Digital Cameras
 

Does anyone have any experience with the Olympus Cameda E-10 Digital Camera? I have a Nikon CoolPix 900 but it does not shoot fast enough and the resolution is not high enough for me. Also, If one travels with a digital camera is there an easy way to download pictures without having to carry a computer with you?

Thanks

You can download files onto a mini disk using the Iomega Clik. Then when you are back at your computer, via the Iomega docking station which is part of the Clik, you download them off of the disk onto your computer. It is a fairly non-hassle system, although by the time I invested in it, I wondered if I would have been better off buying more smartmedia cards instead- I'm not really sure.

Karin,

I floated into this forum recently and I

Karin,

For travel, just buy an image chip or two. I bought a 125Meg version and I can take at last 116 highest quality images with it.

A modest laptop would be a great asset though. I

Coolpix 950 Nikon digital camera
 

Dear Bill,

I have been using a 950 Coolpix Nikon digital camera borrowed from a friend of mine. This is a wonderful camera to take photos of my work and in many ways is far superior to my 35mm camera. With the 950 Nikon, I am able to take great photos of my work indoors without flash. My studio's walls are painted white, and with the windows (one north facing and one south facing), the lighting is shadow-free and glare-free. The only real problem I have is holding the camera absolutely steady. Do you have any suggestions? I use the iPhoto software by U-Lead to edit (crop, adjust size of file, lighting) my photo. I first save the downloaded file as a .tif file. Apparently, this is the best file to save all the information. I can then save another file as a .jpg and do the editing. Again, do you have any suggestions?

Andrea,

I

Thanks, Bill
 

This will save my using up so much space on my hard drive with the tif files. I do like the convenience and size of the jpg files. What paper do you prefer when printing out 8x10's? I have a three-year-old HP Deskjet 722c that I use for printing brochures, business cards, correspondence, etc., etc. Are laser printers better for printing photos? Any suggestions for printing 8x10's for my portfolio? I like the control I have over my own printing.

Thanks, again. You've been a treasure of information for us who visit the Stroke of Genius web site.

Printing 8x10's
 

I have an HP 932C and I'm very happy with the quality, though I'd suggest going one step higher to get a larger papaer feed tray. I believe the next step up is a 955C. However, there are things to consider such as dpi when scanning and printer settings.

See my answer to "Another Digital Camera Question" at http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...p?threadid=186

When a .tif file is important
 

If you want to give a digital file to a traditional printer, you will want to give them a .tif file. A .tif file is not lossy and a .jpg is.

The .jpg format (not compressed too much) is ok for printing on a computer printer, but for the printing press, you'll want a .jpg.

What about the paper?
 

Hi, Cynthia,

I think I will investigate the HP 932C printer you suggest. I would like some input into what papers are used for brochures and business cards. I have been experimenting for three years, buying everything on the market, trying to duplicate professional quality brochures. Thanks, Cynthia.

I actually recommend that you go up one model from the 932C. The 932C is more for transporting and thus has a paper tray that folds up flat against the printer, but it holds less paper.

I'm not sure what paper you're tried, but I know there is paper specifically for inkjet printers. Jack Pardue prints his own brochure. Maybe I can get him over here for his input.

For portrait samples, you might want to try photo paper. I've tried them on photo paper and they came out quite nice.

This is getting off into computer things and really should be in the Computer Corner. Maybe I can copy these last posts over there.

Good grief Andrea!

I have answers that work for me, but I

Thanks to everyone this evening
 

Hi, Cynthia, Bill, et al,

This has been a great day on the forum for me. I've found that printing my own business cards is great. I have been using the Avery matte white cards (10 to a sheet). I print my name, phone number and email address on one side and on the other side I print a portrait. I print about six different portrait business cards.

Bill, I sympathize with you about your eyesight. I have presbyopia for which there is no miracle operation yet, so I have to rely on strong glasses. I visited your website, www.williamwhitaker.com. Your work is truly superior, and I particularly enjoyed the demonstrations. I shall pass along your web address. Did you photograph "The Secret" with your digital camera? I right clicked on the mouse and "zoomed in" twice. The detail and color are incredible on my monitor.

Digital Video
 

I have used a digital video with success in developing the composition for portraits involving more than one subject, particularly where children or a pet are concerned. As you shoot, the people and animals in the group all move around naturally in changing relationships to one another and against different backgrounds. With a digital video each frame can be isolated into a jpg, tiff, or whatever file producing a discrete image. The process is simple - hook the camera to your TV and computer; watch the video on your TV, and each time you see an image that appears to be what you want in terms of composition press a button on the hand-held remote and that image is captured in your computer. You can then manipulate them like any scanned image - e-mail them, print them out, etc.

