robert goldstein

To learn more about how JPEG compression works, check out this thread that I started.

Rob

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00NVkJ

Great explanations. Thanks.

Rob

I have noticed that different images of identical resolution and dimensions often have widely varying file

sizes when saved as JPEGs. In other words, at the same JPEG quality level, some files are larger than

others. I am often bothered by having to reduce quality level in order to post a JPEG image to a website at

a reasonable size, as this can alter the appearance of the image on the web. As an example, I like to

split-tone B&W images in Lightroom. They may initially look great on my monitor, but when saved as low

quality JPEGs, weird color shifts sometimes occur. Raising quality level eliminates the color shifts.

Obviously, JPEG compression is not as straight forward as one might expect. What is the explanation for

this phenomenon?

Rob

I had no idea that there were such things as "automated image rating accounts," but all of a

sudden, the average quality of the top rated photos has risen dramatically. Could this new

system be the reason why? If so, then it is a great innovation. The top photos had gotten so

boring that I had almost completely stopped looking at them.

With this lens being quite new and well received, I doubt that you will find many on the re-sale market.

Rob

<<I really hate the Mac interface and the Apple way of hiding things I really want to get to. I

know that sounds strange, but if nothing else is available, I'd rather put up with Windose than

fight with a Mac.>>

With all due respect, I must say that if you find the Mac OS more difficult to use than

Windows, you have not taken the time to learn how to use OS 10 properly. I use both and

would choose Mac any day of the year.

Rob

I have been working in Lightroom on a series of RAW photos that have required some editing in Photoshop

CS3. When I view the images in CS3, they appear much flatter, less saturated and less sharp than they do

in Lightroom. My PS color profile is Adobe 1998. I have never noticed this difference before.

Rob

Pentax K10D offers a near pro-level camera at a very good price. The in-body shake reduction is not available on any Nikon or Canon camera and is a very valuable feature. With SR, all of your lenses are effectively stabilized.

Rob

A very nice general purpose zoom lens is the Pentax 16-45/4. I own this one myself and have been very pleased with the results. The only negative is that at the wide end, the lens blocks part of the built-in flash, which is not much of an issue if you rarely use the built-in flash. External flashes are always preferable, anyways. There are many Pentaxians who like the Sigma 17-70/2.8-4.5. It is bigger and heavier, but has greater telephoto range. Somewhat above these two lenses is the new Pentax DA*16-50/2.8, which is also somewhat more expensive. For longer telephoto zooms, you will have to get advice elsewhere, as I do not use them.

Pentax is renown for very fine fixed focal length (prime) lenses. I would suggest that you spend some time perusing the Pentax SLR forum at dpreview, where you can find more discussions of lenses than you would ever want to read. Look under the "Discussion Forums" menu.

http://www.dpreview.com/

Good luck and have fun with your new camera.

Rob

The Pentax is in a different league than the Nikon and Canon. In terms of build quality,

weather

sealing and other features it is at or near the professional level. I would place the K10D

somewhere between the D80 and the D200, but much closer to the latter. And the excellent

shake reduction feature on the Pentax is not available on any Nikon or Canon DSLR. Pentax

has fewer lenses available than the other two manufacturers, but unless you have highly

specialized needs, you should be able to find excellent lenses that suit your shooting style.

Rob

Well, what do you know? I found the SN in my Keychain. Never mind.

Rob

I have been using Lightroom 1.1 that I downloaded from the internet to my Mac desktop computer. Now I

have installed it on a laptop, but the program is asking for the serial number. I have not been able to find

this under "Get Info." Where might it be located?

Thanks,

Rob

Life is short, John. I sincerely hope that you will get much pleasure from the time you will

spend with your scanner.

Rob

First, ask yourself whether you really need all 13,000 images in digital form. If the answer is

yes, then ask the same question again and again until the answer changes. Unless you are

doing this for professional or scholarly reasons, then you almost certainly can eliminate many

photos that are of mediocre quality and middling importance.

Rob

I was so intimidated by Photoshop that I put off entering the digital realm for several years

before taking the plunge, first with scanned film and more recently with digital cameras.

What I found most helpful to overcome my anxieties was to begin working on my own

photos with a basic book at my side. Reading manuals in isolation of actual image files is

nearly worthless if you have no concept of the programs's structure and capabilities.

Photoshop is a massive program with many features that are of little value to the average

photographer. Learn the fundamentals first--levels, curves, layers, masks, selection tools,

etc. If you can master these skills, you will be able to produce very pleasing images. I still

have a long way to go myself, yet some of my work is pleasnatly above average. As with

most things in life, it's easy once you know how.

Rob

I used Neat Image for a while. It did a decent job, but when I discovered Noiseware Professional, I immediately switched. I found NP to be easier to use and more effective.

This all happened a couple of years ago, so Neat Image may have been improved since then.

Rob

Fuji Astia 100f is a fantastic color slide film with excellent tonal range, and it scans

beautifully. I have made a number of B&W conversions from it that I think are not bad. Some

of them can be found in this gallery:

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=491539

All but one image are B&W conversions from color film.

Rob

No, it is not normal to lose that much brightness over that period of time. I would contact

Apple tech support. Do you have the Apple Care extended warranty?

Personally, I think that your standards have risen since you started shooting digitally. I know

that mine have. Still, you should be able to get very good results from well done scans. Up

until recently, I used a Minolta 5400 to scan Astia 100F and Provia 400F, and I was very

satisfied. I never bothered with 3rd party software, as I felt that the Dimage Scan performed

admirably. Setting the proper pre-scan exposure was critical, and it was rare that I was

unable to capture the full tonal range present on the film.

This is a follow-up to my earlier post. I replaced the 24 inch iMac with a MacPro/23 inch

CD combination. The monitor is spectacular, in my estimation. Illumination is not

completely even across the screen, but he uneveness is so trivial that no one would ever

notice it withought specifically looking for it. The color cast that plagued me with the

earlier CD is but a distant memory. I use ColorEyes for calibration, and am very

pleased with it. However, I

have not compared it to any other products.

It is my understanding that the aluminum encased Cinema Displays are on their third

generation and that many of the problems so common in the earlier generations have

been fixed. This certainly squares with my experience.

Rob

Mark,

Brilliant! Thanks a lot.

Rob

For some probably simple reason, the toolbar beneath the image does not show up in Lightroom's

Slideshow module. I have

tried every trick I could think of, and there is no solution that I could find in Lightroom Help or in Martin

Evening's book.

Help, please.

Rob

A strong argument can be made that you can get *better* results from digital conversions,

because you have much greater control over tonal separation post-capture than pre-capture.

There are various methods of achieving this. Here is my favorite.

http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/photoshop/articles/phs8colorbw.html

Rob

Follow up: I tried Godfrey's suggestions to no avail. Then I decided to remove and replace

the camera battery and then re-format my memory cards. Problem solved. Must have been

some corruption of the memory cards in the camera.

Whatever the problem, I'm back in business.

Rob

I'll get to work on some of these suggestions over the weekend. Thanks.

Rob