PhotoartsLA, your work is absolutely great. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and experience with us. You're an inspiration!!
I recently purchased a Nikon D5100 and have their software View NX2, but to be honest, I prefer using Picasa to process my RAW pics and convert them - just my $.02 :)
Love the critter shots. Phillis, the purple flower with the bee has "wow" factor! Several of the pet dog shots make me want to reach out and pet them!! Great job.
Ditto on not using RAW for every photo - I know this is a subject that many folks dissagree on, but I use RAW only on shots I know I will be doing a lot of editing on, or one that it's really important to capture as much detail as possible.
My new Nikon has a program that came with it called View NX2, but I haven't had a chance to try it yet. I'll give it a shot and try the TIF format. I've got a good sample shot of a flower shot in RAW and JPG fine / large to use for comparison. It's going to be a couple of days before getting the chance to try it out, but will let you know the results. Thanks again for the tip!
For some unexplained reason, I've never tried the TIF format - will have to give it a shot, as I like to maintain as much detail as possible in the final product. Thanks so much for the tip - this site, and you folks are great!
Thanks for the great comments1 Actually, on the third pitcure (water cascade) I used Picasa's "I'm feeling Lucky", and it barely changed the shot - adding just a touch more contrast. I was going to increase the color saturation and a little sharpening (my normal tweeks) but decided to leave it alone, as the look was what I wanted as it was. It was one of those lucky shots! I was trying to teach my daughter about long exposures to add a feeling of softness to waterfalls, etc.
Good catch about the MEGAbyte vs. GIGAbyte. My bad!
scaldy, the first duck shot is GREAT! I would love to have that one hanging on my wall. All of them are good, but that one grabbed me. Keep up the good work! Also like the POV with several pictures of the dogs - nice!
notnobudda, you cemetary shot is another one of your awesome pictures - lots of emotion.
Something is definitely wrong. You should be able to store hundreds, maybe thousands set on small. Maybe your card is corrupted?? Try copying your pics onto your computer, then put the card back into your camera and format it. Hope this helps. I usually only use 4 or 8 gb cards, and can shoot hundreds of RAW files, along with short video clips on one card.
Forgot to mention, in Picasa, my files are converting from RAW to JPG - again, you have to set the export parameters.
I've been using Picasa to process RAW files for the past few weeks, and have had good luck. Make sure that you set the parameters when exporting from RAW to maximum / 100%. Once you do this, you won't have to reset it again. If I remember correctly, the export defaults to around 80%?? I have a pet pieve about programs that always reduce your file size (data) every time you tweek a photo :-( Picasa will not do this, although you WILL have a smaller file after converting from RAW initially, as the unprocessed RAW file contains all the data your camera captured.
Hi Kathy,
I just went through this exact choice process, and there are many strong advocates for both Canon and Nikon. The camera models you are looking at are designed to be in direct competition with each other for a particular market, and either one would be a good choice, and produce great pictures for you. I chose the Nikon D5100 after much research based on a couple of items. First, according to the research, the Canon has more megapixel, but the picture quality produced by the Nikon is said to be slightly better, due to some technical reason I can't explain! Also, I have used both Canon and Nikon film cameras, and I personally like Nikon lenses better. If your main focus will be videos, then you may want to go with the Canon, as I understand you can adjust the parameters easier while actually taking the video, but with the Nikon you have to set the aperture, exposure prior to starting the video. To be honest, the video is quite sharp with either, but to me a SLR is not the ideal body configuration for taking videos. Hard to zoom while shooting, etc., but it does make it possible to catch a nice video clip once in a while to add to your memories! So far, I've been really pleased with the Nikon D5100, and am still learning more of it's hidden features every day! Google "compare Nikon D100 vs. Canon Rebel T3i" and go from there! Good luck, and enjoy.
delija, spoken like a pro :D I see what you're saying about the lens hood!! Great input. Last month my daughter dropped her camera, and scratched the surface of her lens, as she did not have a protective lens (or hood) on the lens. I'll have to get hoods for all my lenses. Thanks for the feedback.