Computer as camera equipment.

[50/1.4]

I've never owned a computer and am using somebody else's. I'm going to buy the D60 replacement or a used D60. Which means I need a computer as a piece of camera equipment. Where is there a good source of information on what would be an optimum configuration for digital photography? I also want to know how much I'm going to have to sink into media over and above the cost of a DSLR and computer? TIA

[JohnMN]

Hi 50/1.4,

To answer your main question, to what level do you want to take your interest in digital photography? Is it just going to be a hobby or are you going to make a living at it? The amount of money on either of these two levels varies greatly and so does the kind of equipment you will need. I'm not familiar with the D60 or what kind of pictures it takes. But generally speaking, purchase the best equipment you can afford. That means, fastest processor, 256MB Ram (more for larger images), 17 maybe 19 inch screen, large harddisk (40GB), CD Rewriter or DVD Rewriter if you can afford it. Having one of these will allow you to make backup copies of your work and free up harddisk space. A good graphic card with at least 64MB of memory. For printouts, a good dotmatrix at one end of the scale or a colour laser at the other end (expensive!) and some good image editing software (Photoshop 7 or the much cheaper and equally effective PaintShop Pro 7).

JohnMN

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Budget, smudge it! :) It's only money. :D John makes sensible suggestions, but mine will not consider the cost.

Starting with software... John is correct that Paint Shop Pro is capable, but Photoshop is not the leader for nothing. With your D60 and PS, you could use Pekka's LinearSharpen actions (the D30 version is great, the new D60 version looks just as promising), Fred Miranda's actions and a whole bunch of other stuff, expertise and tutorials - most of which does not apply to, or can't be used with PSP.

CPU: yes, the fastest, but there's not much point in paying a premium for the absolutely latest thing.

Memory: 256mb is too little. Once you have decided on a PC, put in as much memory as it will take. 1gb is not unusual.

Hard disk: get at least two. Say a 32-40gb that you can partition for system and applications, and a 120gb for images files and scratch disk. If you are really serious, you could use FireWire, which would make it simpler to add new disks, if needed. I've just come back from a two-week vacation with around 1800 D30 images - 4gb before conversion to TIFF. If you have to start juggling space, it's a real PITA. Disk is cheap - buy lots.

Screen: as big as you can afford 19" at least. Those D60 images are big.

Graphics card: don't get fooled into buying a fancy 3D graphics card. They are for games players and won't help with digital imaging.

Back-up: DVD has much larger capacity that CD, although CD's are much cheaper and faster, but cumbersome when 650mb is only around 100 pictures for the D60. Don't get DVD-RAM - I made that mistake - it's like watching paint dry and cartridges are pricey (in the UK anyway).

Printer: I don't think John meant "dot matrix", but inkjet, which uses dots of ink. Inkjet printers now give superb photographic quality output for very little money. The Epson 1290, Epson 2200, Canon S9000 are all good for 200-600 bucks (approx).

My advice is don't cut corners unless you really have to, it will cost more in the long run.

Spend and enjoy - someone has to kickstart the global economy out of recession. :)

[hawg]

I agree with Roger's suggestions, to repeat something I've read in this forum 'buy cheap, buy it twice'. .

[50/1.4]

Thanks for the advice. I do not plan to make money with it. I am 52 with 2 grown children and a grandson. I plan on taking many more pictures than in the past, especially when I retire in 5 years. I am very experienced in film photography and not knowledgeable about digital photography/computers. I am learning a lot very quickly. Right now, I'm waiting for Canon's announcement on what their new DSLR(S) are going to be. Somebody at work did assure me I would need at least 512MB of RAM.

[Yeti Man]

A reasonably fast processor is good, but the premium price of the latest and greatest is better spent elsewhere... like on RAM.

256mb is not enough ram when it comes down to it. My last machine had 1.5 gig of ram, which was nice, one gig is a good point to be at... 512 megs will work well, but 1024 megs is worth it.

As others say, don't get too tied up on high end video cards. Fast video cards are for gaming.
Between the two main brands you will see, ATI and nVidea, ATI generally has better 2D quality. DO NOT settle for onboard video though. Buy a computer with an actual graphics card.

Monitors... A 19" monitor is nice (I have a 21"). You want an aperture grille monitor such as a Sony or one of the many other brands that use a Sony tube, not a (less expensive) shadow mask monitor.
The important spec is the aperture grille pitch, which will determine how sharp the image is. Smaller is better.
You want at least a .24mm pitch, .22 is about as good as it gets.

You are far better off with a 17" monitor with a .22mm pitch than a 19" with a .25 or .26mm pitch (which are VERY common!).

A good price/performance point is a 17" or 19" .24mm pitch which are widely available for a reasonable price.
I am using a 21" monitor with a .22mm pitch, but it is a horrendously expensive piece (~$1500).

Printers change fast enough i won't go into it.

[redbutt]

Somebody at work did assure me I would need at least 512MB of RAM.

Someone else said something similar to what I'm going to say, but this might be a better way to put it...get as much RAM as you can afford. Places you can skimp are processor speed and hard drive space. You don't need a P4 at 2+ Ghz. I've got a 1 Ghz AMD Athlon and it works great! Also, hard drives are cheap! So, don't worry about what the system has in it, because you can replace that in a heartbeat.

[Canon-1Ds]

I tend to disagree with Redbutt on this one. No one in their right mind want's to rip out a motherboard in order to "upgrade" to faster processors.
When you get a computer you tend to buy a motherboard that is at it's fastest or close to it and if you decide it's to slow it's a rip out, board, processor, RAM and a complete setup of your system again...AVOID !
Start with the fastest processor you can afford, minimum 80GB hard drive you can get a second one later or add a USB-2 external drive, a decent graphics card, RAM is cheap so minium 512mb (Extra RAM can be added anytime make sure you know what type it is and the bus speed). A decent monitor would be an idea as this will be the single item that all your photographic decisions will be based on.
I recently swapped mine for a flat panel, although very cool and space saving it takes time to adjust to it for photo work.
Wipe out about a month or so getting to know Photoshop, this programme is far from user friendly and was not designed by someone who works in photography.

After that get a life, see the world and post us some of your good work...LOL
(Been there, done it, designed the teashirt)

[redbutt]

Notice I said processor speed, not motherboard. In reality, you don't need the fastest processor money can buy. Now, 1Ds...you are a different story. If you have the camera that your moniker would indicate, you need a frickin super computer to handle the files that you are generating.