Give me a little Homework

[Diver Dennis]

Don't worry Catherine. I'll have lots of cards and equipment for lease in Bali...

 

[OE2X]

Dennis you're a kill joy.

I'm having fun spending all her money. Settle down or I won't dive with you when we get there.

 

[RonFrank]

I am really excited about the Digital Photography Course in Bali with Mike Veitch! I am coming from behind technically so I would appreciate getting some suggestions for things to work on. I have gotten such great advice here, so if you have any ideas, let's hear them.

I am getting a hard drive for the huge RAW files. Any advice for uploading to laptop?

I use a Microtech Firewife CF card reader... it burns (about 10mb per second or better). I can upload a 2 gig card a few minutes. This is also highly dependent upon you laptop. If you have a slow backplane, slow HD, or slow processor having a lightning fast card reader does not do you much good.

I would NOT get a firewire reader at this point as USB2 is becoming the standard, however I would also depend a lot upon if you Laptop supports FireWire.

I would also HIGHLY recommend burning a copy of our original images onto DVD or CD (or even two copies). I'd carry one copy in a suitcase, and another carryon. HD's fail (I just had another one fail a couple weeks ago), laptops get ripped off, and your images need to be protected.

I have the 12-24 mm, 105 mm, and the 10.5mm lenses Is this suffiicient?

No, you are going to need a 300mm f2 VR, a 600mm f4 (hey there are birds there too!) You lens line up is sufficient for UW work, rather lacking for topside at in the larger focal length ranges. You can likely also try some lenses that others own, and see what you like before a purchase. Lenses to consider include the 60mm macro, and something in the 17-80mm range. My all time favorite lens is the 80-200f2.8 (soon to be a 70-210f2.8VR), but I shoot a lot topside.

Should I spring for the second strobe? Ike 125 DX?

I would not. It's just going to task load you. I guess if you feel the need to blow $700 on something, I'd say more storage, PS/CS, or another lens are all better choices.

Do you all think I should take CS II? I only have Photoshop elements... CS ll = $$

I gave you tips for getting it on the cheap If the workshop focuses on CSII, get it. If you're going to go pro, you will likey want CS, however Coral Paint Shop Pro X is a real alternative, much better than elements based on reviews I've read.

My main question is about what to study and what to buy before then. I gotta keep up with Dennis!

The question of card storage came up. IMO do NOT plan on downloading anything on a boat, unless it's one big boat that has dry accomodations, and I'm nto talking about a space next to the head below, I mean something like a live aboard.

The last thing you need to be doing on a boat is to be trying to use a laptop, and pulling your camera out of the housing. I'd just make sure you have enough CF space to handle a days worth of shooting.

so what EXACTLY is your setup? D70/Ikelite 125?

L8R

 

[OE2X]

I think Ron is right to a certain degree. You won't swap out cards underwater so you will be limited to one card per dive and how many ever shots you get on each card. On my D2X's I get 100 raw files per 2 gig card.

That said, I do like to download them right away to a drive. Probably because I'm used to working that way topside.

For me I carry two Nexto CF readers each with 100 gig drives. They have worked flawless so far for a dozen or so jobs and then several dozen stock shoots.
They download the 2 gig cards in 2 minutes.
Another nice feature is that the Nexto fits into a very small Pelican 1020 case. It's only about 7"x5"x2" and can be tossed into your gear duffle.

http://www.savitmicro.co.kr/eng/product/storage/storage_nextocf.htm
Make sure you read the speed comparisons on DPReviews. This is an eye opener.


I've heard some good things about the Eastgear card reader as well. The attractive thing here is that it takes AA batteries.
http://www.eastgear.com/shop/produc...d=534&osCsid=38b5b2c26b21e6e7dfe66f49f04e4a1b