In the sample photos, it appears that there was some differing amounts of sharpening being done by the software as it converted the images. All software does this, because anything shot with a chip needs a little sharpening. When comparing the software packages, you need to find out what terminology that MFG uses to describe the sharpening. You should turn all of this OFF and then convert the images and compare them.
If you are really interested in W. Eugene Smith, you should get his book, "Let Truth Be the Prejudice". Front cover photo is Albert Schweitzer in Africa. Used to be $50 from Aperature Foundation. Well worth the money. Whenever I look at it I get inspired.
It contains a chapter about a community in Japan that was being polluted by a mining operation and causing horrible birth defects in the inhabitants. Smith took a very famous ichonic image of a Japanese mother lifting her deformed son out of a bath (2 page spread in his book). The photo was published and the mining company dispatched thugs who beat Smith so severely that he lost an eye and took photos the rest of his life with only one eye. Because of that photo, the Japanese government finally stepped in cleaned the place up.
Early in his life, he used a 4x5 field camera. Strongly recommend his book about his life and his photos. You would recognize many of the pics.
Ron D.
I assume you wish the pics to look like they were not taken in a Zoo. Zoo pics are readily distinguishable due to the angle, the closeness and the lighting. Try to deal with these and you will have better portraits instead of snapshots.
In addition to all of the correct comments here, some gray market goods will have firmware or camera controls written in a different language. For Japanese goods, some cameras come with commands and messages in Kanji script, some in French, some in German. So beware what you buy. It is frustrating, but to be safe, support US dealers.
Consider checking with a Canon repair facility. You may to get the motor replaced.
Did you get the software that comes with it? Yes, you should always calibrate your monitor, otherwise, the color and brightness of the images you are editing could be way off. If you are printing pictures, then you need to calibrate your printer as well.
If you use aperture priority you can control the shutter speed so it does not go too low to get a non blurred image. This is what I use most of the time. If you use shutter priority, then you have a harder time controlling the depth of field. Use this when depth of field does not matter.
Beautiful area. Some old homes there worth shots. If you get near the water, watch out for the gators.
If you have a laptop at a shoot, the camera will directly download the images to the computer, usually for an art director to immediately see the image. This can be a real PITA. But it slows things down a LOT. I have a WIFI adapter for my camera and have not found it very helpful.
Some Wedding suggestions:
Make a list of the shots you need. If possible, look at someone's wedding book to get ideas. The hotel where you are staying may have samples you can see that feature the local settings.
During the event, things get chaotic and you will forget a key shot you need.
Remember, you HAVE TO GET the shot. Take two or three of each key shot as backups.
Take Charge. At the event you are the photographer, not the father. You will need to be polite but somewhat forceful when telling people to line up etc. Really think about having a helper that is doing nothing else but helping you.
Practice practice practice. If it is outside, practice using a strobe set to minus 1.5 stops to fill shadows.
Have extra batteries and extra cards in your pocket.
Lastly, people are passionate about their weddings. Mothers in law especially want to see their kids wedding pics. Don't screw up. You cannot go back and get a shot that did not turn out.
Lots of pressure on you.
I have a Mamiya RZ67. Love it, great camera. The only downside is the weight. I have 120 and 220 film backs. Mamiya has a place to temporarily store the metal slide. If you are shooting and run out of film, quickly replacing the back is an easy way to get going again. Much better than having to reload a 35mm. Especially great when using B&W Infrared film. Change backs without requiring a black film changing bag.
If you are having trouble getting it to run in Windows 10, go into Windows File Explorer, go to the exe file you are using, right click and open "properties" and Compatibility, and designate it to be run under an older version of Windows like Vista or Windows 7.
Yes. I had to change software to VueScan. And it runs on Firewire connection, but it still works well.
If you are using 120 film, think about the Epson 750 scanner and doing "wet scans". These scans use Kami scanning fluid, (available from Aztec), and mimic a Drum Scan. Wet scans will fill scratches and eliminate dust. Kami makes scanning fluid and cleaning fluid for film. Basically, you build up a "dam" on the glass with a special tape, fill it with fluid and them immerse the negative or transparency in the fluid, cover it with special optical glass (available from most glass shops by special order) and scan it. Use maximum resolution in a TIFF format. I have done this with 100 year old silver nitrate cellulose negative with stunning results.
Consider Silver Fast software for your flatbed scans.