The camera I've used belongs to a friend and though it is high end the resulting images don't have adequate resolution to paint from. But isolating the images and printing them out gives me many ideas to bring to the client. We decide on the composition from the video stills, and then I shoot the photos with a high-end digital or 35mm camera to work from to supplement actual sittings.

I haven't done it yet, but I think it would be neat to shoot a little video of the family unveiling the portrait, or a testimonial from the client shot on video in front of the portrait, and then integrate that into your web site.

Cynthia Kelly
Brand new to the forum

I have borrowed 2 different Olympus digital cameras to photogragh my paintings, and I can't remember the exact models, except that one costs $800 and the other $400. I was disappointed with the quality of the photos as they appear on my monitor (I haven't printed anything out yet). I posted a painting on the critiques thread and later realized that the image (the flesh)is somewhat blotchy primarily because the reds appear stronger than they should. I photographed the painting outside. I have photographed some other paintings and they all need adjusting. The images are a little fuzzy and in one portrait the eyes are too light. My husband was able to darken them with some tool on the computer. All the photos needed to have "noise" minimized, color saturation increased and brightened.

Needless to say, I am disappointed with these cameras. Has anyone else encountered similar problems? I'm going to check out the cameras mentioned here and I hope that in the not-too-distant future I can buy one.

Generally, (depending on your printer!) the print is far superior to anything the average monitor can display. I recently switched over from a Lexmark to an Epson, and find the colors to be FAR closer to WYSIWYG.

I recommend you always use photo-grade paper for prints. I have had great success with my Kodak DC215 Zoom, and it was only $350.00 about 18 months ago! It's only 1 megapixel, but produces really nice reference work. Good luck.

David,
Thanks for the advice. Are you saying that if I want to post a picture of a painting that I will get better results if I scan an image that I've printed?

Hi, Pam.

Not really. Being constrained to a 400 pixel limit, width or height, I don't think it would make a difference. For a posting, a well edited direct-from-digital will likely be best.

Cynthia has worked some real magic with other postings using her software!

David,
It sounds like if I post another painting I should email Cynthia first and get advice on editing and adjusting the image. Becoming a better painter will help, too. The digital image emphasizes flaws that I would have otherwise overlooked.

Pam,

Here's my post in Computer Corner about getting a good scan from a photo:

http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...=&threadid=274

If you have input from a digital camera, just start with item #2 in that post.

Sony and Epson
 

I got a Sony F707 5.0 pixels and print with an Epson photo 785. I made a rich (dense-high res) shot of a model, standing at about 60mm zoom. This was her from head to foot with some of the room included. I printed out just a close-up of her face on an 8x10. You see her contact lens in the photo.

I got the same camera a couple of weeks ago, and the resolution is incredible. Features are good as well.

When you are photographing with a digital camera how do you control the depth of field? For film cameras you would adjust the fstop or aperature. Is it similar for the digital?

Mine is. I use aperature priority lots with this very issue in mind. This one operates much like the slrs. Some magic stuff happens inside that I don't want to understand. These cameras that cost less than $2,000. can be much slower. I can't affod the ones that will use your existing lenses and let tons of light in.

Wow, I am really jumping in here late. Just the word Nikon sounds expensive to me, so if anyone is still looking for a camera, I have had great luck with the Sony Cyber-shot 3.2 mega pixels. The mega pixels is the main feature to look for. If you want any images to remain "fine" you should not go lower than 3.2. Unless you are a professional photographer and might be shooting for outdoor, this format should work great.

Regarding printers: I was going to link you to the greatest software for color inkjet printers, but just saw they no longer support it. If you have an Epson or other more commercial type printer (mine is an 1140) try to locate a copy of "StyleScript"; this is a knock-off of postscript ripping software for printers. You cannot tell the difference between a color laser and an inkjet with this software, images look wonderful, color is good; not print proof acceptable but comp-wise it is great. The only drawback is it really slows down the proccess.

Remember when printing, regarding paper choices, most people do not realize they must go in and select the paper they are using based on the print quality and color matching selected... there are a number of choices, plain, photo, matte, glossy, card, etc. If you run a nice glossy photo paper with it set to plain, you are not going to get as good resoulution.

Good luck!

Mike, the better ones allow you to adjust everything like before plus more. The cameras can read the light source temperature and there's no printing or neg shift.

Everything is new, but when you spend over $750 or so you get all features that the film cameras provided. I thought the learning curve moved pretty easily into digital.

p.s. Unless you spend over $3K you do have a smaller maximum aperture (and lens) which simply must require longer exposures - maybe about 25% more on my camera.