freeside

Hi, I'm just getting into computers and would like to be a famous programmer one day. I

am very impressed by the stories I've heard of great programmers who struck it rich, like

Marc Andreesen or Bill Gates. That is what I want to do.

What kind of computer should I buy to become a great programmer?

A dual CPU platform seems like it would compile programs faster, and I think the screen

should be at least

21 inches (LCD of course) so I can write longer lines of code. A search on Google doesn't

really say what kind of keyboard

programmers tend to prefer, besides the Happy Hackers keyboard, but I haven't actually

met any programmers who use it; most programmers I know just use an ordinary

keyboard, though sometimes the hands are separated like with the Natural Keyboard. But

one guy I know assures me that no great programmer ever knew how to touch type, and

those keyboards are for losers only.

In addition, I will install a home network. Should I get a gigabit ethernet hub or are there

advantages to 802.11g? Both seem to have their pros and cons. What do

programmers out there prefer?

To complicate matters further, I am told there is a difference between Windows, Mac OS,

and the Unixes like Linux and BSD. I met an Apple lover who swears that OS X is too slow,

but when I introduced him to an OpenBSD advocate, the two of them couldn't even agree

on anything besides "Bill Gates is the devil." Everyone tells me I have to choose a platform

and stick to it. I didn't know programming was so complicated!

One really old programmer said that I should just start out in an 80x25 terminal coding in

assembly just like he did. He keeps talking about programmers had to make do with so

few resources in the early days, and I respect him for that. But wouldn't it just be easier

with a faster machine and a GUI? Besides, text at 80x25 seems like it would be just too

big on a 21" display.

Also, if I wait a few months, I could probably get a faster CPU with more memory for the

same price. I know a guy who works for one of the big computer retailers and he said to

wait six weeks for the new models to come out. Should I wait? I could get 1 gig of RAM

today, but I might be able to get 2 gigs if I waited.

So I would appreciate any advice on keyboards, monitors, CPUs, etc that might help me

become a better programmer. I went to the library and checked out a pile of books on

data structures, client/server architecture, database theory, algorithm design, project

planning, and software development processes, but none of them said anything about

what to buy. For example, is a 2.6 Ghz single CPU Athlon better than a dual-CPU G4?

Those books were no help at all, so I had to return them.

Thanks in advance!

If you're convenient to Center City Philadelphia I'd be happy to let you try out my D70 +

18-70 any day at lunch, email me at mengwong@pobox.com :)

But I don't want it to lock focus between frames; I want the camera to refocus only after

I've lifted my finger from the shutter button.

I'm having trouble with focus on the Nikon D70.

Suppose I'm in AF-S mode, set to shoot multiple frames.

I press the shutter release halfway, lock focus on my subject, then recompose, moving the

selected focus area away from the subject. Focus remains locked on my subject, so I press

all the way and fire. I want to keep shooting multiple frames with that composition, and I

do not want the camera to helpfully refocus.

Isn't the camera supposed to keep the focus locked until I lift my finger off the button?

Right now it seems to refocus between frames.

To force it to remain focused on my subject, I can hold down the AE-L/AF-L button, or I

can flick the focus control switch to M instead of AF.

But that seems kludgy. Am I missing a CSM? Or is the AE-L/AF-L the recommended way

to do what I want? If so, I would probably set CSM15 to "AF Lock only" and CSM16 to "+

Release" --- that means the AE-L button locks focus, and the shutter release button locks

exposure, and that feels backwards.

If you're a landscape photographer, what are you doing in 35mm / DSLR territory? Spend

your money on a view camera! :)

If your friend is a photographer, it doesn't matter, because the camera is a means to an

end.

If your friend is a camera collector, he should return it right away, because the camera *is*

the end :)

<A HREF="http://mengwong.com/photography/20040325-hk/dsc_2212.html"><IMG

SRC="http://mengwong.com/photography/20040325-hk/dsc_2212-m.jpg"

VORDER=0></A>

I have the D70 with 18-70mm kit lens and am very happy with it.

Now I need a protective UV filter.

Should I get a slim filter? Do I need to worry about vignetting otherwise?

For the record, I'm with Ken on the usefulness of the 1/500 sync speed. I took a fill-flash

photo today with the D70 at 1/500. (It seems you don't have to do the usual -1.7 flash

exposure compensation on the D70 --- it just does the right thing, presumably thanks to

the D lens.)<div></div>

I wasn't clear enough about how good the AF is compared to the F70. With the F70, the AF

was slow (because my 24-120 was not AF-S) and uncertain, failing to lock focus with

maddening regularity especially under low existing light conditions. With the D70, the AF

is incredibly fast and has only failed to lock focus maybe five or six times out of the 1500

shots I've taken, and those times were under low light conditions on a low contrast

subject, with the AF assist illumination turned off.

