I just got one. Looks and feels great. I need to understand the manual. In the meantime, the program that comes with it for editing seems quite weak. What would you all recommend for an editing program?
I would recommend Photoshop Elements. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of full blown Photoshop, but it also doesn't have the full price either. I have a copy of Elements and it does everything I need for digital photography. If you want pro level editing, and you have a Mac, check out Apple's new Aperture, or go with Photoshop.
Chris' suggestion is good. My choice was Paint Shop Pro version 7 for starters. I am now using PSP9 and soon will upgrade to version 10. PSP has almost all the features of Photoshop, without the high price tag.
Without hesitation, Photoshop Elements 3.0. You'll find the most comprehensive user groups and guidebooks for Photoshop. Having used both Paint Shop Pro (6.0 on Windows) and a few versions of Photoshop Elemements (2.0 and 3.0 on OS X) I can say that PSP is easier to learn the basics with but PSE is easier to use in the long-run. To each his own, I guess. P.S. - Good call on the Nikon!
Mark As my better half is really into photography I purchased for her last year a Nikon D70 as well. She does however prefer her Medium Format Camera and Lens and standard film. Still the results from the D70 are quite remarkable. It came with Photoshop elements. By far this is a good entry level program. It does not have all the Bells and whistles of Photoshop 7.0 or CS. It does however give you a semi automatic process to generate some good results. In particular the panoramic function is not bad and produces interesting results. If you are going to try the Nikon NEF format. You will need to purchase Nikon Capture. Price is around $100.00 Canadain. Well worth the price for high resolution phots. Good Luck and great choice in camera. Additional Edit - I forgot one thing. I also purchased the following Tutorial on Digital photography, which I and her highly recommend, (No Sponsorship Intended)perhaps a little in depth but it does get into Digital editing using Photoshop elements and Photoshop CS. http://www.123di.com/ This is well worth the $50.00 US price tag Best of luck [ November 01, 2005, 11:35 AM: Message edited by: okane ]
Mark, I use Photoshop CS2--but that's a work requirement. I'm not sure what's in Photoshop Elements. CS2 has a great plug-in called Camera Raw. If that is in Elements, then you can shoot raw. Once you get to know the raw mode, you might not ever use anything else. The free Nikon software is incredibly weak (and cripples the Camera Raw feature of Photoshop!) I don't use Nikon Capture (retail about $129 U.S., I believe), but photographers who do like it a lot. Again, it's been a while since I looked at the package. It does have a neat distortion correction feature. The D70 is sharper and has better color balance than the D100. But both cameras are more capable than the lenses typically packaged with them in kits. That's what's keeping me from the pro D2X--I can't justify the expense of pro lenses--yet. I've found D70 images pretty easy to process--unlike D100 images, which are good but require some adjustments in terms of my approach to them. With either camera, you'll need a good computer monitor to really get the most out of your images. I work on a dual-monitor display--one expensive, one cheap, same resolution on both. When I flip images between monitors, it's amazing how much more I can see on the expensive one. One of the most important rules: Have Fun!
Peter The expensive monitor, what is type and model number. Our "Good Monitor" packed it up, and I need a new one. Did you use a particular calibration software to calibrate the monitor? When working in Photoshop are you using RGB or CYMK? Hope you do not mind the questions
Not at all, Owen. I'm using a 23 inch Apple Cinema monitor for my main display, as I'm on a Mac G5. I think there is only one model. I love it. I'm probably going to the 30 inch model before the end of the year. I used to use a huge 23-inch ViewSonic CRT, which weighed about 100 pounds and took up huge amounts of desktop. My wife uses it now. The other monitor is a cheap analog Samsung. I used to have a 20 inch Apple Cinema display, but it got damaged (don't ask). The Samsung really just gives me real estate to position tools and other windows while I work. Calibration is a big problem. Right now I'm calibrated for a standard printing standard, SWOP-something. Actually my local digital printer calibrated it for me with this expensive piece of equipment, since I send him so much work. I could write a book on calibration, but just don't have time tonight. Most monitors have calibration routines: I use the one suggested for professional printing, which means a lower gamma and a lower color temperature, essentially. I usually edit in RBG, 16-bits/channel, and switch back and forth between RGB and CMYK, since most of my products are for print. CMYK eliminates the gamma problem--you can't see what won't print. The "View>Gamut Warning" feature is really helpful in deciding what to do with images, and it only works in RGB, 8-bits/channel, since CMYK automatically eliminates it. So I also switch between 8 and 16 bit per channel. BTW, there's no chance of calibrating the Cinema Display with the Samsung. Boy, we've tried! We're close enough for government work. Actually, the two are not close at all.
