I would suggest getting a prime lens, rather than using a zoom. Pretty much any prime will allow a much larger aperture, and give you more scope with shutter speed. I don't know Nikon well, but I am sure they will have several to choose from...

Hmmm... a bit off topic, but how come I post 2 consecutive message, but the count in my details shows the same number?

Oh, I see... It updates previous posts' message count each time you post. Interesting!

Yep, that is my biggest problem... Lots of buttons on a small camera!

Ok, I am not going to join in the battle here. Not today.
I have only tried manual focus a couple of times on my sx50, but you don't use the up/down buttons for it. You use the actual wheel itself - it rotates just like a lens focus ring would.

Try that, I think you will be happy. Great little camera, eh?

I'd like to see that one, when it's done. Nice shot, though.

Love the 2nd one!

Here are a few photos I took back in the early 90s, when I used to go sailing with a friend. On the way out into the Chesapeake proper, we would sail right by this nest...

[quote=Jimande] Another option on the manual is download, which I did. Page 55 of the manual tells how (at the bottom) to turn off the digital; should be able to highlight digital zoom, click right side of the function set ring, select standard and click on it to reset.[\quote]

I *did* download the manual, but I can't work with a book on screen. By the time you zoom in to get a decent size, each page is about 4 screens, and you spend all your time trying to move around. I took the pdf file from the download to Staples, and they printed it out and bound it for me. I was surprised that Canon don't even offer the printed version for sale...

I will look at the manual over the weekend. The way the camera is now, you can't turn the digital zoom back on, because the cursor doesn't go to that line at all. There was another option somewhere that did the same, but I can't remember what it was. Instead of just being set ON or OFf, like almost everything else, those entries just grey out when you turn them off.

Hmmm... I seem to have turned off the digital zoom function in my menu, and can't find a way to turn it back on. Once off, the option is greyed out, and the cursor just jumps over it.

I just got my printed manual from Staples - at $35 a bit pricy, but I can't work with manuals on screen! It doesn't work for me at all...

I want to test out whether, say 4x digital zoom would give exactly the same effect as 1x (no digital expansion) and enlarging 4x in PP. Logically, it *should* be just the same, says he, uncertainly...

I really like the selective stuff, providing it is not overdone, of course! If the right details are zapped, it can give a great punch to the photo. I wouldn't want to look at a ton of them all at once, but one in a while is good. I am working on mastering it myself, so you may see more of mine in the future to not like very much... :D

I don't know. Probably wouldn't be for me. I have never had access to a current (or even close!) version of PS, though. I used version 5 for a while, which I picked up cheap at a computer show, but that wouldn't run under vista. For a good while I have been using and learning CS2. I just bought CS3 (grr...), but now I have the latest and greatest!

One downside to it, is that you cannot get cheap books for a current version. I ordered 4 used books on Amazon (2 by Scott Kelby, who seems highly recommended) for 1 cent each, plus $3.99 each for postage. The ones which cover CC are closer to $50 each... I will have to be more judicious in my book purchases!

A lot of astronomy photographers use stacking, because the light levels are so low. I don't know yet if PS does this, but there are programs out there which handle it well.

I just got my Astronomy mag newsletter, and I checked. Saturn is up before dawn in the Eastern sky, along with comet ISON right now. It should get earlier and earlier during the next few months until it is visible at a more sociable hour!

Yep, I agree. To me, HDR should not *look* like HDR... Some people push the process so far that it just screams "Look, I'm HDR!"

I think you need the water there to balance the sky. I personally wouldn't crop this much at all...

The moon basically rises 1 hour later every day. That's how you can see it at different times of day/night. It is visible at some time every day, providing the weather is cooperating. If you see it at a good spot - rising above the trees, for example - it will be in the same place the following day, 1 hour later. It will have changed its phase slightly, of course.

It's best to avoid full moon, because the light is too direct, and there is a lot less contrast. If you can see the terminator (not Arnie, the day/night line), then pictures show up the details on the craters and mountains best along that line.