BookCase Update and HDR Photog

[Dave In Texas]

What is your current go-to camera?

Dave in Houston

[Dave In Texas]

I can no longer remember where I got that idea. I had to go into some of my bracketed RAW files, convert them to jpgs just to run them back through Photomatix to see for myself - voila. I know that Photomatix recommends jpgs or tiff files for the exposure fusion option but cannot conjure up a clue as to where I got the RAW-file-only brain fart. Chalk that up to input overload.

Dave in Houston

[Leon]

Fujifilm S100FS, after.,.,. a Canon TX, AE-1, A1, EOS 650, EOS630, and a Fujigilm S602Z

I am not into it as much as I was years ago.

[Leon]

Snip

I hear you.. ultimately you get a better result in RAW IIRC... ;~) But man those things are big..

I have been using Paint Shop Pro for many years, since it was free IIRC. Version 3.?

Currently this program X2 has an HDR function and the function is pretty simple. The program has not been as good since Corel purchased it from JASC but the program has a lot of bang for the buck.

[Swingman]

Still using JASC version of PSP 6.02 ... runs fine under Vista. Basically refuse to load ANY Corel and their bloated POS' ... really hated to see JASC sell out back then.

[Chris Friesen]

Check the tax rules, but around here it would need to be pro-rated based on amount of business vs personal use, and it would also need to be depreciated over multiple years.

Chris

[Leon]

IIRC Kim has PSP 10 or 11 on her Vista laptop.. Came preloaded however. IIRC JASC had it up to 8 or 9

[Lee Michaels]

"Chris Friesen" wrote

If it is bought for business use, it can be deducted directly under Section

179. That is in the USA. I don't know what is done elsewhere. Presently we are allowed to deduct up to a little over $100,000 a year. If you do this, you are not allowed to depreciate it.

[Swingman]

Can you spell "Festool" and Sec179 in the same breath, you betcha sweet ass!

[Chris Friesen]

Interesting. Up here in Canada capital costs (like buying equipment over a certain dollar amount) have to be depreciated over a longer period rather than written off directly.

As a financial stimulus there is currently an exception for computer equipment though, but that's a temporary thing.

Chris

[Swingman]

items:

expect the Democrat controlled congress may water this down, if they stay in office.

Not a political slur/statemtn ... just a political fact of life due to the need for more government revenue wherever you can get it.

[Lee Michaels]

"Swingman" wrote

I have the dry, IRS section 179 stuff filed away. And it is written in guv'mint language. This SO much better. I didn't know this was out there. Now I do. It will make it easier to communicate to some tax illiterate folks.

Looking it over, I didn't realize that the deduction was greatly increased last year and this year. There is no way they are going to keep those generous deductions inplace.

Well, any real reading of the IRS Code will convince you that any business activity is some kinda criminal enterprise. And the Democrats think that way. Like we are getting away with something by investing in equipment to help our business. Their job is exort more money and kill incentives. Ya know, equal mediocrity for all. New equipment creates lots of jobs across the board for everybody.

[Dave In Texas]

Not nearly as big as TIFF files! Those are gargantuan! Then again, Hard Drive storage is CHEAP these days. I just put a 1T Barracuda in my desktop for $89+ (and did a clean install of Windows 7 HP). Now I wish I'd bought a 1T WS MyBook instead of the 500 gig that I did buy back in 2008.

Been using PSP since v.XI, now on v.X2U, the U meaning" ultimate." The consensus in the Corel newsgroup(s) is that PSP is headed for the scrap heap. IIRC somebody else recently bought out Corel (another brain fart?). Don't use it too much any more since I bought the D300 and subsequently discovered Capture NX, now NX2. Oddly enough I usually do initial tweaking of HDR files in PSP. Heavy-handed use of 'CLARIFY,' (under Brightness and Contrast) say, level 6 or 8 gives them an over-the-top, sometimes surrealistic look. I haven't even tried PSP's HDR function.

Dave in Houston

[Robatoy]

Yes, TIF(F) files are huge, but when compressed with LZW, it is a lossless compression. But the effectiveness of .lzw compression depends on the content. A picture with leaves and grass won't compress very well, but a nightscape or a snowy field would compress nicely.

[Dave In Texas]

A common refrain amongst the long-time users that frequent the Corel Servers' newsgroups. The consensus is that Corel has thinned the ranks of its code writers to the point that PSP gets scant attention anymore and therefore has not begun to keep up with the competition. That and all the firesale prices you see (FREE after rebate!) lend rise to the idea that it will be history in the not-too-distant future. Of late I get email offers from Corel almost weekly. I do miss Word Perfect, v8 being the last we had.

Dave in Houston

[Robatoy]

Kai Power Tools and Painter are not in tune with the end users anymore either. And WordPerfect was a standard for a long time, they let it slip away. As Canadians, we're pretty proud of RIM, but Corel can take a hike.

[Dave In Texas]

Funny, I'm not as much into woodworking as I was just a couple of years ago (could you tell?). The camera and lenses are much easier to tote around than the former tools of the trade. Digital photography has been a game-changer. I've always looked at photography as the lazy man's art from. And, I certainly resemble that remark.

Dave in Houston

[Swingman]

I like RIM also ... just wish they'd get off the GML quest and get back to dancing with who brung'em ... if I wanted to play games, I wouldn't do it on my crackberry.

Lately RIM's been leaning toward consumer driven, instead of business driven ... screw a bunch of ADHD twits and their jesus phone complex.

[Robatoy]

Could not agree more. If I want to play a game, I'll borrow my kid's Playstation and hook it up to my plasma. Other than that, my Blackberry is my life-line. SMS, as well as eMail and of course, convos. The only other app I have ever used on my BB, is the GPS trying to find an address whilst walking around during the Montreal Jazz Festival. (Isn't 'whilst' a cool word?? LOL).. oh and the weather report. I'm pretty much entrenched in Apple computers. My family and I use 5 of them in our household and one is a server. I still couldn't fall for the eye-candy trap of the iPhone. It's cute and fun...but I ain't a high school kid anymore. Funny enough, my 16-year old uses a BB too "the iPod, is oh-so yesterday, daaaad". (Atta girl!)

[Leon]

LOL and I got tired of toting the big bag and lenses. Now I just use an umm errrr uhhhh a small, MAN bag. for the camera.