>Okay, my scanner is shot, my digi-cam is crap, my program is crappy, my
>pictures suck and somehow my JPGs get turned into GIFs somewhere between
>my computer and my server. (In my computer files the extensions are jpg.)
>So what digital cameras do all of you use? And what picture programs are
>the best? Also, what's the best scanner?
Shyrell,
I am sorry ... I missed the beginning of the thread possibly where you told us
what your scanner, camera and program were. Much depends on what you will be
doing with the photographs in my opinion. If you will be mostly sharing
photographs on the web then cameras as "primitive" as those with 1 megapixel
sensors will produce acceptable results in many cases. I used an Agfa 1280 for
a few years and then a Nikon 950 and then a 990 (3 Megapixel I believe) which
is what I have now.
For a flatbed scanner I have a cheap Umax scanner with a 4x5 inch transparency
window. I also have an Epson 1240 (similar to the Umax) or something like it
rescued from the trash at school. The drive belt came loose. Fixed it and it
works fine. Both have OCR capability which I like. Scans of prints are fine
with each.
I don't have a higher end 35mm film scanner. Have a PrimeFilm 1800 that cost
about $150 and I don't think it is very good but at small sizes it is fair.
I happen to use Photoshop 3, 5.5 and 6 depending on what machine I am on.
Sometimes I get to use 7 something. But much of the capability of Photoshop is
lost on me. I've used something like Microsoft Photo Editor and also Agfa's
Photowise with good results. I suppose I could use the software that came with
the 990 or the one with a Kodak camera my wife has. For "basic" stuff they are
all useable - like the PrimeFilm 1800u! :)
What is the best scanner? How much money do you have? There are many excellent
ones out there. I particularly like the ones with dust removal capability like
Digital ICE - now a Kodak product. But Minolta, Nikon, Canon, Epson, Polaroid -
they all make excellent scanners (I am sure I left some other ones out, sorry)
There is no reason why jpeg files should get transformed into gif files. I
think this is a major problem and it is the one I would try to solve first.
If you upload a jpeg file to your web directory it should remain a jpeg file.
I am not sure any of this helps but it is my opinion that in general most
equipment and software has much greater potential capability than what I can
use.
cheerio,
andy
