bobbymac

<p>Iris, it appears that your question about a computer and monitor were not answered very well. You should keep in mind with a full frame camera that the files are very large and require more space on your hard drive. I will have to assume that you will have some sort of post processing software for your images and with large files the computer needs a good processor and plenty of RAM. A good quality monitor (to me) is essential for viewing and for printing accurately. You can buy calibration equipment for your monitor that will give you accurate colors and brightness. I tried to answer your question based on your shooting RAW images. If you shoot JPEG you could get by with a computer with less power. You should be warned the learning curve can be steep but the rewards are sweet. Good luck to you.</p>

<p>Try using a little humility when responding to lens questions. Everybody started somewhere and learned through experience. Your experience can help people from making the same mistakes you did and I would be willing to wager that a lot of responders here have made bad mistakes on lens purchases. In the past year and nine months I've made some mistakes on lens purchases because asking on a forum (any forum) will usually not get you much of an answer, unless you just get lucky and find a response from someone who remembers being in the same dilemma when they started.<br>

I looked at my local Craigslist yesterday and saw an ad for a Canon 5dMk2, a 50mm lens, cards, bag etc. the guy stated he used the camera for a wedding (1000 shots) and never used the camera again preferring his P&S better. He was taking an $800 loss to sell the kit. If he had came to PN for advice before he purchased that kit do you think he would have got the right advice or would the responses been all over the place.</p>

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<p>Ian, my town of 36,000 had two photo stores, the one was run by an older guy and he always had some kind of used goodies cheap and he was a good source of advice on a lens or camera. People would come by and have coffee and talk photography. He had a booming business that went south when he got in bad health and his useless kids took over. The other store only stocked canon and were not very friendly unless you were buying a new lens or camera. Both are now gone. You can take your pick at WalMart of any digital camera you want. That's the state of affairs in my town. I would like to have a store but it isn't going to happen and I don't think the support would be there for a store to make a go of it. </p>

<p>Sony A700<br>

Tamron 20-40<br>

Minolta 70-210<br>

Minimal, to me, means not packing everything you own.</p>

<p>After reading all of the above I know why I joined PN. Reading this thread made my night. </p>

<p>I normally do not use a strap, when I do the strap supplied with my Alpha 700 works fine.</p>

<p>Dillion Nature Center in Kansas</p><div></div>

<p>Have you looked at used computers, in my area we have a couple of used stores that can fill any needs in computers. My Dell GX280 has plenty of memory (4gig), a P4 running at 3gig and a 320gig HD, it cost less than $400. Instead of CS4 try Picasa, Gimp or pay a little and get Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 for about $50. Don't limit yourself to one brand of camera in your search any modern DSLR can do the job. Above all just have fun and learn.</p>

<p>Mark, I for one enjoyed your article and your image of the bird on barbed wire looks good to me. I don't use Nikon or Canon but your advice on lens selection I think would be true for any system. I guess I'll go take a look at some of the old minolta long glass.</p>

<p>I had a 7000i that I loved. Put many, many rolls of film thru that camera. The only reason I bought a Sony was because I owned many Minolta cameras thru the years. I still think their lenses are a good buy. The ad brings back a lot of memories.</p>

<p>Richard your web site worked for me just fine. I enjoyed the images also. I'm trying to get out as much as possible before winter gets here but work and weather seem to have other ideas.</p>

<p>Richard your web site worked for me just fine. I enjoyed the images also. I'm trying to get out as much as possible before winter gets here but work and weather seem to have other ideas.</p>

<p>Just got my A700 three weeks ago</p><div></div>

<p>Michele, I like the image. It shows that interesting things to shoot are all around you. What lens did you use? This forum seems pretty slow. I'm begining to think nobody owns a Sony. </p>

<p>Bill, try and post a typical image of what you're talking about with EXIF. Were you shooting JPEG or RAW?</p>

<p>Jeff, have you checked the archives for Hutchinson News and Wichita Post for photos of the the tornado. I know both newspapers had photos. Living in tornado alley has its drawbacks.</p>

<p>Rashed, I agree with most of what has already been posted. I think that in some cases photographers are looking for a way to express their vision of an image. Digital imaging is just a new way for individuals to express themselves. Some may choose to record a scene as close to reality as they can others may choose to manipulate it to the max possible. If an image inspires someone at any level then it is a success, no matter how it was achieved.</p>

<p>Ed,<br>

You just got 13 very good answers....some of them even inspired me. I'm 61 now and have been in/out of love with photography a number of times....but I always come back because it gives me a creative outlet....do something out of character....for me it was going digital.</p>

<p>I use neutral density filters and/or bracket your exposures. My camera will bracket 0, -1, -2 etc. Like above software helps too. Good luck!</p>

<p>Scott: to play and experiment with I would recommend a 55 micro 2.8 ais, I got mine for a $100. It does close up but its not a 1:1, very, very sharp, great color and contrast.</p>

<p>Curtis, try an Ape case I got one used that holds my D1x, 55-200, 18-55, 55 micro and my flash and still has a little room left depending on how it's arranged. Not very expensive and they have decent padding and good zippers.</p>