Photo software failure

[QuietOne]

I think your biggest problem is memory and possibly processor speed. I ran XP Pro, 32-bit, service pack3, until this last weekend. It ran ViewNX without any problems and Photoshop Elements 9 was sometimes a little slow. A lot slow, if I had other programs up and running, especially a browser. PSE has roughly the same minimum requirements as CS 3, according to Adobe's website. You're running just at the minimum memory requirement, and just over the processor requirement. My box is running 4gb memory and a 2.7ghz processor.

How tight is your budget? If you have a little hole-in-the-wall computer shop in the area, or something like this, you might be able to pick up memory sticks for anywhere from $3 to $10 each. I've done it. The main thing is you have to know what you're looking at. I got a couple of sticks of server memory from Reuseum that my local PC shop was, fortunately, willing to take off my hands (the particular type is a bit hard to find, and there's a market for it). You might also be able to replace just the CPU. If you go for something of a similar vintage but faster, it shouldn't be too much. This assumes you're comfortable doing some of your own tech support. The staff at the hole-in-the-wall place should be able to guide you in what to get and how to install it.

If none of that is viable, then the other thing is to free up as much memory as you can when you're processing photos. One program at a time. Unplug from the 'net and shut down the firewall and virus scanner. If you don't have CCleaner, download it (it's free). Take a look under Tools -> Startup. You'd be amazed how many programs figure you want some form of quick start or updater loaded at boot time. Disable anything like that (you can re-enable it after you're done) and reboot. That might give you a little more memory to work with. I don't know if CS uses a scratch disk; if it does, take a look at the size. Same with Windows' swap file. You might get a little more wiggle room by increasing those.

USB card readers are under $25. Might be worth picking one up. It should be faster.

If those don't help, well, maybe someone knows of other photo processing programs that are lighter on resources. Good luck.

[ericmark]

Budget very tight but things have moved on. Connected the D7000 to PC with USB lead and it gave me option to download pictures with the Nikon software which worked and faster then with printer whose card slot had been used before. Once completed it gave option to view and this time it worked. Also gave option for upgrade which also worked.

So Nikon software now up and running. Still need to convert the DNG to load into Photoshop CS4 but no great deal it works. Still having problems with the camera it seems to have a mind of its own. Did a test with the Pentax taking back-up shots in the snow and worked great.

So took Nikon alone to next set of shots set to programme mode as fully auto seems to want to open flash on every shot. Took a series only to find on return it had set an extremely high ISO and all pictures rather grainy. I have not a clue why but have altered setting now to limit the auto ISO it can select.

Clearly the D7000 is not a camera for beginners it has just too many settings there is no way this camera can be considered as a point and shoot even in auto mode.

Lucky I own a Pentax which has taught me what to expect and eased me into the DSLR camera. Had I started with the D7000 by now I would have given up.

Don't get me wrong it's a great camera but I now understand why my late sister never had good results as it not a beginners camera it really does need some technical understanding to get the results from this beast.

[Iguanasan]

Glad to hear you are making headway. I hope the success continues!

[ericmark]

I will have to say it is a great camera. Today I went out to take photos of the snow. Selected Snow mode on camera still waiting for conversion to DNG to see how well it has done. But there are so many bells and whistles on it one needs a degree in Nikon to work it all out.

I thought my Pentax K10 was quite hard to get ones head around but nothing like the Nikon D7000. Slowly I am learning but clearly not a point and shoot camera. It has two huge advantages over the Pentax K10 one is the lens fitted the Tamron 18 - 270 mm is a fantastic lens. And second the ISO I can shoot hand held where before had to us a tripod. But as to ease of use the Pentax K10D wins hands down. No kids, sports or snow modes but it took photos without hassle and is a great camera. But the advantages of the Nikon D7000 mean it is worth the hassle learning how to use it. Well I hope it is.

All best Eric

[QuietOne]

Unless you want to work from DNG, why not do minimal adjustments in the Nikon software, then convert to tiff? It allows 16-bit conversions, if retaining as much range as possible is a concern. Then you can edit the tiffs in CS3.

