JosvanEekelen

<blockquote> <p>As far as longevity, a hard drive should outlast me.</p> </blockquote> <p>I disagree. I turned 60 a few months ago and I expect to outlive most of my harddrives :-) I have seen these fail too often.</p> <p>With regard to Time Machine: it also depends on the software you use. The Lightroom catalog for instance is fairly large and changes all the time when you make adjustments to a photo. TM will make frequent backups of a large file, which can fill up your drive rather fast. (I'm not a TM user, perhaps TM can be optimized for this ?). On the other hand RAW pictures normally do not change so these are perfect candidates for TM. </p>

<p>The guide is a bit short and skips all nuances but it can act as a quick starting guide. Don't hesitate to ask questions in the forums if things are not clear. </p>

<p>Elements to LR is not upgrade persé, both programs are a bit different. LR is a cataloguing program + RAW converter + a bit more, Elemtents is a RAW converter + image editor. LR's RAW converter offers more options than Elements, Elements has more editing options. <br> Make shure you're in the Develop module. The side tabs are adjustable, the combination of CRTL+[/] give you the shortcuts for that module. You should be able to see the whole picture and/or zoom in. straightening the horizon and removal of spots are as easy as in Elements, you only have to get used to the way to do it. <br> WRT spot removal: after choosing this option you can visualize the spots (downside of the screen, select this option and set a convenient level. <br> I suggest you watch one of Tim Grey's videos on Youtube to get started. </p>

<p>see http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/ for more info. Camera on M and a bit of flash compensation would be my preferred setting for the circumstances you described. </p>

<p>Depends on Canadian law and/or the seller's temper. In Europe if you ordered via mail/internet you have a legal return time of about a week, perhaps a similar law is in effect in Canada as well. On the other hand shops may be lenient with regard to returns, give them a call to find out. </p>

I think at this stage you can forget the size ( in cm/inch) rating. The size in pixels should have remained the same. If not check all settings because then you seem to have altered the size.

<p>A small damage of a lens (front element?) will not show as a speck in a picture. See if you have the same spot with other lenses and if they get smaller at higher f-values. If so it's probably dust on the sensor. </p>

Center or corner sharpness? Which aperture? True or not? Only you know if someone told you or not.

<p>I think you should see whether you really need the sidecar files. I don't use them so they are switched off. If needed I can later add the XMP files through LR but I'll only do that when I need them. <br> With regard to importing from disk: it all depends where your metadata is stored. If you only use LR for developing RAWs then you may loose some data when you transfer metadata from disk to LR. </p>

<p>In Library mode choose grid display and go to All Photographs in the catalog. Under Metadata (above thumbnails, library filter) add an extra column and choose "Metadata". Then you have several options for metadata, amongst others "conflict". To my surprise I found 17 conflicts in 65000 pictures :-)<br> In this way you know which pictures are involved. </p> <p>Choose all pictures, in the grid view you'll see a warning sign on each thumbnail. (Left) click on it and you can choose to correct the setting, from disk > catalog or vice versa. If you select all thumbnails you can change all metadata. <br> Test this before finally changing metadata. In my case I think using other software has created the sidecar files, perhaps Darktable or RAW Therapee. Of course I have no idea what happened with your system. Have you set the sidecar function "on"?</p>

<p>Lots of people have accidentally opened the back of their camera while there was still film in it. Mostly only a few/5-6 pictures are involve/ruined. No reason to discard the film, have it developed and see how good or bad it is. </p>

Or use Adobe's (free) DNG converter to convert the NEF files to DNG. It's an extra step in your workflow but it saves you from upgrading LR. Nowadays LR is 64 bits only, that can be a reason to stick with an older version. LR is updated regularly, newer versions have more options. See if there is an extra reason to upgrade.

Lots of options to consider, there also is a 24-105 STM lens, not often mentioned but cheaper than the USM version. And the 15-85 as standard walk around lens, to mention one other. Superzooms like the 18-200 don't give you stellar performance but there's nothing wrong with them if you can handle their shortcomings.

<p>I use a cut to size screen protector on most screens (camera's, GPS). I still have some PDA/smartphone ones for this purpose. It saved several screens a couple of times, of course YMMV.</p>

<p>@Howard: thanks for correcting me. According to the link you provided updating to the very last LR version seems to solve the issue. Personally I'd wait a couple of days to see whether there are any issues with the leatest LR version.</p>

<p>I have no idea as I never use video mode. I guess you'll have to do a bit of testing. Do the lines appear without video mode?</p>

<p>If I´m not mistaken this is an OS problem, not supporting files larger than 4 GB. <br> Backup your catalog manually: first locate it, go to catalog settings and choose "show" in the general tab. This will open the location of the catalog, you can then manually backup the .lrcat file. LR will normally store a .zip file, you can use a 3rd party zip program.</p>

Can you give us more details, camera settings, filter, lighting, etc? Does this appear with a lighter image as well?

<p>Hard to say without the original. Highlights don't seem to have any detail. Color is a bit blue/greenish. Is the original Kodachrome? In that case it needs a bit of tweaking anyway.</p>

<p>If it's an SCA compatible flash it will need and SCA adapter to function. Which one is installed at the moment? </p>

<p>Sorry to hear about your problems. Perhaps a picture like the one above is not the best to illustrate the issue. I'd try a ruler photographed from a side or one of the special microfocus adjust tools to firmly state the problem. And look for other repair facilities or it these don't exist, an independant repair facility.</p>

<p>What would be the best lighting source, a slide viewing light table like the ones used for viewing and sorting slides or a flash? Of course used with diffusers etc to get even lighting. And now I think about it, what about an iPad set to even white lighting?</p>

Your kit is more than decent, changing to Canon won't make your pictures better. Perhaps add a 24-70 lens of any brand? If there is a difference in color that can easily be compensated in post processing.

<p>I have been playing around with an EOS-M and FD lenses. Have not come to evaluate them completely but focussing is problematic because the EOS-M has no viewfinder and no focussing aids like focus peaking. Placed on a tripod it is possible to enlarge the image (5x/10x) which greatly helps. Definitely no combo for fast shooting. </p>

<p>Forget the 300 dpi rating, it's meaningless. 5760 x 3840 is ok but for reasons stated above I'd go for 4800 x 3200. </p>