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The Topic:
We are working through some more of your questions and tips this week from privacy to scanning to cameras and so much more.
Joining the Discussion:
Peppermint Granberg
Katie Nelson
Steph
Show Notes:
- Katie’s post on ScanMyPhotos
- Daily Digi post on ScanMyPhotos
- Katrina’s Daily Digi post on Cleaning Your DSLR Lens
- Katie’s camera bag from Jo Totes
- Katie’s camera bag insert from
- Katie’s camera strap from Black Rapid
- Stephanie Medley-Rath’s research on digi scrapping
Picks of the Week:
Katie: Moo.com business cards
Steph: Dribbble.com
Peppermint: Borderless Print “No Extension” option
Sponsors:
For the best deal in digital scrapbooking, become a member at TheDailyDigi.com.
I have a question on lenses. I have two lenses: 18-55 and 55-250. I am thinking about getting a 18-200, but I hear there can be distortion. I love the idea that I would not have to change lenses to get close and farther shots, but I want to make sure that I am getting good photos too. What are your opinions?
I’m not a ton of help because I’ve been looking at the same 55-200mm for about two months now. I haven’t heard about the distortion, but I have heard how camera shake becomes a bigger problem with the longer focal lengths.
I keep contemplating the exact same thing. I just can’t decide.
Pausing the show to say Photoshop Elements will divide a sheet of scanned photos.
http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/using/cropping.html#divide_a_scanned_image_containing_multiple_photos
Now that is brilliant. I was thinking I should write Katie and action for that, but looks like PSE has that well-covered!
Wow! Life-changing for sure! Thanks for posting about this.
I was driving to Nevada from Southern California to see my mom, listening to the podcast, when I heard my name! My first thought: humm… I wonder if that’s me, and what did I write???
The Epson software with my V600 will divide the photos as you scan, too.
And, yes, I watched LOTS of Netflix while scanning all those pictures. It’s been a three-year project, but I think I’m down to my last box of just a hundred or so. Whew…. Photos all the way from the Civil War period to my childhood (I’m 54). It was worth it.
As I scanned, I also renamed the photo with whatever information was on the back. I had considered sending them out to be done, but when I realized that I’d have to go through all of them anyway to add the information, it just made more sense to do it all myself.
Thanks again for a great podcast!
Funny story about lenses: I am on a schedule of breaking them. I don’t mean to, it just kinda happens! I got my first DSLR in June 2006. I broke my first lens in June 2009. I got my D5100 body in May of 2012 and broke my lens in June. And just my luck, it also happens just before a trip and I have to express ship then new one! So I guess I just can’t schedule a trip for June 2016. I am nervous to spend too much on a lens because I am pretty sure I will just break it. However I do really want a 18-200 so I don’t have to switch lenses. *sigh* maybe someday.
Peppermint – I am so much harder on my D5100 than I was on my D50. I do carry it with my everywhere I go! I made an insert for my purse so it is protected. I would highly recommend getting double battery pack for your DSLR. Sure it adds weight and size, but it lasts so much longer and I love it!
I will add another thing to my big big list of camera items my family can buy me.
And I think I may order this for lugging it around in my purse. I’m not in the habit of dropping my purse very often … but I have a long history of accidentally spilling things INTO my purse. It’s sort of my thing.
Hi ladies…still love the show, just haven’t had time to comment lately. Peppermint – I’m still waiting to see that “Puppy, Buddy, Kitty” kit
I just noticed the link to Katie’s Black Rapid strap. I think that used to be the one they referred to as the women’s strap, but now there’s a newer one that is called the “Elle.”
http://www.blackrapid.com/products/womens
I just ordered it off their website. Can’t wait to give it a try. PS – if you watch the product videos on the Black Rapid site, there are promo codes for free shipping.
I still remember where I was sitting and what I was doing when I heard the announcement on the paperclipping digi show that that was the “last episode.” I was so bummed I almost cried! So glad it just meant a change in venue! Another great show ladies. Can’t wait for the next hundred. Thanks for all your time and effort!
Laurel
I have a Canon 7D and I use three non-Canon lenses. I made my purchases after carefully reading the reviews at dpreview.com . The Tamron 2.8 28-75, Tamron 70-300 and Sigma F1.4 50mm. They are great and I’m glad to have saved my pennies instead of buying a Canon lens BUT both the Tamron 2.8 28-75 and Sigma F1.4 50mm were faulty and both had to be returned for repair. The Tamron had trouble focusing and would hunt endlessly to gain focus. The Sigma simply didn’t focus properly. Both take great shots now but it was a pain getting them repaired. The Tamron 70-300 is great and very fast to focus but the image at 300mm is a bit fuzzy and not ideal. A friend lends me his Canon L-series lenses and they are better, but they cost a LOT more!
