It will be another couple days until we get back home to Yichang (currently hanging out in the fantastic city of Nanjing) and a regular internet connection again.
Many people have asked me what I might recommend for a digital camera. Technology changes pretty quickly, and you can hardly go wrong with one of the name brands (Canon, Nikon, Sony). When shopping, be sure to check out the camera reviews online. I primary use Steve’s Digicam’s reviews. If you already have an investment in an SLR, you’ll probably want to get a system compatible with your current lens set. Otherwise, if you’re in the market for one, here’s what I recommend:
Equipment
Canon Digital Rebel XTi 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Black Body Only)
SanDisk ULTRA II 4GB Compact Flash Card
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens
Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 Image Stabilized USM Lens
Photography Software
We don’t do a lot of post processing of our images. However, we do use software for some basic color correction and photo organizing. Since our Dell is a little older, I’ve had to find software that doesn’t tax the cpu too much. We’ve found Fotoalbum to be great for our current workflow and still pretty speedy for our 30,000+ photos. When we move to a Mac in the fall, we’ll start using Aperture.
We use Flickr as a backup and for our pictures on the website. If you take any pictures at all, it’s well worth the $25 a year for the unlimited uploads and great website picture links.
That’s all for now. We’ll post more after we get home!
Jacob here, thought I would pass on info on my equipment.
Canon 40D
Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM (Wanted a bit faster than the f/1.8 had to offer. This is my favorite lens as well.)
For 95% of my post processing work, I use Adobe Lightroom. An amazing piece of software!!
As for backups, well, a good Raid 5 NAS or external storage device is the way to go for me.
It’s very likely there will be an update to the MacBook line in the Fall, so if that is what you are looking at, make sure you wait until it’s released. Generally what happens with Macs is the new, updated, model gets released at the same price as the model it is replacing – so if you are off by a couple of weeks (too early, you get somewhat less computer for the same $$)
If you don’t do a great deal of post-processing on your photos, you may be satisfied with iPhoto’s capabilities. That’s what I use about 95% of the time, only occasionally using Photoshop for more intricate pp jobs. (My iPhoto library has about 70k photos – it seems to handle the load pretty good.)
Oh, and the Nikon d60 rocks – the kit comes with VR (anti-shake) lens and you can pick up a 50mm – 1.8 prime for around $100 in HK (so it may be cheaper in the states.) I know, I know, Ford / Chevy; Mac / PC…
Y’all are getting a mac? How exciting! I would NEVER go back to the PC world… ever since Steve converted me to a MAC user I was hooked. Hope y’all love them too!
Hey, thanks for the great info! We’re looking to buy a new camera soon. I’ll take your recommendations!
Well, I am a rookie… just in the last 2 years have I really started to take photography more serious… my secondary camera is a Canon S3IS but then I went and got myself a Canon Rebel XSi… it has the 18 – 55mm lens on it… but I also bought a Canon 75 – 300mm autofocus lens the other day… oh I love it… I feel myself getting sucked in more and more to taking photos and experimenting with everything to get better at it… not that I will make millions from it all… hehe…http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiefliss/