Went to site, it was confusing, had info about all kinds of products, not much in the way of what the products do or how much. It did say something about Photoshop CS6 for $19.99 for first six months. But what after that? Maybe an upgrade to CS5 first? How about elements? I just got Elements 9 with a printer, I am trying to see if it does Raw files...yes it says it does but not NEF, I just tried... maybe an update for that is cheaper.
I have spent an hour online and in the Adobe help menus but no real luck. Does anybody out there know any specific info? I even downloaded a free conversion program but found all it does is convert NEF to tiff or jpeg, Nikons software that came with the camera does that anyhow.

I’ve been a member of UHH for months, and joining is probably the smartest thing I’ve done in ages. Best general education system available.

But…..

I thought I was beginning to understand a bit about photography. In terms of technical knowledge I’d rate myself in the bottom 25%, but every now and then someone asks a question that makes me feel a bit smug. (I don’t offer answers, though, ‘cos I might be wrong).

I’m familiar with most of the leading brands and models, so I know what to fantasise about if I ever accumulate any spare cash. I know that a 5MP picture will reproduce perfectly well in magazines (and I get some published) and I thought I knew that beyond about 10MP the main function of megapixels was to allow you to produce bigger and bigger prints, and that a camera that could produce 18MP images was about as good as it gets. I also thought I knew that most people used Lightroom, Photoshop or Elements as their frontline PP tools (see, I know “PP”), aided by plug-ins from Topaz and others, like Nik, Alien Skin and so on. I even use Topaz myself.

A long build-up, but here’s the punchline. I read a magazine article recently that made me realize that I know squat. There’s a whole photographic world out there that I’d never even heard of. And it wasn’t even a photographic magazine.

The story – in the Qantas in-flight magazine - was about a group of photographers on a gig in the South West of Western Australia, sponsored by the local tourism body. The pictures they published were predictably professional. It was their equipment and methodology that left me wondering if I should stick to tennis.

Try this:

“Shot with a Phase One 645DF with a 28mm F/4.5 Schneider lens and Phase One P65 digital back.” Another photographer processed his images in Phocus software before “being graded, retouched and composited” by Live Picture software. But wait – before this happened, the photographer “captured four multi-shot exposures at four separate planes of focus” after which “the HC 50mm II lens was raised 12mm to create a fifth exposure extending into the sky.” The cameras involved are apparently capable of 80MP resolution (yep, that’s 80MP).

What’s my question? It’s this. How many UHH members (excluding the obvious three or four) would really understand what’s going on here? Be honest, now. And what’s the function of an 80MP image? To produce a print large enough to paper the side of a warehouse?

Should I be depressed here? Are most UHH members familiar with this gear? Am I really that far behind the field?

(I don't want anyone to explain what all that tech stuff is about - I checked a few websites myself. I just need to be reassured that most other UHH gang members don't understand it either.)