I have the Tamron f/2.8 28-75 as well. I’ve had it for 18 months and have had no problems with it whatsoever. I’ve been pleased with the quality of the photos. Also, I did rent the comparable Canon lens. Although the Canon lens felt sturdier and seemed a bit smoother in its focusing, I couldn’t justify the extra $$ at this stage in my life, especially for my hobby.
One thing that really tipped the scale for me in favor of Tamron is it comes with a 6 year warranty, instead of Canon’s one year.
I would love to be a purist, but I also want my children to go to college, so I’ll just be satisfied with the off-brand.
Hi Ladies. I have never taken the time to comment. I think about it while listening, but time just gets away from me. My kids often hear me listening to the shows and recently my son said “Photo and tech geeks unite. Mom is so happy!”
I wanted to pass along some info on the topic of scanning in the hopes that it will be helpful to you and your listeners. I have been scanning pictures for 9 years. I’m a certified personal photo organizer thru APPO (Association of Personal Photo Organizers) and am hired by individuals and businesses to scan, organize, teach digital organization and backup photos.
1. Most scanners (including HP, Epson and Cannon) have an option in their preference menu that will allow you to scan each image on the scanner bed to it’s own individual file. So, if you lay several pictures on your scanner bed, the software will put a bounding box around each picture which you can edit . Then you hit “scan” and each image will be scanned to a single file. This saves a TON of time! Personally, I prefer HP as their quality is nice and the software is very intuitive and easy to use.
2. The Fujitsu ScanSnap is also an excellent option for larger jobs.
3. I also have a little Pandigital portable scanner that you can literally just feed 4×6 pictures through and they are written to an SC card. I did most of my pre-digital printed photos this way with the help of my kids. Even my youngest, who is 8, can scan this way with ease AND she thinks it’s big fun! They are on sale at Amazon right now for $29, orginally $130. Go order one now! http://www.amazon.com/Pandigital-Photolink-One-Touch-PANSCN05-x6-Inches/dp/B0035WTCTU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378655286&sr=8-1&keywords=pandigital
4. When I have large jobs, I send them out to Fotobridge. http://www.fotobridge.com. APPO chose Fotobridge as a preferred partner after reviewing several scanning services. Fotobridge offers high quality photo, movie film and video digitizing services. They go above and beyond with their customer service and their quality is outstanding! I can’t recommend them enough.
I hope that this information is helpful to you and your listeners! I’ve enjoyed all 100+ episodes, have introduced your podcast to many of my clients, friends and family, and look forward to 100+ more. Thanks ladies for all you do, I appreciate your hard work so much! Photo and tech geeks unite!
Mary M.
Fantastic information Mary!
Thanks Katie:) And, I’m sure you caught on to the typo, but obviously I meant “SD card”, not “SC card”!
I just got some Moo business cards for my petsitting side business! I put photos of some of the pets I sit for on the cards and they look amazing! So happy!! GREAT products and easy to use site!
I think it boils down to three things when it comes to privacy these days:
(01) People are lazy. Especially now that you can download everything instantly, eat at a fast food restaurant (or have it delivered) 24 hours a day, never touch real money, and tell everyone you’ve ever met all your business on multiple social media platforms, who has time or inclination to figure out who you really are, kwim? We are two steps away from the hovercraft people on Wall-E, so having to add numbers, pull stats and ISPs, read words that are NoT SpLL’d lik DIS to figure out your IRL identity is beyond the average Internet user’s interest level.
(02) People really don’t care who everyone else is. ‘Catfish’ has become such a popular show on MTV because it happens. all. the. time. Everything (and everyone) is taken at face value b/c so many people (especially young people — le sigh) are so wrapped up in themselves and posting 100+ statuses and msgs a day abt every second of their experience like it somehow adds value or meaning to the world.
(03) If someone REALLY wants to find you, they will. If you deal in black market kitten sales, regularly travel to North Korea ‘for fun,’ or have a thriving B&E enterprise with your cousin Brad, the people who need to find you… will. Everything is electronic and online, even if it’s supposedly protected (see #1 & #2 above), and if someone wants to find you, they will do so in a hot minute.
I try to make it harder for people to find me/my family by blurring/omitting last names, workplace/school names, not mentioning when we’re on vacation, etc. but at the end of day, I’m no criminal (yet — bwa ha ha!) and live my life knowing Big Brother has the potential to track very ordinary me down if he wanted to, but usually has much better things to do.
I love this!
I look forward to your crime spree!
Peppermint, you are not crazy.
