On a Budget
After a long wait I have decided to upgrade to a D-SLR. I have been using a Nikon P-80 for the last four years. I generally photograph my family and friends. However I really love and enjoy shooting macros. My budget is Rs. 3000035000.
1.Which D-SLR would best meet my requirements? I have no experience of using any SLR, but would prefer a Nikon for no apparent reason. However other brands are also not untouchable to me if you advice.
2. What should be the ideal work flow in Photoshop for just enhancing/improving, and certainly not manipulating, a reasonably good photograph? A friend recently advised me to use CMYK colour space for this purpose.
3. If I use a micro SD memory card with a suitable adapter instead of a normal SD card of the same capacity, will it make any difference to the speed and quality of my photography, from a technical viewpoint?
Dinesh Lakhanpal, Himachal Pradesh. 1. At the budget you have mentioned, you will not be able to get a D-SLR body and a macro lens. I suggest you first get a D-SLR. You may go in for Canon 1100D with its 18-55mm kit lens (currently Rs.26,990) or a Nikon D3100 with its 18-55mm kit lens (currently Rs.29,950). Then, as a temporary measure, buy a locally made +3 close-up filter. Using the combo, you may be able to satisfy your need for close-ups. Later on, when possible, buy a good set of imported close-up filters (+1, +2 and +4). Dedicated macro lenses cost much more and you may consider them at a later stage, when you have a better budget. 2. Basic workflow (for JPEGs) should be (a) Levels ( b) Spotting/removing dust marks etc. (c) Cropping/resizing, if required (d) Sharpening (e) Saving.
CMYK colour space is used when images are to be printed in books/magazines. For commercial printing through photo labs, it is best to check with your lab the colour space they use. Advanced Photoshop workers generally use Adobe RGB 1998 – which has a larger colour gamut – but change to sRGB if the images are to be put up on the web. 3. Quality should not change, but I am not too sure of the read/write speeds. From your question, I gather that you may want to use the same card in your mobile phone as well as in your camera. It would be better to have separate cards for both purposes.