Potpourri starting Dec 14, 2009

[JPG]

A quick look at your manual on-line - I would say pick the "Best" setting which will shoot at 4MP resolution. You may want to pick up a second or third card.

Also, go in and turn off the "digital" zoom. Always best to shoot at the highest resolution, then using software (Adobe Photoshop Elements is my favorite consumer software) to crop the image to the size you want.

Remember, once you edit a picture do NOT save it over the original file. You can save it to a JPEG file giving it a unique name. TIFF is best as it is a "lossless" format, JPEG saves space hence it is a "lossy" format. Most of us have more than enough space on our computers to store the edited pictures in a TIFF format, however if you are going to email it to someone, you better change it to JPEG for the space savings.

So...

How many on a 2GB card? About 225 at 4MP setting
What mode? Best is ALWAYS best!
TIFF or JPEG? I couldn't see that you can select this on the camera - so I would guess that it saves to JPEG by default.

Shoot LOTS of test pictures - the go back and read the manual (again). Now shoot LOTS more test pictures, playing with the settings. Get to know your camera before taking "real" pictures.

And remember, this is FUN!

To the good direction above, I would add: Do Not Ever 'Delete' a picture no matter how bad you may think it is or how much better taking it again will improve upon it. This is especially true if you have not yet uploaded the pix off the memory card. There is No "Recycle" bin to get it back!:eek:

[colday]

Thanks, JPG!

I should have added...

Create a "Camera Originals" folder in your Documents folder. In that folder create a folder for each year.

When importing from your memory card (or directly from your camera) import them into the year subfolder.

And as JPG said NEVER delete a picture! You just never know when that out of focus, poorly framed shot will become the only record you have.

Even some of your "test" photos should be kept, after all space is cheap.

But, please do NOT "show" all two thousand pictures of Aunt Martha! That is what the Pictures folder within your Documents folder is for. Go though the pictures of Aunt Martha's birthday party, pick the best, run them threw a good photo editing software like Photoshop Elements, tweak them, crop them & save them in a non-lossy format within the Pictures folder. Then you can select the "selects" and create a slide show, print, or how ever you want to show them.

Treat the files within the Camera Originals folder as negatives, don't touch (modify) them, and don't delete them. When editing one of these "negatives" never "save" it, instead select "Save As..." and give it a new location & name. Backup this folder frequently & if you can keep a copy "off site". Over the years this folder will grow with UN-REPLACEABLE data, treat it as such.

Sorry, I get a little emotional about this subject!

I'll step off the soap box now...

[cocacola1012]

Backup this folder frequently & if you can keep a copy "off site". Over the years this folder will grow with UN-REPLACEABLE data, treat it as such.

Do you suggest saving it to Cd or DVD? I assume the DVD has more room on it.

[nllaeder]

Words of advice - Make each operation of making the table into a separate project. That way each operation will give a known level of completion. For example, the thickness and squaring of the materials can be an operation. The cutting of the width of the legs can be another. This may sound silly, but thinking this way will help you to focus on what your present work should be.

That's a good idea. Since I don't have a planer or jointer, my plan is to buy dimensioned wood.

Next question, most of the wood on the first floor of our house (except the floor) is dark dark dark. We just redid our kitchen (not quite done yet) and the cabinets are maple with espresso finish. I was thinking of making this table match that. What wood would you use? I don't want to pay $$ for cherry, and then stain it really dark so you can't tell what kind of wood it is.

[JPG]

Do you suggest saving it to Cd or DVD? I assume the DVD has more room on it.

I suggest an alteration to Colday's tip suggestion.

Rather then accumulating a years worth on one folder, create a subfolder for each time you upload pix with the date as the folder name.

This would allow you to immediately create a backup to cd of that subfolder.

The secondary backup(backup for the backup) could be done as Colday has suggested(bu the 'year') by copying the directory and all subdirectories at one time(each time a new subfolder is created). The total size required to store all that will determine if CD or CVD is appropriate

Finally(?) Store(as) someplace else(my documents\xxx\.... or my pictures\xxx.... Again create subfolders with meaningful names!

[nllaeder]

I suggest an alteration to Colday's tip suggestion.