[ericmark]

I tried the tiff route. Interesting but file sizes are silly so will continue with DNG as far smaller files. New camera club task is macro and close-up so Nikon has been put away for a while as all the lens reversing, bellows, and filters are for the Pentax and it is handy to have one camera set for close-up and other for rest of the stuff.

I need to do same with Nikon as I did with Pentax and work out what is the usable ISO range. Although the Pentax has 1600 ISO setting my experiment showed that a picture taken at 800 ISO and under exposed by one stop and one taken at 1600 ISO correctly exposed i.e. the shutter speed and aperture same for both gave once loaded into Photoshop the same results. So in real terms the 1600 ISO setting was only any benefit when recording images in jpeg format in RAW the 800 ISO was the highest worth using.

The Nikon likely is similar and I need to run tests to find what the limits are. My big mistake was to think I could just pick up this new camera and use it just like my old one. The focus system is also causing me problems and I have started to use mirror up mode to manually adjust focus and I start to wonder why we still use reflex mirrors. I like the idea of the 4/3rds camera just can't see how mirror helps? I note a marked difference in sound between the two cameras the Nikon sounds as if the mirror is moving faster than the Pentax. Never considered mirror speed.

Both Pentax and Nikon have refused to take pictures with Pentax I can see why either anti-shake or focus causes the problem and turning off the auto focus and anti-shake will ensure shots not missed although can get blurred results. But there are so many controls on the Nikon I have not worked out why is stalls. The having to use two controls to switch off auto focus on lens and on camera do make it harder to quickly swap between manual and auto however must admit the auto focus is very good. Not even found how to turn off anti-shake yet again seems to be both on lens and in camera.

When at college I could not understand why people could not use camera in manual mode. So easy with Pentax now I realise why the Nikon has so many bits which need turning off to go into manual that although one can use manual it's not quick to switch between the two.

I also worry about battery level. The Pentax main problem is the battery lasts that long you forget to charge it. Going out with both cameras and returning with idea of going out again next day I put both batteries to charge returning an hour latter Pentax fully charged but Nikon still charging 3 hours latter. I will assume all the lens motors are taking far more out of the battery then with the Pentax? As yet not been caught with a discharged battery but spare battery is on my wish list. At least the Nikon charger will also work in the car.

[QuietOne]

If there's some equivalent of Batteries Plus, take a look at the prices of different 3rd party brands. Batteries Plus is selling mostly RayoVacs, which hasn't caused me any problems. I don't know if the charge is as long as the official Nikon ones, but I haven't had any problems with them running out quickly either. They seem to charge in about the same amount of time. I don't know if the total life is as long, but if they're cheap enough, the life is long enough, and the brand isn't some company you've never heard of, it might be a reasonable compromise.

[ericmark]

Yes do need to look into having a spare as I do for the Pentax. There is so much drawing power from the battery.

[Barefoot]

Clearly the D7000 is not a camera for beginners it has just too many settings there is no way this camera can be considered as a point and shoot even in auto mode.

Seems to me that you need to really apply yourself to the manual that came in the box with the D7000. Not trying to be a smarta$$ mind you, but I see things in your postings that indicate that you don't have a thorough understanding of what are really just basic controls. (you can turn that flash off with the press of a button and turn of a dial) Anything you might have trouble grasping can usually be found and explained on Youtube. Get one of Tom Hogans ebooks. As a last resort, I'd recommend the writings of Ken Rockwell. His info is usually factual, but unless you shot exactly as he does, he considers you stupid. He says a much, repeatedly.

[ericmark]

Well time has changed things main thing was I was given a laptop and desktop died so now can use CS5 and view and process RAW files from both cameras. However realise that RawThrapee would have cured my problems. Also I could have produced multi-jpegs in camera and blended them with layers and masks.

The problem is those who know how to get around the problems don't have to they have the right equipment in the first place.