my first dSLR whoo hoo!

[rblissett]

I've always been a 'film guy'. Not for any purist reason, but more for out of necessity of getting a decent picture. And basically dSLR has been pretty much out of my price range :)

Anyway, I just bought and recieved a camera through a guy on ebay who's reserve I didn't meet. I emailed him after the auction and made an offer on his D60 with Sigma 28-70 mm lense, Canon 75-300 mm lense, camera bag, 3 years extended warranty and everything else that comes standard with it and got it all for $1450.00 (usd). Being from Canada, that equates to $2000.00 in my currency, but considering the D60 body alone is still priced at around $2200.00 around here I think I did pretty good.

So the minute I recieved it, charged up the battery and ran out and took some shots here's one of my results (I compressed for screen viewing) off my tiny 128 Meg card:

http://galleries.robblissett.com/IMG_2232.jpg

So I guess my only question right now is this... Is shooting in raw format going to make that much difference over the highest res JPG (and ya I do know that raw is an uncompressed format). When I was researching the camera over at dpreview.com they did a fairly comprehensive testing and it didn't seem like it would make a difference....

Now I just have to find me a value flash as the 550 is a little out of my league :(

See ya!

Rob

[martcol]

Congratulations Rob - sounds like you got a good deal and anything that brings you into Canon DSLRs is worth it!

The flower shot looks cool.

I think that the RAW/JPEG debate is complex and dependent on a number of things. If you search for RAW on this board there's plenty of discussion that will give advice and confuse further!

For me, I'm still battling away with RAW and conversion. However, JPEG output with my 10D is virtually faultless. RAW is important to people who demand absolute control on the finished article and I think it's worth getting to grips with. However, JPEG is efficient and quick.

There's no doubt I get monster files after converting RAW to Tiff and there's always heaps of detail/information in the image to tinker with in PS. However, it is time consuming and memory hungry. I usually find that I run out of CF space after a while shooting and switch to JPEGhalf way through my last card. I then know that I have a couple of hours at the PC to sift through the stuff that is worth keeping.

Deciding whether to use RAW or not is very personal and depends what you're aiming for. If you're shoting snaps/family pics then JPEG is adequate and your D60 will give fabulous results. If you are looking for large photos or tending towards pro semi-pro stuff then perhaps RAW is the way to go.

Anyway, most of all, love that camera. :D

Martin

[Barnsie]

Congrats on the new camera.

I've had my 10D since the end of March. I've been using a 420EX (the 550 was too rich for me at the time) and I really don't have any complaints. I do expect to add a 550 to my bag someday, but there certainly isn't any urgency.

When I bought the camera, I told myself that I'd shoot jpg until I was very comfortable with the camera, and then I'd go to raw. 6,000 shots later and I'm still on jpg, and I still have things that I want to learn about the camera before I start spending my time converting raw files. I did buy C1 limited, and I have converted some files, but I really don't see such a great advantage as to spend the time converting them. Maybe the professionals take perfect photos and the only way to improve them is in the coversion, but my photos tend to have five up front issues (exposure, composition, lighting, cheap glass, etc) that I can improve on before I start worrying about the tiny details. That's not to say I'm not very proud of some of my photos, it's just that I'd rather spend my time using the camera than sweating the little things. Try them both, you'll be able to tell which format suits you.

Have fun with the camera!

Chris

[CyberDyneSystems]

Same here,

I understand that RAW is better and advocate its use,.. but I would also say to ANY digital newbie,. shoot jpeg for a while so you can get used to the camera before tackling the additional complexities of the raw software etc.

On that note,.. I must admit that I still shoot jpeg probably about 75-80% of the time.

Have fun with the D60! Thats a great way to start learning Digital!

[rblissett]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'll probably experiment with a couple raw files... but by the sounds of things it sounds like jpg fine is the way to go!

Rob

[MarkH]

Yes JPG fine is a good place to start.

Shooting at ISO100 JPG fine I was able to take 45 shots in 55 seconds (5 bursts of 9). I find it quick and convenient and very high in quality.

On a 512MB card I can take 180-220 photos, I find 2 512MB cards good. I will be looking at buying a X-Drive2 with 40GB HDD soon though (more money *sigh*).

I have played with RAW a couple of times, I found it really didn't give me anything worthwhile.

Maybe RAW is worth it if you need to adjust your shots a lot after shooting (Exposure, WB, etc) and you don't go to a motor racing event and take 200-400 shots in one day :)