levon_monte

<p>thanks everyone, i'll give it a shot!</p>

<p>cool thanks guys, ill go with LR3 for now and use that for higher quality in editing. I realize my lenses are great for the money (that's why I bought them), I just know that an L f/2.8 lens would allow me to use lower ISO in low light and give me greater sharpness, something I'm always looking for. Does the NR in LR work for Jpeg images too, or just RAW? thanks...</p>

<p>thanks Hal, got it, i'll start playing around with the NR.</p>

<p>thanks everyone, i think i'll shoot more raw and use DPP some more for raw editing.</p>

<p>anyone have experience with lightroom 3? i read great reviews and probably will go that route, for raw editing and the organization ability. i don't think i wanna go full photoshop, won't need that much editing.i think that will be my first purchase that would be of great use right now.</p>

<p>I'll probably save for an L series lens that'll give me better shots.</p>

<p>Sarah, thanks, I'll try that as well, version 3.8 of DPP has decent editing, for what i do.</p>

<p>I'd like to watermark my photos on PC before uploading online. I have elements 5, paintshop x as my main editing tools. is there anyway to do this without having lightroom 3 or a watermark specific program? Thanks...</p>

<p>not too happy with DPP, not enough editing options as in corel and cropping is a pain. Hal, where is the noise reduction in DPP? Couldn't find it, have version 2.2 thanks. probably going to get lightroom 3 as my raw converter, especially for the noise reduction and organization or photos.</p>

<p>so is the consensus that I should buy better glass, not a body and shoot in RAW with my xti and use editing software like lightroom 3 to correct noise? Does anyone have any different advice? Thanks...</p>

<p>oh you guys are right, my xti came with DPP 2.2, missed it. I'll give it a shot thanks...</p>

<p>Mark didn't mean to come across that way, thought he missed that part. Even so, I can't afford the body at $1000 used since I'll need to upgrade to EF lenses for the body as well...</p>

<p>Henrik, I really want lightroom 3, maybe i'll go that route and start shooting RAW...</p>

<p>Hal, the issue I have with win7 is I want to be able to view my RAW photos in the windows viewer and pictures folder when I put them into my PC from camera. Is there a codec so win7 can display RAW photos for browsing? Do I just need to import my RAW photos from camera directly with a RAW software program, and then convert them to be saved onto my PC? I could get Lightroom and process all RAW images through there I guess, I only have elements 5 right now. So when I edited my RAW images, they get saved as TIFF on my PC correct? I wish I had DPP, but can't since I don't have a 1D serial #.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>allan, did you read the part where that's outta my price range? only looking to spend $1000.<br>

dwight, i just have the kit 18-55 IS and 50mm f/1.8, nothing special. I'd really like a new body, but can see buying the Canon 17-55 IS f/2.8 as well.</p>

<p>I currently have a Canon Xti that I feel I've outgrown. I'm interested in achieving higher usable ISO (1600/3200) for low lighting and more accurate colors with deeper contrast. Ideally I'd buy the 5D Mark II, but it's outta my price range. The new T2i seems like a reasonable step up with it's claimed high ISO resolution quality, anything over 400 ISO on my Xti is iffy as far as print quality. The new D60 looks like it might be a good option now as well. I do not shoot in RAW since I use Win7 64-bit and there's no Canon codec for it. Is it worth it to upgrade to the T2i or D60 for Jpeg or just get a nice new f/2.8 lens and stick with the Xti? I am an enthusiast that does portraits once in a while, but definitely not looking to shoot weddings or anything like that. Looking to spend around $1,000. Thanks,</p>

<p>Hi, I just got a new PC and am starting to use Elements 5 on it, as I couldn't on my old PC. The issue I have is the preview of the pictures is very low quality and pixelated. If I zoom to 50% or more it's fine, but Paintshop doesn't do this. It's frustrating because I can't tell the sharpness of detail with the pixelation. I can't find much online on this issue. Anybody have any solution to this?<br>

THanks!</p>

<p>Well, thanks for all the great advice guys. I decided to buy the canon 18-55mm IS and the 50mm f/1.8 lenses. My PC is still limping along, so I bought a new Emachines ET1831-07 for $384! This PC has great reviews and outperforms $550 PC's. I had a photo shoot this weekend, so that gave me some extra cash to by the PC. My new lenses worked out great, that 50mm is amazing for the price! I can't wait to get it and start being able to edit without frustration.</p>

