Reader Question: Digital Cameras and Software

Question:

Hi Tony!

I’m going to try to make this simple. Retired,love my back yard birds of which some species I had to work on attracting them after reading (Back Yard Birds), Woodpeckers,Finches etc. I got good at this and was flabbergasted when I finally got to see my first woodpecker. This was a big event for me and now I want a camera to go along with this great media center windows xp computer with 20” wide screen monitor. I would like to purchased a middle of the road digital camera that is fairly user friendly and yet has some step up settings for defined photos. With so much software out there which would you advise for me in the type/brand of camera and the softwhere that makes things more simple. I also have the printer that can handle this,a ( all in one photo printer ),pic bridge.plenty ram,photo ink & paper,and a wide variety of supported memory cards of different cameras. It would greatly appreciated if you could help me on this subject about which camera and software.

This is a windows xp media center computer and the monitor & photo printer was in mind with this kind of computer. One more thing, a external hard drive. Would it be wise to have one for photo backup or what would be appropriate and gig size. I liked your simple kitchen photos since I also garden peppers of all colors for my homemade salsa. I also would like to be able to make 8×10 portraits-Pixels ?

Sincerely,JDEME

Print a photograph from a memory card Printing tasks Scanning/Copying/Faxing tasks Troubleshooting

Most digital cameras use a media card to store photos. The Dell Photo AIO Printer 964 supports the following digital media and USB keys:

CompactFlash Type I and II

Memory Stick

Memory Stick PRO

SmartMedia

Secure Digital

MultiMediaCard

xD-Picture Card (up to 512 MB)

DELL – 256 MB High Speed USB 2.0 Memory Key, Part Number 311-4341

DELL – 128 MB High Speed USB 2.0 Memory Key, Part Number 311-4340

DELL – 64 MB High Speed USB 2.0 Memory Key, Part Number 311-4339

Answer:

Heya. Obviously, I like bird photography, too. It’s hard, though, because birds like to keep their distance from people. To make matters worse, birds can fly, and we can’t. Oh, and birds almost never stop moving. Woodpeckers are especially hard because they don’t hang out at feeders, and instead prefer to stand on the sides of trees, usually very high up. (though now that I write this, I find I have several pictures of woodpeckers on bird feeders)

So, you’re not going to be able to walk up to a woodpecker and ask it to hold still. You need a telephoto lens to bring them closer without disturbing them. So, my recommendation for you is going to be similar to the recommendation I gave this guy:

• Canon Digital Rebel
• Canon 70-300 IS telephoto lens

If the $870 price tag of those two items freaks you out, buy an older generation Canon SLR from eBay. Any of the digital Rebels or a Canon 10D would serve you well. They’ll all have a 1.6x conversion factor that will extend that telephoto lens even farther, letting you get closer to the birds.

If you wouldn’t mind spending over $1000, get a Canon 30D instead of the Digital Rebel. The Digital Rebel should be fine for you, though.

Regarding software, Vista Ultimate has some great tools built-in for managing photos. You don’t need to upgrade the whole operating system, though. Adobe offers the Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition for free, and so does Google:

For more hard-core editing, I like Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Well, let me know what you decide on.