Digital Photo Help Needed

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[LonePalm]

I am looking for specific recommendations for scanners and photo quality printers to attach to my home computer and possibly an additional digital camera. My wife is a photophile and I am the computer guru and chef (I know it is an odd compination but it works for me.).

I would like to upgrade the home comuter to allow her to do some of her photo stuff digitally.

I have a 950MHz Pentium 3, w/128Mb RAM, 2 CD ROMs (1 is r/w, the other is CD/DVD), tons of disk space, an Olympus D-320L Digital Camera, and a pitifully slow internet connection at home. We are running Windows ME (Makes Enemies). I already have PhotoDelux 2.0.

I am looking for the most bang for the buck but quality is the first consideration. If necessary, I will buy her her own omputer.

I would also like suggestions/recommendations on where to buy the stuff.

[DoughtyOne]

The higher end Epsons and the Hewlett Packards are both exceptional. I used the Epsons for years. I recently purchased an HP Deskjet 1220c and am very impressed.

I opted for the larger format printer. Mine prints on 13x19" stock. I have been using the Epson heavy duty 13x19" glossy stock. The prints are amazing.

I had wanted to buy one of Epson's oversided printers. One is a 17x22" and the other is a 13x44". One of them is severely flawed. DO NOT BUY THAT PRINTER! If you're going to go Epson, make sure you purchase the right one of these two. One has major problems. Go go www.c-net.com to read disasterous reviews of it's performance. It sounds almost actionable on a mass class action scale. Review other printers there as well.

My brother actually purchased the oversized Epson printer that doesn't have problems, and is very happy with it.

The costs on the oversized HP or Epson printers will run you from around $350 to $450 in price. And if you don't desire the oversized stock, you can probably find an HP or Epson for anywhere from $150 to $350 that will more than meet your needs.

The more recent ink jets cartriges that offer four or six inks will provide you with superior print quality. Look for 1200 to 1400 pixels. These are far superior to the old 720 pixels. HP has fewer Pixils, but seems to make up for it somehow. It does rival the Epson in my opinion. And it prints much faster than my old Epson.

You can learn a lot by checking the specs and cross referencing. I would advise you not to take the word of some guy that works on the floor of Frys or any of the large electronic warehouses. They may or may know know what they are talking about, or may or may not actually give you the straight scoop depending on which items they wish to move and their salary insentives. I know this from the experiences I ran into purchasing the HP.

Good luck.

[porgygirl]

Before you spend a lot of money to generate paper records of what your eye has witnessed. Paper copies that will degenerate rapidly, and take up half your bookshelf in bulky and hard to use albums.Cost a ton in colored ink and photo paper, considering you will probably make 500 pictures the first year.

Consider making digital photoalbums on Cd's that will play on your DVD player [Apex 500w, $88 at Walmart], and display for all in the room to see [not just those who can look over your shoulder] on your wide screen HDTV [which you will no doubt purchase in about 3-5 years].

With Roxio Cd Creator 5.0 [$69], you can go directly from your camera to your Video CD. Or you can stop in the software and fix problems with lighting, focus, size and color, while adding your favorite and appropriate music to your slideshow.

10,000 of your favorite shots will be stored on about $30 dollars worth of CD's, and take up less space than four photo albums.Quality of the photos will never deteriorate.

Think about it!

This past weekend I made a slideshow of my niece's wedding, it included 226 [not counting opening frame, or closing frame, included] pictures, the slideshow ran for 12 minutes, and included three songs, that matched the subject matter.

[ValerieUSA]

Paint Shop Pro v. 7 can't be beat for the value as an image processer. It's around $90 - $100 at CompUSA, BestBuy or over the internet. Triple your memory now - it's really cheap and worth every penny.

[mercy]

So I could use my other EOS lenses with this baby? (meaning the ones I bought for my non digital camera)

[DoughtyOne]

The Epson printer I was going to warn you about was the Epson Stylus 1520. Ouch! Don't touch that sucker.

Whatever else you decide on your own is okay. The reviews were running about 4 to 1 negative with people stating that Epson could offer no help and refused to admit a problem.

Good luck.

[ValerieUSA]

I have an Olympus E-10 and I'm thrilled with it. It accepts both compact flash and smart media memory, rechargeable AA batteries work perfectly in it and the AC adapter makes it extra efficient for indoor work. The automatic settings are usually just perfect, and it's supereasy to change from auto focus to manual focus.

[DoughtyOne]

That paint shop pro ver(7) is available on the net for $99 bucks. It's an anniversary addition with a bunch of extras. You can download it online and use it for thirty days as a test. I purchased mine a few weeks ago.

[ml/nj]

I'll say a good word for the Casio QV-3000EX. 3.3 Mpix with a 340 Meg IBM MicroDrive so that you have room for 245 max res jpeg pictures. (It's also possible, though undocumented, to take tiffs.) There are probably too many bells and whistles, but you do get full manual control when you want it. The camera is quite good in low light situations. I only wish the manual focusing had been better thought out.

Photoshop (speaking of bells and whistles) is sort of a must if you are serious.

Neither is cheap.

ML/NJ

[sailrabbit]

"So I could use my other EOS lenses with this baby? (meaning the ones I bought for my non digital camera)"

Yes! The focal length gets multiplied 1.3x though.

[snippy_about_it]

bump for good information

[LonePalm]

The Epson printer I was going to warn you about was the Epson Stylus 1520.

Thanks, I was going to ask you about that. I will be sure not to touch that one with a 10 foot pole or a nine foot Swede.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LoanPalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[LonePalm]

I'll say a good word for the Casio QV-3000EX. 3.3 Mpix with a 340 Meg IBM MicroDrive so that you have room for 245 max res jpeg pictures.

Do you know where I can get one of these down here at the Shore?

I'm not the photobug but Mrs. Palm is. PhotoShop 7.whatever sounds like a definite for Santa.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LoanPalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[mercy]

tanks

[LonePalm]

You're right about the screen eating into the battery life.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LoanPalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[oc-flyfish]

I would advise you not to take the word of some guy that works on the floor of Frys or any of the large electronic warehouses. They may or may know know what they are talking about, or may or may not actually give you the straight scoop depending on which items they wish to move and their salary insentives. I know this from the experiences I ran into purchasing the HP.

Question: What is the difference between a car salesman and a computer salesman?

Answer: The car salesman knows when he is lying.

I completely agree with you. The sales peoploe are known for making stupid/outrageous statements. One guy at Best Buy told an employee of ours that she shouldn't buy one brand of computer because they are too fast and may melt.

[ValerieUSA]

PhotoShop 6 by Adobe is out now - it is more than $600. They also make a new program called Elements, which is around $100; I haven't tried it yet, so can't say how good it is. The reviews have been kind.

I use and recommend Paint Shop Pro 7 by Jasc - it is $99.

[LonePalm]

Question: What is the difference between a car salesman and a computer salesman?

Answer: The car salesman knows when he is lying.

That is why I am asking Freepers.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LoanPalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[DoughtyOne]

Melt? Bwa ha ha ha. Good one.

[DoughtyOne]

Oops. Thanks for that correction.

[I Luv Bush]

I have the Fuji 1300 too, and I love it. Here is a sample of the amazing photos this can take. (They won't let you link it, but here is the address). http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1364308&a=10170967&p=34158870
I also use an HP photosmart printer, and the only problem I've had with it are the drivers--they've corrupted a few times, and I have to occasionally re-install the software. No problems with the printing quality at all, though