Re: digital cameras

**K* B* <k*@SpiritOne.com>**

Holy shit, this is (2.5 years) OLD information! But there¹s still some
useful stuff there... Hopefully the prices have dropped somewhat, at the
very least. This character (Larry Maupin) makes his living photographing
gardens and plants so he is a good resource... Now if only he had more
current postings... I¹ll keep looking.
~Kate

* * * * * * * * 

On 7/12/03 7:52 AM, "Larry Maupin" <larrymaupin@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> on 7/12/03 2:23 AM, tony fawcett at tonyfawcett@bigpond.com wrote:
>> > As a writer/photographer faced with publications I contribute to moving
>> over 
>> > to using digital submissions (perish the thought!!), I'm just interested if
>> > there are any members happy with digital cameras they might be using. And
>> what they might be.
> I am among the growing list of professional photographers who are "going
> digital," and I couldn¹t be happier. Three years ago I started with a Fiji
> point and shoot digital camera that made a 1.3 meg file ($300 in 2000). I took
> over 7000 photos with it before upgrading to a Canon G2, a 4 meg camera with
> many pro features ($700 in 2002). Photos from that camera have been printed in
> a variety of horticultural publications. Last month I purchased the new Canon
> EOS 10D, a pro grade 6.3 meg camera and I love it ($1500 body in 2003). It
> accepts the complete line of Canon lenses. The price is steep for most
> shooters, but it allow the photographer more control over the photographic
> process than a cheaper camera will. The quality and file size is well within
> and beyond the needs of most quality publications. This camera is actually the
> lowest priced digital SLR on the market today. The Nikon D100 currently sells
> for $1695, and was introduced a year ago based on the Nikon N80 film camera.
> The Canon blows the Nikon away, and it will be some time before a comparable
> Nikon is offered. Rumors say that Nikon is testing a new pro digital body with
> 12 megs for release in the fall -- around $5000 -- well over my budget.
> 
> For those with smaller budgets or just starting out, I highly recommend the
> Canon G2, which is still available at the reduced price of around $500. For
> $700 the G3 has a few better features and the new G5 is a 5 meg camera with
> more and better features for around $900. All of these Canon cameras are
> dependable, have a solid look and feel to them and have excellent optics.
> 
>> > I'm a committed 35mm
>> > Nikon/medium format Mamiya user with Velvia my preferred film and am
>> > despairing of having to supply the sort of flat looking
>> > digital shots that I see in so many other publications that have gone this
>> > way. The reason of course is economics (digital is so much cheaper in the
>> > longer term) ... and quality is the poorer. Any
>> > thoughts appreciated.
>> > Tony Fawcett
> Remember that when a publication uses your transparency for publication, it
> must be scanned, at which point your photo becomes digital. A nice, rich, dark
> slide looks great on your lightbox or in a slide show, but does not scan as
> well ? shadows go black and the image does lose some of its depth and dynamic
> look that a normal transparency will produce. ³Digital capture² in the camera
> replaces the scanning step and the quality of the digital image depends on how
> well the camera processes and stores the image and how well you process the
> image yourself before sending it to your editor. This last phase of the
> digital process is one that cannot be ignored. If you just open, crop and
> sharpen your images, you are leaving the important work of color correcting
> the file to someone else. Leave the cropping to the prepress people and don¹t
> sharpen ? it may ruin the image if overdone. Become skilled at Photoshop,
> either Photoshop Elements 2.0 at $99 or the full version of Photoshop 7.0 at
> $599. Do not underestimate the time needed to learn this software and to do
> your own ³processing.²
> 
> There is a serious time commitment needed to make the digital workflow work,
> but I believe the benefits are worth it. Did you ever shoot a beautiful scene
> only to find a bit of trash in the picture when you get your slides back? We
> all have. With digital you can salvage the image easily ? just clone out the
> trash. You can also darken the background, remove worm holes in leaves and
> make myriad other retouches that improve the image while retaining its
> integrity. You could say that the publisher will make those corrections, but
> they won¹t ? in most cases they don¹t have time. They just skip over your
> image in search of one that needs no correction. Like it or not, we are all in
> marketing, helping the publisher get the message out to the public. We all
> need to put our best foot forward in this effort. Digital helps that to happen
> if we do our part well.
> 
> With the amount of shooting I do, I will pay for my new Canon body in about 15
> months in the savings on film and processing costs, at which point a newer
> Canon WhizBang Z5000 or some such will be luring me back into the camera
> store. But I still have my 35mm Nikon and 645 Mamiya systems also. My new
> garden photography workflow involves shooting digital for almost all subjects
> ? those which will be used as small photos on ³inside² stories. Any scene or
> subject which may be a candidate for a cover, calendar, full page or a spread,
> I shoot Velvia in my Mamiya 645. I have covered 98% of the possible uses with
> this method. And since the majority of images never see the light of day
> anywhere, they cost me almost nothing to create and store. It works for me.
> 
> I hope this helps you make the move to digital as painless as possible. Come
> on in ? the water¹s fine!

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