john v.

<p>My printer is getting a bit old and it's getting harder to find ink cartridges. I noticed Epson has those new Ecotank printers. For those who haven't heard of them, you pay more for the printer, but the bottles of ink you use to refill the printer cost about the same as a cartridge, but hold about 2-years worth of ink. My question is, has anyone bought one and printed a picture with it? I'm not looking to print pictures to sell, but I'm wondering if they print good enough to produce a picture worth hanging on my wall at home.</p>

<p>I think Jeff has the best advice. When dealing with overcast conditions, pick your shots so the sky is not in the photo. Actually, overcast light is softer, which makes the exposure of your subject easier. Based on your images, it appears that you were in an urban area, which should have provided at least some interesting buildings to provide a nice backdrop without the sky.</p>

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<p><a href="http://www.spaceweather.com">spaceweather.com</a> is another good site for aurora forecast information. They even have a <a href="http://spaceweatherphone.com/">phone service</a> you can subscribe to so you don't have to lose sleep waiting to see if the northern lights show; they send a phone alert if the aurora is likely to be viewed at your location.</p>

<p>I second Jerry's recommendation. I have a Canon D10 that I keep as a backup to my DSLR. It goes places I would never think of taking my DSLR, including the pool, beach and out in the rain. It does seem to open up a new area of photography when you're not worrying about protecting the camera from water.</p><div></div>

<p>Didn't see this posted anywhere else. With waterproof P&S cameras a small, but growing niche, I though this would be of interest to someone. Canon has come out with the <a href="http://usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/digital_cameras/powershot_d20#Overview">Powershot D20</a>. Major changes from the D10 are a vastly different form factor in the body, a wider zoom range, both at the wide and long ends, a larger LCD screen (with double the pixel count) and 1080p video. It still doesn't shoot RAW, which is typical for many point and shoot cameras. I did notice that the maximum aperture shrinks from f/2.8 on the D10 to f/3.9 on the D20. Considering that sensor size is unchanged from the two models, I would think that would impact its low light capabilities. Finally, unique to underwater point and shoot cameras, Canon has an underwater case available for this camera, increasing its depth capability from 10m to 33m.</p>

<p>Not sure what your finances are right now, but you can pick up a refurbished d7000 from Adorama for just over $1,100 right now. I've gone the refurbished route with both cameras and computers (typing this from a refurbished MacBook Pro right now) and never had a problem. If you're looking to stretch your money, I'd highly recommend considering this route.</p>

<p>I have a small photo album where the inner pages separated from the outer cover. Typically, I'd just buy a new one. However, I bought this one in China when adopting my daughter. Yes, I realize it's a cheap album purchased in a gift shop, but it does have sentimental value being associated with the adoption. More importantly, it's too expensive to go back to China to get another one. Can anyone recommend a glue that will repair the album, but still be safe for the pictures contained within?</p><div></div>

<p>"Don't shoot raw until you can reliably get what you want shooting JPEG". I disagree. The 20D can shoot both RAW and JPEG. Unless disk space for you is at a premium, I would set the camera to take both. That way you have the JPEG's which you are familiar with (and are easier to review), yet still have the RAW images. Even if you do nothing with the RAW images at first, as you learn the post processing potential that RAW files possess, you may be able to go back to old images and get more out of them at a later date.</p>

<p>I just picked up the latest iPhone and I was surprised at the photo quality. Don't get me wrong, I'm in no hurry to give up my SLR or even my P&S. I'm the type who likes to always have a camera nearby, just in case that unexpected photo opportunity presents itself. Typically I lug around the DSLR whenever possible. When, that's inconvenient, I'll carry the P&S. However, my P&S is a Canon D10. It will fit nicely in a coat pocket, or the pocket of cargo shorts, but no so well in regular pants pockets. The quality of the iPhone 4s camera is good enough that I don't mind having just the phone camera with me. Also, I do real estate appraisal, part of which involves taking pictures of the properties I appraise. Normally, I use my DSLR with a Tamron 17-50, which works well in indoor low light. However, as an experiment, I did my latest appraisal using only the iPhone for pictures. Although the indoor shots do exhibit more grain vs. the DLSR (as expected), the photo quality was more than sufficient to put in the appraisal report. Keep in mind these pictures are printed on plain paper at low to medium resolution. Our clients do not expect tack sharp photos nor spot on colors. I guess my point is that with gap in image quality between phone cameras and P&S cameras tightening, more and more people will start to rely on their phones as their only camera. While a dedicated camera will still have advantages, mainly in features and controls, some will undoubtedly a find normal camera redundant if they already have a good phone camera. Below I posted a comparison of my iPhone vs. my Canon D10. No post processing except to scale down for web posting.</p><div></div>

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<p>I had a similar situation occur with a Canon Rebel G (film body). I had the camera in my backpack while skiing. A lift operator was a bit careless and let the chairlift slam into me when loading. The camera took the brunt of the impact, cause a crack around the pop up flash. I covered the crack up with black electrical tape and never had a problem with the camera. If all else is OK with your camera, you could give this a try. Also, if you try caulk or other sealer, it may get inside the camera and cause all types of problems should repair of the camera internals become necessary. Electrical tape will peel off without leaving junk inside the camera.</p>

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<p>I find it hard to believe that only after a month of inactivity, that all of the batteries have become completely unable to hold <em>any</em> charge. I'm assuming that you've tried to recharge the batteries. You might want to check the battery contacts inside the battery compartment in the camera. They may be corroded. </p>

<p>You can also warm up the camera before you go outside. A hair dryer can work for this. You don't need to get it hot, just approximately the same temperature as the environment you'll be taking the camera in to.</p>

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<p>A follow up to this post. I finally figured out how to get RAW images out of this camera. In the RAW parameters submenu (within CHDK), leave "Save RAW" unchecked, but have the "DNG format" checked. You may have to do a dark image calibration before it will let you check "DNG format". Even though this would appear to save images in DNG format, it saves files with a .CRW extension. These .CRW files can be opened in Photoshop (Elements) utilizing the Adobe Camera RAW plugin. Hope this helps anyone who may be following in my footsteps.</p>

<p>Don: I did try DPP; it wouldn't recognize the file. It makes sense. Canon doesn't support RAW on the D10 and DPP is Canon software. Thomas and Rob: Thanks, I'll give saving in DNG a try.</p>

<p>After learning the potential of shooting RAW and getting better at adjusting and editing RAW files, I find myself shooting RAW + Jpeg most of the time. For places like the beach, pool or waterpark, I would use my Canon G9, with the Canon made underwater housing. Other places, I would use my Rebel XTi. Earlier this year, my G9 died, and the cost to repair was too high to justify getting it fixed. Since I really missed being able to take a camera into the pool, lake, boat, or anywhere else water damage was a real threat, I decided to pick up a Canon Powershot D10. I knew full well this camera did not shoot RAW, and figured since I still have the Canon Rebel, I would use the DSLR for those shoots where RAW was important. I later found that you can enable RAW on the D10 using CHDK. The problem is, I'm unable to convert the RAW images. Typically, I would use Photoshop Elements (ver.6) with the CameraRAW plugin to convert the images. I also have Adobe DNG converter, as well as Graphic Converter. None of these will open the D10's RAW files. It's obvious I'll have to get a new RAW converter, but I'm not sure which one. I've searched the web and can't tell if any of the common RAW converters out there will support RAW images from a (hacked) Powershot D10. If anyone out there is shooting RAW with a D10, give me a reply and let me know what (if anything) works for you.</p>