Rather then accumulating a years worth on one folder, create a subfolder for each time you upload pix with the date as the folder name.

This would allow you to immediately create a backup to cd of that subfolder.

The secondary backup(backup for the backup) could be done as Colday has suggested(bu the 'year') by copying the directory and all subdirectories at one time(each time a new subfolder is created). The total size required to store all that will determine if CD or CVD is appropriate

Finally(?) Store(as) someplace else(my documents\xxx\.... or my pictures\xxx.... Again create subfolders with meaningful names!

We do this with progress photos at work, and the only problem is when you're looking for a specific picture you took a year ago, and you're pretty sure it was in March (or was that May?) you end up going through a million folders. If you set your camera to save the file as the date with a unique identifier, you can keep them all in the same folder, and it makes finding them later a lot easier, and still keeps them organized by date.

[mickyd]

A quick look at your manual on-line........

So...

How many on a 2GB card? About 225 at 4MP setting
What mode? Best is ALWAYS best!
TIFF or JPEG? I couldn't see that you can select this on the camera - so I would guess that it saves to JPEG by default..........

Steve - How'd you get the 225 pictures at 4MP? That would be almost 9MB per photo. Assuming 24 bit color and "typical" jpg compression level that most cameras use, I'd be expecting closer to 1000 pics on a 2GB card.
An uncompressed (RAW, tiff etc.) image from a 4MP, 24bit camera is around 32MB. 2GB card would hold about 62 of those.

[colday]

Steve - How'd you get the 225 pictures at 4MP? That would be almost 9MB per photo. Assuming 24 bit color and "typical" jpg compression level that most cameras use, I'd be expecting closer to 1000 pics on a 2GB card.
An uncompressed (RAW, tiff etc.) image from a 4MP, 24bit camera is around 32MB. 2GB card would hold about 62 of those.

I relied on a quick google search which led me astray!

I just found this:

With my Kodak digital camera you just go to the settings menu to change between megapixels. There is also a number that comes up when the camera is ready to take pictures that tells you how many more photos you can fit onto your storage card.
When I changed the settings on my camera, the amount of pictures or photos I could store changed. Here's the results:
6.1 megapixels = approx 1500 photos with a 2 GB storage memory card
5.4 megapixels = approx 1700 photos with a 2 GB storage memory card
4 megapixels = approx 2300 photos with a 2 GB storage memory card
1.9 megapixels = approx 3635 photos with a 2 GB storage memory card
70 minutes of video at 640x480 with a 2 GB storage memory card
240 minutes of video at 320x240 with a 2 GB storage memory card

I guess I've been shooting RAW too long.

And back to the "off site" backup. Thumb drives make this very easy & cost effective if your talking about <16GB of data. I have a small 2.5" HD (like the Western Digital Passport) that I clone my entire drive to once a month & leave that out of the house except when doing the clone.

My folder scheme is actually: /Camera Originals/"year"/"MonthDayYear" This is done automatically through Adobe Lightroom during import, which I also use to browse the photos. I also assign keywords to the photos to make this process easier. When I was on a PC I used ACDSee which just became available for the Mac as well. For the PC a home bundle is only $80 which will give you file management & editing.

Think long & hard about the scheme you want now because it will become a very daunting task years down the road!

Oh, and one more thing,

Don't try to use only one card - get a "few" of them & use them like rolls of film. That way if one gets lost or damaged you have not lost the entire project. I wouldn't dream of trying to "fill" a card, I would swap it out long before it is full. Don't use the memory cards for storage, download them ASAP to your computer & then back them up.

[mickyd]

With those stats in your quote above, either the compression setting is above normal or the color depth is lower than 24 bit. Those numbers are just too high. This table, although a tad (~15%) high, is consistant with the digital cameras I've owned over the years.
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[nomoman]

Oh, and one more thing,Don't try to use only one card - get a "few" of them & use them like rolls of film. That way if one gets lost or damaged you have not lost the entire project. I wouldn't dream of trying to "fill" a card, I would swap it out long before it is full. Don't use the memory cards for storage, download them ASAP to your computer & then back them up.

You're saying it is better to stop in the middle of shooting (ie wedding, party, school play) to change memory cards. This way the images do not all get lose or damaged at one time...