically.</p>

<div></div>

<p>I use the "D70-kit lens" 18-70mm with good result (it performs better on the D300 than on the D70), but I consider to change to the 16-85mm. However, I am very happy with my Tokina 12-24mm f/4. It is sharp, contrasty and has surprisingly little barrel distortion. (Flare is its weakest point.) I use it more and more often, and it now seems less important to change the kit lens.... The 12-24mm, combined with the 50mm and 70-300mm (I have both and use the 50mm a lot), might be a good choice if you normally prefer to shoot wide. Tests claim the Tokina is almost on par with Nikon's much more expensive 12-24mm.</p>

<p>Your 18-55mm is probably a f/5.6 at 55mm. Aperture 1.4 is three stops faster. A digital SRL normally covers a range of 7 stops (or EV) from very light to very dark (0 +- 3 EV). The aperture scale is 1 - 1.4 - 2 - 2.8 - 4 - 5.6 - 8 - 11 - 16 - 22 - 32. This means that a correct exposed photo at f/5.6 will appear almost completely white at f/2 (+3EV) and completely black at f/16 (-3 EV) at constant shutter speed. Three stops is a very significant difference in low light condition. The shallow depth of field is more often considered as an advantage than a disadvantage, but remember to focus on the closest eye. The attached portrait is taken quite close-up with 50mm at f/2.8 (2 stops faster than f/5.6).<br /> Another thing is that 50mm on a DX camera is considered as a perfect focus length for portraits, and the fact that 50mm lenses are easy to manufacture makes them extremely sharp and surprisingly cheap.</p><div></div>

<p>The 50mm f/1.8 is my best and cheapest lens, and I use it a lot. It was marvellous on D70, and still is on D300.</p>

<p>Your camera is a very good choice, one of the best compacts. Here you can read some reviews:<br>

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_a590-review/<br /> http://www.steves-digicams.com/2008_reviews/canon_a590is.html<br /></p>

<div></div>

Keep in mind that Macs and PCs are calibrated differently regarding gamma. Macs are usually calibrated to 1.8, while PCs normally use 2.2. This means that a photo edited on a Mac will look darker on a PC. I tried a web search on the topic and found this article which could be of interest: http://www.cgsd.com/papers/gamma.web.html

I should have converted to sRGB before posting. You can also add i little more punch by applying an unsharp mask of about 8-10%, using a radius of about 40 pixels, this will add some more contrast without destroying the end points of the histogram. See attached suggestion.<div></div>

I don't understand why your first posting became so dark. When converting the tiff-file to jpeg using CaptureNX and performing some standard histogram adjustments (I actually made it darker, you are right it's being shot to the right of the histogram) and white balance adjustments, I get this result which look great on my screen.<div></div>

I believe there is another issue in comparison of the D70 and the D300 capabilities: You can take advantage of the D300's higher resolution. Compressing the photo will reduce noise. If you shoot "Large" on D300, which is 4288x2848 pixels, and reduces the photo to ca 3000x2000, which is max resolution on the D70, then you can compare. I believe you will find D300 far superior. And what is already said about avoiding underexposure is very significant. I attach an example of a full resolution crop from an ISO 720 JPEG shot from my D300 (no post prosessing). As you can see, this is not noise-less. But when reduced to PC screen resolution (72 ppi), it will look quite good.<div></div>

<div></div>

Provided we take the raters seriously, there is another side of low rating: When a viewer dislikes a photo so much that he/she bother to rate it with a 1 or 2, the photo obviously moved that person in a way. I think it is better that people are bothered some way or another, than just bored. A bored viewer would normally not give ratings. If you get the full range of points for your photos, you know your photos are interesting and engaging. And as long as the hight ratings come from photographers you respect, everything is perfect! I myself recently received the whole series of scores from 1 through 6 for one of my shots. A 7 now, and the success is complete! Much better that a uniform series of fives.