<p>i just bought an Iomega 1TB HD for $75 at Frys. great deal. great brand, check em out...</p>

<p>The current month of Practical Photography, a UK mag found in Borders and Barnes&Noble has a great section on B&W photography. It tells you what to look for when taking B&W, not all subjects transfer to great B&W photos. CHeck it out, and just keep shooting. I shoot in AV mode almost exclusively and I'm an advanced amateur. It's just easier, but learning what the camera's doing comes with time. Switching to Manual teaches you the relationship between Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO. A photo class at a local community college would be a good start to learn how to use manual better...</p>

<p>Seagate is touted as one of the most reliable hard drive brands. You can get a 1TB HD at Target <a href="http://www.target.com/Seagate-External-Desktop-Drive-ST310005EXA101-RK/dp/B001UI49XA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&qid=1276269433&frombrowse=0&fromGsearch=true&node=1038576|1287991011&keywords=seagate%20external&searchSize=60&id=Seagate%20External%20Desktop%20Drive%20ST310005EXA101-RK&searchBinNameList=purchasing_channel%2Csubjectbin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&searchNodeID=1038576|1287991011&searchRank=price&sr=1-3&searchPage=1&rh=">HERE</a> for $80! I might pick this up too, my 250GB external is almost full...</p>

<p>Thanks Martin, what do you recommend besides Dell? It seems there aren't many choices out there. I definitely can't afford a Mac, that'd be #1 choice.</p>

<p>I actually did a clean install on the new 500GB HD i installed in it about a year ago. matt, you lost me, i have no idea how to do that. HOw do i do that? 2gb is my max ram capacity.<br>

I would like to reformat my HD, but it's such a pain to reload everything. Plus, I don't want to lose anything that doesn't get transferred the the external HD on accident. The XP cd i have has all the crap from Best Buy on it. I've deleted it from my PC after install.<br>

Unfortunately I don't know any techies, i wish, a nice dinner would be in for him for cleaning up this PC...</p>

<p>Hey guys, thanks for all the advice. I do have an external with my pics and music on it. I have upgraded my RAM to 2GB, from crucial. It didn't seem to do anything though! It actually made my PC run slower, so I returned it. I also degragged my HD and cleaned my registry. I run Malware Bytes once in a while and have WIndows Defender constantly running, so I don't think I have any viruses or anything. I thought that would do it. So my next guess is just to buy a whole new PC. I did buy the 18-55IS and 50mm f/1.8. I realize they're not pro quality glass, but better than what I have and in my budget and practical for my shoots. I just returned the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 because it was very disappointing for the money. Very soft and focus was horrible. I will do without the new PC for now. I will probably buy the new PC next month.</p>

<p>I'm using a Xti by the way...</p>

<p>So here's my dilemma. I have $500 to spend and I need both a new PC and lenses to help my photography.<br>

I'm pro-amateur and do portraits once in a while, but I take photos daily for my blog and do a lot of editing. I have a crappy sigma 28-70, but I'm borrowing a buddy's old 18-55, the old version without IS. I want to get the newer 18-55mm IS kit lens, the 50mm f/1.8 and 55-250mm IS. I can get them on CentralDigital.com for $473 shipped. I need new lenses so I can have decent equipment for my photos. I would like to buy at least the 18-55 or 50mm this week, i have a portrait shoot and my wife's 30th birthday to shoot this weekend! Any advice on which one is more crucial to have for these events?<br>

I also need a new PC. My PC just about freezes anytime I simply open my pictures folder, I have about 120GB of photos. It's a five year old pentium 4 with 512mb RAM. It's slow as a dog, even when browsing the net. It's really hard to edit with, I even had to remove Elements because it made my PC run so slow. I use Paintshop Pro for all my editing. I don't do any professional work, but I do need a faster running PC for my photos and in general. I can get a Dell 580 with i3 540 processor, 4mb RAM, and 320GB hard drive for $530 shipped. This price is a limited time because it's through my work's employee discount, it's $140 in savings off retail. This is a screaming fast new PC, my only concern is that it's only 320GB, I am already using 155MB on my current HD, I think I need 500-750GB to last me a few years. I also picture a huge headache setting it up and moving all my old stuff onto my new PC. Is it that hard to do?<br>

