I'm Computer Illiterate and Need Help Choosing Equipment!

2whlrcr

This may get long because I have a lot questions, but I will try to keep it short and precise. I have played with photography for a long time, so I know the basics and have my own B&W film darkroom setup.

I've wanted to get more serious about digital photography, so I went out and bought a Canon 30D with associated lenses. I had a digital point and shoot, but hated it's lack of versatility. I'm afraid my weak link is now my computer and maybe my printer?

Here's what I've got:

Mac Mini with:
OSX 10.3.9
1.25 GHz processor
256MB RAM
40GB hard drive

Canon iP5000 printer

I have read through the stickies and past posts trying to understand all of this. I must confess I get lost quickly, because I don't understand all of the technology or terminology.

The only thing I use my computer for is internet access and now photo processing and filing. I don't have any additional software loaded, only what came with the computer. No games, no nothing. So I don't think I'm bogging it down with a bunch of stuff.

I have been using the iPhoto that came preinsalled. The obvious downfall to me, is my images look unsharp or out of focus on my monitor, when processing. Once I upload to my Smugmug account they are much clearer?
This makes it extremely difficult to accurately tell if something is in focus or needs sharpening? I also use the basic exposure and white balance controls provided, but again I'm only guessing at what the final results are going to look like.

I'm assuming I need to upgrade my current system or buy a new one, like an iMac? Should I invest in better photo software? I have been afraid of Photoshop CS, because I heard it is very complex. I need things to be simple. I currently only shoot in JPEG, but I would like to experiment with RAW. I really only see myself doing minor white balance, exposure, sharpness and cropping controls. What would be a good choice? Apeture 1.5, Photoshop Elements or maybe something else?

I have also been disappointed in my printed photos. They are not bad, but just don't seem to have the punch that film does or even what I see on my Smugmug account. I was curious and ordered a print from SmugMug to compare it to one of my printed photos. No comparision. The SmugMug was so much nicer! How do I do this at home?

One last issue that scares me a little. I seem to have a problem with my SmugMug account. Very frequently when I'm on SmugMug, it locks up and I loose my internet connection? If I'm photo sharing to a website, like Adventure Rider, I lose all my editorial and photos. This can become very frustrating and time consuming. And it can happen repeatedly. I have never noticed this lock up on any other website, only SmugMug?

I have a wireless internet connection, no hard line to the house. My upload times are very slow. I had a test run on the ISP and the results are poor. I don't know if this has anything to do with my SmugMug lockups, but I am thinking of changing ISP's, because I forsee uploading a lot more photos than I currently do.

Any help or advise to my questions would be greatly appreciated. Again, don't get too technical, or you will lose me.

Thanks

wxwax

Whatever system you choose, you need more RAM memory. Right now you only have 256MB. That's not nearly enough. 2GB would be better (that's eight times more memory than you have now.)

You'll want a bigger hard drive than 40GB too. That will soon be filled up.

I don't know anything about iPhoto, haven't used it. Photoshop is very complex. Elements is considered first rate and user friendly. I'm not sure if it can handle RAW files. Learning how to use photo software properly is an excellent way to give your photos the "pop" you feel they're missing.

I'm puzzled by the "out of focus" thing. When you look at your images in smugmug, and they seem sharper... are you viewing them at the same size as when the photos are in your computer? A smaller version of an image will seem sharper when it isn't.

Is your internet connection dial-up, broadband cable, satellite or DSL?

Nikolai

2whlrcr
I second what Sid just said.

Speaking for myself: I have 1Gb of RAM and just ordered the second one, since CS3 looks a bit greedier on the RAM than CS2 was.

I also ordered a 500Gb HDD, since my current combo of 160+300 is already 90% full, and that's only after ~16 months shooting RAW:-).
Hopefully it will last long enough and the Blu-Ray burners become affordable.

Welcome to Dgrin!

HTH

2whlrcr

wxwax wrote:

I'm puzzled by the "out of focus" thing. When you look at your images in smugmug, and they seem sharper... are you viewing them at the same size as when the photos are in your computer? A smaller version of an image will seem sharper when it isn't.

Is your internet connection dial-up, broadband cable, satellite or DSL?

Yes, I am viewing them at approximately the same size. The clarity difference is fairly great, not subtle. Maybe it has to do with my lack or memory or just a shortcoming of iPhoto?

I have satellite internet connection. Last night when working with SmugMug, I locked up and lost my connection at least ten times. This does not happen on any other website?

wxwax

2whlrcr wrote:

Yes, I am viewing them at approximately the same size. The clarity difference is fairly great, not subtle. Maybe it has to do with my lack or memory or just a shortcoming of iPhoto?

I have satellite internet connection. Last night when working with SmugMug, I locked up and lost my connection at least ten times. This does not happen on any other website?

The focus thing is puzzling. Don't know what to make of that.

I understand that satellite has very slow upload speeds, not that much faster than dial-up. Especially if you have weather, I can see how the connection might be broken before the upload is complete.

HiSPL

I think iPhoto applies a blur to an image when you are viewing it just like preview does. It is meant to mask any noise and soften features. 99% of the people that use iPhoto are taking full flash pics with their wizbang pocket digital and this softening helps out tremendously.

iPhoto is not a good choice for your needs. You should have gotten Photoshop Elements with your camera right? It came with my wifes 20D. Elements will be a good choice for image manipulation, but I would also suggest Adobe Lightroom. It is laid out a little more logically for photographers, and it does everything you need it to do if you are just tweaking white balance and levels. It's really easy to use too.

Good Luck!

DavidTO

The iPhoto thing is how it deals with anti-aliasiing. It's a trade off. In Photoshop when you resize (viewing) to add sizes the image gets a jaggy kind of look. That's the route that Adobe took. Apple took the approach of making the smaller views of images easier on the eyes by applying anti-aliasing. It's neither right nor wrong, just a different approach. Both are inaccurate for determining focus and sharpening.

The anti-aliasing is only "on" for when you're viewing the image smaller than the original size. So the solution to your problem is to view it at the original resolution.

Here's an Apple Knowledge Base article.

2whlrcr

Sounds like I need to get out of iPhoto. Any thoughts on Aperture 1.5, other than it costs three times as much as Elements. I did not get Elements software with my 30D.

We are planning on moving in the next couple of months and I will drop the satellite internet connection then and most likely go with DSL. I will need the faster upload speeds.

Does anybody have any guesses to why my SmugMug keeps crashing? Or should I post this question in the SmugMug section?

Thanks

DavidTO

2whlrcr wrote:

Sounds like I need to get out of iPhoto. Any thoughts on Aperture 1.5, other than it costs three times as much as Elements. I did not get Elements software with my 30D.

We are planning on moving in the next couple of months and I will drop the satellite internet connection then and most likely go with DSL. I will need the faster upload speeds.

Does anybody have any guesses to why my SmugMug keeps crashing? Or should I post this question in the SmugMug section?

Thanks

You may need to get out of iPhoto, but the anti-aliasing is not the reason, IMO. In any application, in order to accurately determine focus and sharpening you should be looking at 100%.