michele_anderson2

<p>I didn't end up getting a new external hard drive because they wouldn't be compatible with this computer. I'll just take along the one I have, and will get a new one when I inherit my daughter's computer. I did pick up some thumb drives and another memory card for my camera. Hopefully this will work. I want to thank each of you again for all of your thoughts and comments. I have appreciated them all. I will have WiFi in the house we will be staying in, so you may hear from me again if I have any problems! :) Wish me luck!</p>

<p>I found a 2TB Seagate portable hard drive on sale at Best Buy. I think I will pick one up tomorrow. Barry is right that memory sticks are the same thing as a thumb drives or jump drives. They have the 32 GB memory cards on sale too, so I'll get another two of those. I'm finally starting to feel prepared! </p>

<p>Thank you Barry and Eric for your additional help. I was hoping to save my photos in a few different places. I will definitely bring a few memory sticks. At this time I have an external hard drive that is a few years old. It's a GoFlex 500MB hard drive. Do you think that is too small? Because I could go out and buy another if that doesn't seem good enough. I will back up the photos I take each day on the cloud as well (assuming I can). By the way Eric, my husband calls me a pessimist too. I tell him that I'm a realist! Like you, I am always thinking in "what if?" mode. I don't want to be caught without solutions. I will purchase a few extra memory cards just in case something happens to the ones I have. I will be in the US, but getting these things there would be difficult there because I'd have to drive over an hour to get to a good shopping area. I will be sure to try to enjoy my time aside of taking pictures. I know what you mean about getting too caught up in photography to enjoy the other things that there are to offer. My husband will be working some so I figured I'd go out on my own while he's doing that. I did sign up for a photography class in the nearest town. I'm very excited about that. I figured if I shoot pictures with the locals, I will find the best locations to shoot. :)</p>

<p>Richard W, After reading yours and Eric's thoughts on RAW files, I will set my camera to the RAW + JPEG format. I purchased 2 64GB memory cards so I will write to both. I've only got those two cards, and perhaps should go out and get an additional one for slot #1 because I have no idea how many RAW files my card will hold. I like the idea of saving them until I am prepared to deal with them.</p> <p>Eric, The fact that I didn't answer your question about my camera was just an oversight. Just like when you replied to me and had forgotten to answer my question about "camera clubs with rules" question. I read your reply and just answered without paying close enough attention to all that you had asked me. I do this often (short attention span). In my world, a "troll" is someone who comes onto boards and stirs up trouble and makes inflammatory comments, so I was confused by your calling me that. I didn't see any motivation to come to a board like this and be seen as disruptive, especially because I thought I did a good job explaining myself (obviously I didn't). My intentions were genuine, but I appreciate your last post because I was hurt. I think you and Richard have given me great advice about how I will deal with my travel photos. I am very excited and hope to take a lot of photos. </p> <p>To All, I have a few additional questions that will probably sound silly but I will ask them anyway!</p> <p>1. When you go out and shoot tons of photos, do you keep them all? or do you get rid of them as you go to save room on your cards? (Again, thinking of my RAW files). I ask this because I leave on my trip in a few days and over the last few days I've been backing up my photos to the cloud. It's been running 24/7 and I only had 11,000 pictures. I bet it won't be finished backing up for another couple of days. I am going to a very remote location, and I will have WiFi, but I don't know how good it is. Also, I still continue to worry about taxing this computer since it's so old. (Maybe this isn't a valid concern?) I am making sure I have all my present photos backed up just in case something happens. Anyway, at this rate, if I go out and shoot a few hundred photos each day, this computer will be constantly working on trying to back up all of the photos. I'm just wondering if I should only save ones that appear to be worthy as I view them on my camera? I know you can't always tell until they are actually downloaded onto your computer.</p> <p>2. If I were to make a copy of all of my RAW files to play with, as Eric suggested, and then later want to make another set of copies when I'm actually good at working with them, will it degrade my original files too much? I was reading my book last night, and I had the impression that everytime you make a copy of them, it takes a little away from them, or am I misunderstanding this?</p> <p>3. If I were in a special location taking both RAW + JPEG, then went to another location where the pictures aren't as important and I didn't really desire a RAW file of some of the photos, could I shut off the RAW card midstream? This will probably come up in my book, but I'm still not far into it yet.</p>

<p>Rich, thank you for the lens suggestions. I love my lenses but know I will need lighter weight ones for what I want to do down the road. A wider angle lens will be on my list for sure.</p> <p>Richard W, my camera came with a CD (Nikon ViewNX2). When I tried to load it on this computer, it couldn't. That is what brought me here. I'm going on a long trip very soon, and am trying to decide if I should just shoot all of my photos in JPEG because I will not have the knowledge or equipment to work with RAW files. I am a little bummed because I know some of the scenery will be beautiful and while I hope to get back there again one day, I don't know that I will.</p> <p>My daughter is starting a new job this summer and she will be getting a work computer. She has a 2015 Macbook Pro (13") that was custom upgraded to 1TB of storage. She told me last night that I could just have hers when she gets her new one. So it looks like I'll end up with doing that instead of buying something else.</p>

