Phtotography
Phtotography
I'm looking for cataloguing software to help keep track of our burgeoning number of images. We currently use Adobe Photoshop Album and would continue to use but it doesn't support raw files (Nikon NEF) and is rotation of JPEG's is lossy.
I'm looking for a tool that is
- easy to use (at least one normal person will use this software)
- supports lossless rotation of jpeg's
- supports Nikon RAW files
- will help keep track of files as they are edited (ie it understands that 3 different files are the same images at different stages in their processing)
- supports tagging similar to Photoshop Album. Album allows you to define tags and then attach them to photos. This is a much more powerful concept than textual keywords because there is never any risk of mistyping one and never be found again.
I tried IMatch from phototools.com it's powerful (NEF support, lossless rotation), but the UI is a bit haphazard and there is a real learning curve. In addition there is no built-in delete you have to use a script.
In addition I'm aware of:
What can you recommend?
Update: It looks Jon Lam is looking for same sort of solution: http://www.iunknown.com/CommentsWithEntry.aspx?EntryId=7aa85bfb-9379-434b-b87c-46ef4f0ce9c9
Tim has an excellent article
On Digicams.
After doing a lot of work Fazal answer's my question "Is the NEF Compression lossy - as claimed by Thom Hogan? or lossless as claimed by Ken Rockwell?" - It is lossy. See
Is the Nikon D70 NEF (RAW) format truly lossless? for all the details. In addition Fazal's essay
The megapixel myth - a pixel too far? is a clear explanation of why more megapixels are not necessarily better. All in all a great Blog. Subscribed.
They could be little more use than coasters after just two years. via Rob Galbraith. Given that DVD's are likely to suffer similar problems what's a guy to do? Punch Cards? Seriously - I'm not sure how to keep my images around long enough to be my daughters problem. I don't really want to migrate from media to media every couple of years. Ideas?? I'm all ears.
Update: Scott Hanselman asks a similar question in The Problem of Persistence: Storing and Backing up One's Life a Gigabyte at a Time and gets some interesting replies including Wired Prairie - Backups. Is anyone out there using tapes? How long do they last? Including the hardware, is it cheaper than gigabytes of external hard disk?
Having spent way too much time recently reading about the Nikon D70, I want one.
I've read reviews at:
- Mac Digital Photo
- Gizmodo
- digitalreview.ca (less a review and more like a reread of the spec sheet)
- KenRockwell.com (he's in love with it)
- Thom Hogan Update he just posted the review - I like Thom because he does a really good job exposing all the little annoyances.
- Hardware Zone
- Petri Kekkonen - personal experiences
- e-fotografija.com (Spanish? - translated to English)
- Nrfoto Bjrn Rrslett - a Norwegian Nature photographer
- Compact Flash performance - compares the performance of different CF cards.
- Outbackphoto.com an "experience report" not a detailed review
- dpreview.com Phil Askey's review
- Steve's digicam review Only a "first look" - however it was a bit disappointing - he seemed to be just cheerleading. Others have noted limitations of Picture Perfect. Steve just cheered.
- Moose Petersen - quick user report
- Clint Thayer - another quick user report
- Yatish Kumar - an excellent review, not as long as dpreview, but pointed out a few details that I wasn't aware of.
- Imaging-Resource.com - Another good (& exhaustive) review. This one has an excellent section on the flash system (SB-800) and using it wirelessly.
- DCRP Review: Nikon D70 by Jeff Keller - another solid review. Jeff also has some sample shots http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/nikon/d70-review/gallery.shtml
- Dcviews.com - I only scanned it quickly. There doesn't seem to be a ton of new stuff here.
- Mark Ghosh's review from an amateur/ - Short and to the point
Some open questions:
- Is the NEF Compression lossy - as claimed by Thom Hogan? or lossless as claimed by Ken Rockwell? I don't who to believe. In addition Rob Galbraith in his D70 preview said D70's RAW NEFs are only the compressed variety. In both cases, the compression is said to shrink the files 50-60% and is visually lossless but numerically lossy. A conclusive answer http://www.majid.info/mylos/weblog/2004/05/02-1.html - Their lossy!!!
- Does the included Nikon software allow you reprocess the NEF files with, in the same way the camera does after the fact? In other words, if I'm shooting NEF, when I get home can I change the saturation or the white balance? Yes, these things and others can be changed in Nikon Capture.
Too bad the total Canadian price (body, lens, flash, 1GB CF, extra battery & remote are > $3000 Canadian). Maybe if I raid my daughter's university tuition fund. Hmmmmmmm.
BTW as I find more useful info or samples I will update this post.
Interesting comparison by Thom Hogan the D70 with the Canon D300 - they both have their good points. This isn't an attempt to provoke the wrath of Canon owners, they produce great cameras, but 15 years ago I choose Nikon. After accumulating a lot of glass - I couldn't readily switch over.