What's everybody using???

Just out of interest, what is everybody using for their digital shoots??

Is your studio completely digital?? If not what %age do you shoot digitally??

Do you do weddings digitally??

Are you planning on updating your camera (or starting digital) within the next few months?? If so what to??

[Nick_Ridley]

Carole,
Good to see another Brit in the forum I have just taken the plunge and gone totally digital, I bought a Canon D30, laptop etc etc. I mainly take location pet portraits and the D30 has totaly changed the way I work. I am also finding that my "commercial" work has increased, I have just finished a job photographing Pet Coffins...yes you read it right !!

Clients are constantly amazed at seeing their pictures on a screen (I currently use a laptop but a data projector is top of the wish list). I have a number of weddings booked this year and I plan to borrow a projector to show the days photographs to the B&G and guests in the evening. A good time to take orders ...!

Will keep in touch and let you know how it goes.
Regards.
Nick. http://website.lineone.net/~nick-ridley/

[Vincent]

Carol,

We have been using Uleads Photo Album to show our digital files (with digital projector)

All the digital files are downloaded to the hard drive first. We then create a 800 x 500 viewing file of each image (this takes about a minute or two as a batch action in Photoshop, these are saved to another folder) the viewing files display instantly, whereas displaying a oiginal is painfully slow. When showing the pictures to clients the viewing files can be deleted knowing the original master files stay untouched.

We have tried POwerPoint, but that takes too long to put together. Kai Power show is great but the editing is awfull.

All our pictures are shot with both Fuji S1 and Nikon D1 cameras, each has its own advantages.

Since going totally digital, our business has doubled. If you are still thinking about going digital - then you are losing money.

Regards Vincent
Chislehurst UK

Hi Vincent,

No I went completely digital last September with the S1, but I now have my name down for a D1X. I find the high ISO speed of the S1 to be too limiting for weddings and I wanted a 2nd digital camera for backup purposes anyway.
I started doing digital wedding packages a few years back, but I was scanning negs to put the package together and to be honest, although the results were spectacular, it took just far too long. Since going digital it has eased the workload tremedously and increased the joy - and the profit margin has shot up. I've never had results back from the lab where I've consistently been pleased (especially with high key portraits) but now I get back work where I constantly say WOW <g>.
If you want a great lab at terrific prices let me know.

[Tom_Coles]

Carol,

I'm about to take the plunge and get the D30 as this camera feels good in my hands compared to other makes and the image quality is great. (Please no debates from non-Canon owners)

My hope for this site is that it will be a resource for professionals to go to when they are having trouble or have something to share.

If I read writers like Noel & Ron I may be 99% digital before the end of the year. It just amazes me how large we can get the images out of the cameras.

Can you give me any info on hi-key and potential problems?

Thanks,
Tom Coles

[TomM]

I am in the process of deciding whether to go digital or not. I have to plan out a new workflow and storage process. I do 35 to 40 weddings a year and making a change from a known to unknown is a little daunting. This forum and the d-30 forum has been very helpful in understanding the potential pratfalls and possible workarounds. So thak you all for sharing your knowledge.

Tom (C),

Personally I don't think it matters a hoot which camera you decide to use provided that it will meet your own professional criteria(and your client's wishes). If the Canon fits snug and you are happy with the quality, then that's great.

I don't do anything special to get great high key portraits except for what everybody should do - create a custom white balance for your studio setup. All professional digital cameras have this feature and I get wonderful results by using it under my studio conditions.

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