I disagree with Ken Rockwell that nobody shoots above 1/1000; today I shot some goats,

portrait style, at 70mm/4.5 under broad daylight. There are two things I want to note

about that shot: first, the exposure was 1/2500 because I was shooting wide open at 200

ISO; and second, the D70 has manual control of white balance, so I manually set the WB

correction to direct-sunlight. The result: really good colour on the goat coat.<div></div>

Outdoors, under an overcast sky, I've found the AF system works pretty well if you give it

something reasonably contrasty to work with. Most foliage will do. I found the AF system

somewhat better than on my old F70, keeping two things in mind:

Because the lens is AF-S, the hunt/rack time is much quicker, and if the camera cannot

obtain focus lock you can just do a manual override by twisting the MF ring. I've had to do

this maybe once or twice in about 1500 shots so far.

Because there is a 5 area AF, it's easy to nudge the camera just a little bit so the AF has

more to work with; once you achieve lock you recompose and just shoot. I found the AE-

L/AF-L button useful for this: if I was shooting a fast-moving portrait subject, I would just

thumb the button down throughout the "take" and thereby force a focus lock.

On the whole: I remember being impressed with Canon AF in the late 1990s. I feel that

with the D70 the gap has definitely closed.

Ken Rockwell review thread at http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?

msg_id=007Uay

Some discussion of the AF subsystem at http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-

msg?msg_id=007QXV

How many slightly-different-frames do you tend to shoot? I know I sketch anywhere

between three and thirty frames for a given idea, then systematically eliminate the takes

that don't work --- someone's eyes are closed, picture is miscomposed, dynamic is

missing, etc. Then I choose the best one that does it all. Often the best picture is either

the first or the last.

Maybe the Decisive Moment refers to a mystical ability to take only the one right picture

and not take all the bad ones that would be edited out later.

I know this isn't a street photo but http://www.mengwong.com/photography/200212-

sgfamily/11.html is the closest I have come to a decisive moment in portraiture. This

happened a few moments before the "official" photo was taken, with everyone sitting very

composed and solemn. Instead, everybody (whose face isn't obscured, at least) is doing

something characteristic of their own personality; as a result the whole picture feels full of

energy. If you zoom out to the rest of that directory you'll see all the other (less

successful) versions of that shot.<div></div>

Oh yeah, the other thing that really stands out about the D70 is the ability to just keep

shooting at 3fps for something like 7 to 10 shots before the buffer fills up. For the past

three years the only reason I did not buy a camera was because of shutter lag and cycle

time. The D70 feels exactly as resposive as a film SLR.

I bought a D70 (kit including the 18-70 lens) in Singapore last week at Paris Silk in Holland

Village for a total of SGD$2100 which includes the 5% GST.

My previous camera was an F70 bought in 1995/1996 with 24-120 lens bought in 1997. I

have put several thousand frames of film through it with few problems. The camera has

been with me through thick and thin, including three trips to Burning Man. But in the last

three years I practically stopped shooting because film, developing, etc was all getting too

expensive and too much trouble.

Since last week my D70 has gone everywhere with me and I feel like a missing piece of

myself has been restored. The magic words are: Zero marginal cost! I've shot about 200

frames per day since I got the camera. I feel like a kid in a candy shop.

Some people have asked "body only or kit?" I strongly recommend the kit lens; this is my

first experience with AF-S technology and I think it's the best thing in the world. The

optics are excellent. The colour and sharpness are as good as the 24-120 and the barrel/

pincushion distortion is imperceptible.

One function I always missed in the F70 was the DOF preview. The D70 has DOF preview

plus 5-point AF and colour matrix metering. This is more than a digital version of the 70;

it's a definite step up. And it doesn't feel consumer-grade, either. This is a very capable

younger brother to the D100.

iPhoto 4 (part of iLife) plus OS 10.3.3 will correctly read the EXIF rotation data. iPhoto 2

will not.

Regarding resolution, I used to get my 35mm Sensia scanned at 3000x2000 so 6

megapixels is no compromise (modulo the Foveon argument re 3 vs 1 interpolation.) In

fact, I find the dynamic white balance and the Auto ISO features a huge improvement over

film. There's no way I'm going back now. Now I can proof my images minutes after

shooting them, and run a slideshow of the day's events and upload pictures to the web

that night.

Sample images are online at

http://www.mengwong.com/photography/20040314-jasperbirthday/dsc_0510.html

http://www.mengwong.com/photography/20040315-dinner/

(key light source was 4 candles, Auto ISO feature enabled so the camera was probably

exposing at 1600)

Most of the images are straight from the camera with default exposure settings; I don't

think I did any kind of tone/contrast/brightness/curves enhancement on the images

except possibly for one or two under http://www.mengwong.com/photography/

20040320/ (the "huge" versions may not be full-sized yet, I will upload the originals next

weekend.)

I have no gripes with the camera besides an irrational impression that the lens barrel is

flimsy. It's probably because it's plastic, and the zoom construction allows some play, so

when I shake it I can hear a kind of looseness in the barrel. But I tell myself that this does

not affect picture quality and that I am just being silly.

If you can find this camera, I recommend it highly. At time of purchase just remember to

buy three CR2 batteries and a 67mm UV haze filter.<div></div>