<p>Thank you Rich. I ended up buying the D750 and keeping my old lenses. At the time I wrote the thread that you are referring to, I was waiting for it to go on sale at a tent sale that my photography store was having. I didn't end up purchasing it at the time because it wasn't part of the sale. I then decided to wait to see if it would go on sale on Black Friday, then Christmas... it never went down further. I thought I'd wait to see if it would come down after Christmas and finally went down a small amount so I ended up purchasing it the day before I started this thread. I think I will love it for years to come. :)</p>

<p>Look Eric, I came here as a person in need of advice. I stated that I am new to digital editing and that I just purchased my new camera. At this time, I am using a Mac that is 10 years old. I was interested in updating, taking photography classes and photo editing classes to improve my skills. I thought this would be a good place to come and get some advice. I've gotten some great feedback here, but immediately, you called me out saying I didn't answer my questions properly, and "wasn't ready" and expecting you to be mind readers to figure out my goals. It wasn't really the welcome I was expecting, and now you are calling me a troll. I don't know how you can expect people to engage with you when they are treated this way. To everyone else to responded to me, again, I thank you for your replies. I will reread them and move forward with my next steps to become the photographer I've always wished I could be.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your replies! Just to answer a few of Eric's questions... I am a outdoorsy girl who has always had a passion for photography, but am now planning on seeing if I can get better. I am now an empty nester, so I have more time and travel in my future. I don't plan on making it a career, but would love to take professional quality photos. I'd like to frame ones that I am especially proud of but would also like to share them with friends on the web. I am unsure of my capabilities so I'm hoping to stick with a software program that is more user friendly. One thing that has made me more interested in purchasing a software program as opposed to a subscription service is that I fear that it'll continually be updated and I'll have a hard time getting to know it well. One question for Eric, what did you mean when you said "stay away from camera clubs with rules"?</p>

<p>I have a new camera and need to get a new computer and editing software. I have had MacBook for the last 10 years and need something more current. I have never done digital photo editing before. I have heard a lot of good things about Lightroom. Any suggestions on what I need to purchase (preferably Mac since that is what I'm used to)?</p>

<p>All of your feedback regarding the SD cards has been very helpful! And yes Andrew, I have had experience with a CF card with my current camera, just didn't know it until now. :) When I got the camera, it came with the card. As I mentioned initially, I've only used this camera in the most simple ways. The more I read, the more I realize how much I have to learn. I like the idea of shooting JPEGs+RAW on separate cards. I worry a bit about filling up my computer, but I would probably only keep the RAW files of my favorite images and throw out the ones that I will never do anything with. I might also store them to a back up hard drive. When I take my photography classes, I will also have to take some photoshop classes because I have even less knowledge about that! I have been looking at a lot of images online where they are touched up in photoshop, and they look amazing. I don't imagine that most people keep photos untouched these days. I'm a little intimidated that taking a nice photo has gotten so complicated. </p>

<p>The card that Andrew mentioned...<a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/824149-REG/SanDisk_SDSDXPA_064G_A75_Extreme_Pro_64GB_SDHC_SDXC.html" data-selenium="itemName">SanDisk 64GB Extreme Pro UHS-I SDXC U3 Memory Card (Class 10)</a>, was pointed out in an article I read last night as a recommended card for my camera. I was thinking of ordering 2 from B+H since my camera store doesn't seem to carry them. When I read Steve's comment I became a little concerned that putting in 2 very large cards may effect the performance of the camera in some way. </p>

<p>Steve, I am curious why you wouldn't put a large capacity card in both slots?</p>

<p>I'm feeling a little confused. (Sorry!) I have only heard of JPEG's and RAW, not NEF's or CF cards. I hope when I take classes that more of this is explained to me. I know I'll need to purchase something before I get into a class though. I was reading an online camera forum the other day, and someone made a joke about people who always shoot in JPEG. I guess I didn't understand the joke, which shows how little I know. I know that RAW format is a higher quality file, but are they for information only (not printable)? I guess I don't understand why people shoot both. I know that putting two copies of every photo I take would probably take up a lot of space on my computer. Maybe that isn't a valid concern? Also, if I have 2 SD slots in the D750, wouldn't I get two SD cards? Or is it better to get one SD card and one CF card? Again, I apologize for my ignorance. Think of me like a 2nd grader when it comes to a lot of these things! :)</p>

<p>I don't know if this is appropriate here on this thread but all of you have been so helpful. I just wanted to find out what you guys use for memory cards? I noticed the ones being sold at my upcoming camera sale had poor customer reviews. Again, hate wasting good money on something that could give me problems.</p>

<p>This is embarrassing. I don't know what a DF is! But I am pretty convinced that I want the D750. I have read such good things about it and many of you seem to like it as well. I can keep my lenses and be happy using my camera until I replace them with other lenses as I learn what I am looking for. Being it's a hobby for me and not a profession, I feel I can tolerate the less than perfect aspects of them until I learn more. I know the D750 is costly, and will do a lot of things I don't understand but through all of the posts I've read on this thread, I now feel I will be able to grow into it. It's another 2.5 weeks until the sale takes place, so I have time to go back and forth a few more times :) but I really think that camera will be one I can use for a very long time. My personality is one that I am willing to spend a little more up front, then will stick with it until it no longer fits my needs. </p>