“Best Buy has been mocked in the past for anti-showrooming tactics like using its own barcodes to block comparison shopping using Amazon’s price-scanning app.”
http://www.wired.com/business/2012/10/best-buy-price-matching/
and I know there was an article in the NYTimes about BestBuy getting tired of being Amazon’s “Showroom”.
Personally, I have had the same experience with Best Buy and the Amazon app.
And, there are already GPS spoofers. Ask any sports nut that is in a “blackout” zone.
Well, not crazy on THIS, at least. The jury is still out on everything else.
Must not have reached the Utah Best Buys yet because I was able to get on to the amazon website while I was in Best Buy. I felt like a rebel!
Just wanted to mention something about lenses. I have the Tamron 28-75 and I was pretty happy with it until I bought the Nikon 70-200 2.8 lens and my 50mm 1.4 lens. And now I kinda hate the quality of the Tamron 28-75. I recently sold my 70-200 2.8 lens because I couldn’t justify keeping such an expensive lens, but it TOTALLY ruined me for cheaper lens.
When my son got his glasses, he was told to wash his microfiber cloth in hot water and then air dry — no soap! I use the same type of cloth on my lenses, so I thought it would be worth sharing.
I hadn’t realized it until I listened to you all talk about changing lenses — my first SLR was 35mm and I used to change the lenses as much in the dark as I could, even if it was turning to block the light with my body, because I didn’t want to worry about light leaking onto the exposed negative. It was not supposed to be an issue, but it’s one of the those things that I did “just to be safe.” I still do it unconsciously when I change the lenses on my DSLR (and I laugh at myself when I realize I’m in the darkest corner of the room, hovering over my camera while I change the lens).
I often forget to turn off my camera; I’ve set it down and then picked it up a week later to find that I left it on and it still has a nearly full battery. I only have the one battery (that came with it) and I guess I’m fortunate that it works so well. I know I’m *supposed* to have at least two, but in all the years I’ve been taking pictures, I’ve never wished for an extra battery and so I don’t buy them.
I have two Tamron lenses because my local camera shop does not sell Nikon products. One of them was my all-around lens for about two years — the 17-50 mm f/2.8 — until I started having problem with the camera thinking there was no lens mounted until I removed and then reset it. It was a great lens and took wonderful pictures, but the frustration (and missed photos!) decided me against getting any more third party lenses. (My other Tamron is an old version of the 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 LD macro telephoto lens, which I use rarely, but I have had problems with taking it off macro mode.)
I replaced my carry-around Tamron with the more costly Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S ED VR II. I like it a lot and the photos are just as good as what I got from the Tamron (when it worked). The color is better than it has been too, so I guess that actually makes it a *better* lens.
This is my first VR (Vibration Reduction) lens and I haven’t had any problems with it; however, one thing about VR is that it must be turned off when it’s on a tripod or steady surface, because it will try to compensate for non-existent shaking. I pretty much hand hold for everything (except lit pumpkins) and have had no issues with it; my low-light photos even seem to be better for it. I like having the extra “zoom” reach — 200 mm vs 50 mm. My photos are definitely less blurry both in low-light and in the telephoto range with the VR turned on. I’m very happy with this lens!
My Black Rapid strap came and I agree with all the rave reviews! (I bought the women’s one — Elle, with the pretty black on black floral pattern — from Amazon.) I took it to my daughter’s scout meeting and it was the first time I’ve “worn” my camera for any significant length of time. This is life changing for me to not have one hand always tied up with my big camera and heavy lens! This is also good for my mom and my husband because they constantly worry that I’m going to either drop my camera or leave it somewhere. (I never have, but they both figure I will, someday. LOL)
I toss my camera in my knitting bag a lot, with the theory that the yarn protects it (not really). I have two “real” camera bags, but I find them awkward to carry around and always leave them at home. I bought a Vera Bradley Stay Cooler and I’ve been putting my camera in it when I go out instead of just carrying it unprotected. (I bought it for my lunches but put my camera in it on the way home and liked how it fit. I need to buy another one!)
I am the girl who had the Tamron lens question! I am a hybrid scrapbooker who does a lot of printing and pasting. I’ve been listening to your show from almost the beginning when I found you through Paperclipping. I get a lot out of entertainment (Peppermint totally kills me) and education from listening to your conversations – even the tech ones
Thank you!
I love reading through everyone’s comments and experiences about lenses…. I’m still confused as all get out, but someday will just sit down and look through all of the options again!
On another note, I have an Epiphanie bag (the Lola model) – it’s basically a padded purse with removable dividers that looks cute. It’s another option for people that want to carry their cameras with them, somewhat protected, but in a bag that doesn’t scream “CAMERA BAG”.
Kim Edsen