The Top Three Websites for Digital Photography (and some others)

I like cameras. Before I knew anything about how to take a picture, I always wanted the biggest, coolest camera. My mom had a neat canon single lens reflex. My dad had a Mamiya twin lens reflex. I thought they were rad.

When I graduated from college my parents bought me a Pentax PZ-10 which I thought was one of the most advanced cameras you could possibly buy. I mean, I know they spent over $250 on it. It had to be good. I went through art school convinced I had one of the baddest cameras around.

Now, years later I have the Pentax, my Dad's Mamiya(for sentimental reasons), a Fujifilm F10, and a Pentax K100. In my job, I work with Nikon. With the work budget spent on Nikon, I know that my Pentax is not the best that money can buy, but I really want to follow the rule–it's not the camera that makes a great picture–it's the photographer. Plus, taking photos involves evoking a lot of sentimentality and I'm sentimental towards my Pentax. It was my first SLR, now my first DSLR. And technically, it is a great camera as well as being inexpensive. Which leads me to tell you where I found out what I know about cameras.

Top Three Camera Websites

1. dpreview

Short for Digital Photography Review, this site is EXHAUSTIVE in it's digital camera information. You can see photography tests at macroscopic sizes. All of the testing is done in controlled environments with standardized testing. You also can see sample snapshot galleries and the cameras are rated sided by side with their direct competitors. I knew I liked Nikon, but Pentax's price and the fact I had a Pentax lens had me leaning toward their cameras. When the K100 was released, I read the review on dpreview and knew I would be satisfied. I hung the K100's picture(and its rebate) on my refrigerator and budgeted to buy it.

Dpreview also has unique features such as side by side comparisons of your choosing displaying such detail that I always use it when making camera suggestions to my friends. I get asked a lot about cameras probably because I am an avid reader of dpreview.

Amazon.com purchased dpreview in May 2007. I like both Amazon and dpreview butI haven't liked the content on dpreview since. I hope the editorial content will stick to cameras and remain unbiased.


2. kenrockwell.com

Look at the website and you'll wonder if you've been taken into the past of web design. Ken Rockwell does the site himself and he fits the bill of great photographers are rarely good designers. But, this site is great on camera content. So, let's hope he sticks to his guns. I like the old school HTML 1.0 styling of the site. Ken Rockwell reminds us that it isn't about the camera. You can take great shots with the simplest of cameras. With this in mind, I made the leap into the digital photography world with the purchase of my Fujifilm F10. I've really liked to play with it.


Solomon's Seal


Iris


View from the Blue Ridge Parkway, NC overlooking the North Fork Reservoir


I cropped this one

All four taken with a point and shoot that will not allow you to adjust shutter speed or aperature.


3. flickr

Some real photo enthusiasts must be programming this site. It's interface is wonderful. It's tagging feature is extremely useful. The interestingness application is brilliant. It is always so much fun to browse other photographer's interesting photos. Having previewed and used many other photo uploading and viewing sites, I think flickr has it down and then some. I also use flickr to review cameras and see them in action. Flickr has a neat feature that lets you see how many people are using what cameras and what kinds of results you can get. It even displays the data over time and compares it against other cameras. So, you can see trends on the cameras' use. I have been amazed at all the features flickr provides. I have encouraged my friends to join. I use flickr to show family my photos. The only thing I'm not impressed with is a guest's need to have a flickr account to view your private pictures. I host my family pictures privately and individuals need a unique account to view them. You may work around the individual accounts by creating a guest account that you may then share the user name and password. It would be nice if flickr allowed you to invite people to a url and provide them with a password to view photos as a guest without needing a separate account.

I easily post to flickr. It's more fun than blogging. Flickr is one of the best photo sharing sites on the web.

There are other great resources, too. I have looked at Steve's Digicams and Digital Camera Resource Page. Pbase and Photo.net are very attractive photo posting sites as well. They both present very useful information. In contrast though, flickr is so focused on the content and photographic exploration. Adorama and B&H Photo also present some really useful information and showcase all the photo equipment you could possibly wish for.

I know there are probably more great sites out there and this list may change. But, this list of three has provided invaluable information and inspiration on my first visit and almost every subsequent visit since.

Talkin' about Macs

I own a Macintosh Powerbook G4 Titanium. It is my personal computer. I have worked with Macintosh computers since I was a kid. My first computer was a Laser 128k which I guess was an Apple clone of sorts. I could play games made for the Apple on it. I've been using Apple computers since. I really like my G4 Ti. The screen is really nice and thin. I prefer the tighter bevel around the outside of the screen to the current aluminum models. The Ti doesn't suck the salt out of your hands and leave white marks like the aluminum Powerbook or MacBook Pro does. Nor does it look incredibly dirty like the current MacBook.

I work with the aluminum Powerbook. They are nice computers. The aforementioned bevel and sweat absorbtion are somethings that make them less attractive.

Sadly, after three power bricks, an upgrade from 20 gigabytes to 40 gigabytes, and many scratches, I want to purchase another Macintosh. I just recently started backing up my Mac. I purchased a drive case and a hard drive and put together an external hard drive. I partitioned the drive to store photos and media on one part and back up to the other. After reading an article in my subscription to Macworld about SuperDuper I finally backed up my stuff. Now I want to purchase a new Mac.

I will say when buying a computer, pay for a lot for a Macintosh and expect some longevity. I have had my G4 Ti since it came out and it still amazes me how fast it starts up and how consistently it performs all the design tasks I give it. I coughed up the maximum amount for the 15 inch Powerbook and insured my computer for the same amount. Despite it's depreciation, it performs for me like a $3,000 computer. I could not do my work without it.

I also own a PC. Whenever I turn it on, it takes a little longer each time for it to get started. It's extremely frustrating. But alas, there is good software out there for the PC which I use. There is also necessary software for the PC which is often very bad. The more you are required to use it, the worse it is.

This is getting aimless and I am trying to finish my first post of my first personal blog. It was the Macintosh that led me to appreciate computers(and their makers) and that appreciation always make a trip to the internet. So I write this ramble in deference to the computers(and their makers) that help put this first post up and as a nod to computers to come that will continue to help me tool around.