So I know most will be biased towards the lenses because this is a photo forum, but I kind of have to choose one or the other. Or I could buy the 18-55 and 50mm and save the $250 towards the PC in a few months, but it may be more expensive by then if the discounts expire.<br>

Thanks for your opinion...</p>

<p>The elan 7n and 7ne still use the flash in low light instead of an AF light and that's the main detractor for me in this camera. I don't want to be strobing a flash every time i'm in low light so the camera can focus. Other than that, I'd love to get this camera. I'm considering the Elan II as well (which uses an AF light), any other suggestions on bodies that can be had for under $50? A lot of great suggestions, but most of them are out of my price range. I'm pretty set on the 28-105mm lens as well, seems like a better choice than the 24-85 for me.</p>

<p>Puppy face, I only own the canon EF-S 18-55. I need an EF lens for this camera. I know the 28-80 and 28-90 are crap, I guess I should plan on spending a little more for the 28-105 or 24-85. I found some on ebay for $140, and elan II's for about $30. As you can see, i'm not going for BEST film camera, but best for around $150 with lens. Now I just need to decide if i go for the 24-85 or 28-105 II lens. i'm leaning toward the latter, the 24-85 has strong barrel distortion according to <a href="http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/185-canon-ef-24-85mm-f35-45-usm-lab-test-report--review?start=1">photozone.net</a>.</p>

<p>Thanks Huang. Do you find your camera suffers in low light? I was turned off by reading a review a few minutes ago that said it's poor AF in low light and it doesn't have an AF assist light, just the flash. The Elan II has an AF assist light, making me lean more towards that body. I don't want my subjects getting strobe flashed for the camera to focus. I'm thinking the Elan II with the 28-90 might be the way to go.</p>

<p>I've had a rebel xti for a few years now and am a pro-amateur doing portraits and exhibits here and there. I want to take a photography class in the fall, i've never taken one. I'd like to take a film class and go from there to learn the inner workings of photography with the dark room and all that film entails. I came across an article that named Canon's Elan 7 as one of the best film cameras. I researched it and it seems like a economical choice, I'm on a tight budget.<br /> <br /> My question is this: I'm considering the Elan 7 with an EF 28-90mm f/4-5.6 III lens. The body seems great and the lens decent enough. I can get both for around $120 total, which is my price range. Anybody in here have this body or lens for opinions?<br /> <br /> I'd love to get the EF 24-85, but it's too expensive, and I read the EF 35-80mm is the worst lens in the EOS line-up ever offered. For the money is there another lens and/or body I should consider? Something in the $150 price range? I know the 50mm f/1.8 is a great cheap lens, but i'm looking for something with focal range for walking around with, not a prime. Any advice is appreciated! -Levon</p>

<p>yes, the crop is a 1.6x magnification. like dick said, fullframe handles low light almost same as naked eye, like the 5d mark II, can shoot at 25,000 ISO with great resolution and get natural light. with a crop, APSC sensor, you usually can't go above 800 or 1600 ISO without losing signifigant picture quality. As for your decision of full frame or APSC, go with whatever you can afford. I'd recommend the new Rebel T2i over the 7D though. It's getting rave reviews and has same image quality and video as 7d, for much less money and a more compact package. That's what i'd get if i upgraded, i have an xti too. it's basically a baby 7d with all the main features for less money. check out this month's Popular Photography and Outdoor Photography magazines, they have features on the T2i...</p>

<p>matthijs, i've never had a lens acting like this, i've only had my cheapie kit lens too. it just doesn't want to focus sometimes. i know this is supposed to be a "pro-amateur" quality lens, but it doesn't perform so. I have to use manual focus so much compared to my old lens, even when stopped down to f/4 or more.</p>

<p>John, I like to do a lot of macro of flowers and this lens suffers. I realize it's not a macro, but it's not any better, maybe worse, than my old cheapie kit lens surprisingly. Landscape photos are fine, but I'm just not overly impressed, like some of the pics I see of the canon 17-55 are amazing. I took a pic the other day of my nephew skating and the auto focus picked up the sliver of background in the back and not him, the center of area. Things like that keep happening with this lens, so I think I'll got back to square one and wait until I can afford the Canon 17-55. Maybe it's a bad copy, but I'd rather just not bother with going that route and settling for some cheapies for now. </p>