JosvanEekelen

<p>Not at all, not at 100 mm either. As soon as an aperture smaller than 5.6 is reported the camera will not autofocus. Taping a few pins on the extender (google "tape trick") will give you some autofocus. It will work in good light/high contrast situations.</p>

If you like Picasa make sure you have the most recent version installed and saved to disk. Use it and enjoy it but start looking for a replacement.

<p>Irfanview does a great job on this. Open the picture, choose Image > change canvas size. Set the required canvas size + color, press ok and you're done. And the best thing: it's free.</p>

<p>Rightclick on a picture in the filmstrip and choose view options > show ratings.</p>

<p>This are the Lightroom output conditions for printing 20 x 30 cm. They have to be sent over the internet in order to be printed; I don't print myself (yet). Original files and conditions are kept so I can produce smaller or bigger files, TIFF or JPEG at any moment. And now I think about it, whenever I need to use a program other than LR I try to produce max quality TIFF files and import these in LR.</p>

<p>I regularly print 20 x 30 (cm) photos from jpg files between 2 and 3 MB and never got a comment on the technical quality. Mine are produced from 13-20 MB RAW files in Lightroom, exported with settings: JPEG/sRGB/limit file size to 3000 k and 3600 pixels longest end.<br> Your iPhone may create 2 or 3 MB files but not all pixels are created equal and why look at the pictures at 100%?<br /> I have the impression that you are looking too much at the figures and not so much at the photos.<br /> USD 15 per image? Difficult to comment on that, it all depends on the amount of extra work she has to do. If it was LR only it could be done easily but there may be some extra PS work involved. It all depends on her workflow.</p>

<p>Must have happened to me a couple of times also. Can't remember if I had to do something special to correct the problem, if one existed. A few suggestions: take the battery out for a few minutes, replace it and see if the error has gone. Or take the backup battery and the main one out for a few hours and replace both. <br> Just tried this with an EOS 10D, gave err 05 but this was corrected after shutting the camera off (without lens - if that matters). </p>

<p>Use smart previews. You can generate them during import or later. I have no experience with them but when you hover the cursor over the text below the histogram in Develop or Library module you get a hint about the smart previews. For the rest you'll have to search the internet or the manual or wait for other replies.</p>

<p>Thanks for sharing. I've done a few of Coursera's courses and I'm quite satisfied with the quality and the presentation. In general: recommended. I'll consider this one as well. </p>

<p>Google will end Picasa. Webalbums/pictures are transferred to Google Photos, the desktop application will no longer be developed/supported. <br> More info on Google's Picasa blog. <br> Of course Picasa was an ultralight alternative to Lightroom but it's one more alternative gone. </p>

@Bob: "full frame DSLRs except for the EOS 6D", please add the 5D(II) to this.

AI servo should work. Just let the camera select the focus points. AI focus is a bit unreliable, at least in my somewhat older (D)SLRs. How fast are your kis moving?

<p>Not the best picture to judge dirt on a sensor, try a clear blue sky or a piece of white paper.<br> No reason to send the camera out, cleaning the sensor isn't difficult, you can do it yourself but you'll need some items like a rocket blower/swabs/etc. It's not particularly risky and keep in mind that it's not the sensor but a filter that you're cleaning. Search Photo.net and/or the internet for how-to's.</p>

<p>Have you considered digiscoping, adding a compact camera to a telescope?</p>

Ever thought about service? My experience with Canon is much better than with Sony. Things may have changed but I'm still more than a bit hesitant. Things may be different on your side of the world.

Not with Bridge CS4. Everything seems to work fine with W10 but I switched recently so there must be some surprises on the way :-)

<p>Since about a year I use an EOS-M, sensor is similar to the 7D. Image quality is no issue, handling through the touch screen is great although it does have a few quirks. And: I use it in addition to a DSLR. <br> If you can wait a few weeks or months: Rumour has it that "<em>Canon will “surprise a lot of people” with one of their next mirrorless camera</em>". Let's assume that Canon is going to get serious with mirrorless in 2016. </p>

<p>I know the technique, there is special software to produce a "HDR" from a single RAW image and some people like the end result. Personally I don't like the idea; it is contrary to HDR since no extra information is used to broaden the dynamic range. It should be possible to get the same result in PS/Gimp by using the original RAW file without generating 3 (or more) TIFFs.<br> On the other hand, if you like the result use this procedure and be happy.</p>

<p>You can get a bit of extra speed with SSD but given the limited space and price it would be wise to move the data from SSD to HDD when they are complete/worked on. I did this a few times with new pictures in Lightroom but couldn't get it to fit into my workflow the right way so I abandoned it.</p>

<p>258 GB SSD for OS, software and the occasional file. 3 TB USB-3 for data/pictures (replaced an external SATA drive that broke a few months ago). Works well on a 7 yr old not so fast desktop PC.</p>

<p>Also check the sling bags; best/worst of both words.<br> It's a very personal choice. I take the backpack (Lowepro Classic) when I need to take a lot of stuff and long lenses. Otherwise a shoulder bag is my preferred bag, often together with a small backpack for drinks, food, GPS, etc. </p>

Abuse@photo.net

<p>Please share the test results. Otherwise we'll ignore this message.</p>

Price doesn't seem too wrong to me. Enjoy your new camera and don't start worrying over a few $$$.

<p>I have the same tripod. I hardly ever use the centre column in a horizontal position anymore but instead insert the column from the underside. In this way I can position the camera/lens just a few inches above the ground. A lens with a tripod collar works best because in this case you can keep the camera upright. And of course a fold-out screen in case of a digital camera.</p>