I installed the CS3 beta.

The icons are a 180% turn in direction for certain.

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The icons are a 180% turn in direction for certain.

Good. I must have written a hundred feedbacks to them just on how crappy and overdesigned the icons were. How terrible the semiotic program was...

"FEATHERS? friggin' FEATHERS? A BUTTERFLY? A STARFISH? A SHELL? Please, adobe, if you're trying to kill me, why not just shoot me in the friggin' head, it'd be faster and less painful."

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Originally posted by RicoX:
The icons are a 180% turn in direction for certain.

Wow, icons... But what is about the SPEED, the UI and the Workflow?
I read about it here http://macnews.de/news/96081.html (sorry it's german, but the benchmarks are easy to understand), it's not as fast as CS3 on XP (no surprise, first it's a beta and second XP always had the more efficient kernel), but it's close.

Smithz the Bridge seems to work much better with large amounts of files in a folder. It was a beast in CS2 for the Bridge to first visit a folder. It would take a long time for it to catalogue the contents of a folder. CS3 is much much faster. There is a new preference for the Bridge under Thumbnails Performance. To create Quick thumbnails, High Quality thumbnails, and Convert to High Quality when previewed. I have chosen the last setting which seems to allow the Bridge to more quickly recover from visiting a new folder full of images. It looks to be much less taxing on the system as a whole.

The New camera raw adds in some new features like a Recovery slider for compensating a change in exposure and Fill light. These features are similar to what Shadow/Highlights does under Image:Adjustment in Photoshop. It is good that you can apply these things directly to the RAW image.

The tools palette is now a long single column. The other palettes have been changed also. I need a larger monitor.

PS3 has been stable so far. Overall the code seems cleaner as Ps Br appear to run smoother. Any one with a valid serial number for PSCS2 or Adobe CS2 suit can run the beta version. Before you download you have to give Adobe your serial number. This will generate a new serial number that you have to use to unlock CS3.

I've been playing around with it and like the new interface tweaks. To me, however, the responsiveness of the tools seems slower... something I've always complained about with Photoshop running under OS X.

Seems to me actual drawing tools like the pencil and brush worked better in the legacy OS... now there's an irritating lag. And this lag seems worse in CS3 than it does in CS2. Weird.

The tools palette is either a default single column, or you can click the widget in the palette's windowbar, and have it become double row like the last version.

Bother Rico, thanks for your reply. Well, so it's faster and more reliable than CS2, which is good - maybe the final version will be even better. This depends, sometimes the final Versions of a Product are much better than the beta, sometimes the difference is marginal... We'll see...

Brother Thalo, you are using CS3 on your PPC Machine, right? Well, i also experience overall laggyness on my Macs, but that laggyness was always a "feature" of OS X and Adobe as far as i remember. Perhaps the final will be more responsive though I don't expect that.

So these days Adobe is dominating the creativity & production market, people will not remember anymore that once there were responsive apps.

yes, brother smithz, using CS3 on the PPC machine (dual 2.7 G5, 8GB RAM)

My entire biz hinges on Adobe (and Macromedia, now PART of adobe) products being good. And how these run on Macs.

A more intuitive "pro" Mac interface would make my life and work much easier and more enjoyable. As it is right now, I struggle along, but without the smoothness of workflows that I experienced in the legacy. I'd trade all the old heartache of crashing and freezing for the productivity and intuitive, efficient workflows I had back then.

But I am glad that Apple has been slowly but surely been moving toward cutting down on the eye candy. It's a long time coming, but I appreciate things like ditching the crystal sausage, and the smaller, more compact progress bars.

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Originally posted by thalo:
yes, brother smithz, using CS3 on the PPC machine (dual 2.7 G5, 8GB RAM)

My entire biz hinges on Adobe (and Macromedia, now PART of adobe) products being good. And how these run on Macs.

A more intuitive "pro" Mac interface would make my life and work much easier and more enjoyable. As it is right now, I struggle along, but without the smoothness of workflows that I experienced in the legacy. I'd trade all the old heartache of crashing and freezing for the productivity and intuitive, efficient workflows I had back then.

But I am glad that Apple has been slowly but surely been moving toward cutting down on the eye candy. It's a long time coming, but I appreciate things like ditching the crystal sausage, and the smaller, more compact progress bars.

I guess those quad's will keep your business running for the time being

http://www.barefeats.com/quad16.html

The Beta release finally expired.

It was a mixed bag. The Bridge on a whole is better but they royally screwed up some stuff. The Bridge CS3 instead of creating a separate cache file for each folder visited now creates one huge cache file. At least this is what seemed to be happening on my machine. I have a single Bridge cache file over 3GB in size. That is just totally insane. Who ever thought that up should be slapped.

When I had generate high res thumbnails turned on Bridge would have to regenerate new thumbnails every time I went to each folder. Literally clicking from one folder that was cataloged to another back to the one the Bridge just seconds before had created high res thumbnails for the Bridge would have to recreate the thumbnails all over again. That is plain stupid and a waste of time.

The plus side Adobe Camera Raw(ACR) is much improved. Photoshop itself runs stable with some added features like a Black & White Image adjustment that is quit excellent. You can take digital noise filled P&S camera images and actually turn them into something worth while.

The beta just expired. I am already jonesing for ACR 4.

I abandoned it well in advance of the expiration, for many of the reasons you mentioned. I didn't see any real improvements on my machine. Maybe you need an intel Mac to really notice anything. The few interface tweaks weren't enough.

Brother Rico, I need a digital camera. My Nikon bit the dust. Can you recommend a Less is More, but great camera?

Brother now were talkin'.

What is it you are looking for a P&S, DSLR, something in between.

What types of files would you want to work with JPG's straight from the camera or are you willing to slug it out with RAW files?

The Bridge is unusable having create high res thumbnails turned on. The Bridge is rendered useless. Turning it off at least going from folder to folder was doable. You just have to wait when you click file to file for a high res thumbnail to kick in. The other way instead you were waiting for the Bridge to do all the files at once which with 3 or 4 hundred RAW files well that turns into minutes of waiting around.

How or why once it did create high res thumbnails for a folder it does not remember or store them is beyond me. Especially since I have a 3 or 4 GB file it is cataloging something for. I did not figure out how to filter by star ratings for so long simple because the information would not show up quick enough. To get it to show up many times I have to click out of the folder I need to be in then go back to get the information to show up. If I didn't do this the filter tab would just be one grey field.The filter is pretty good when it works. My machine is older than yours so this could be part of the problem but from my end it just looks like the programmers just don't really know what they are doing.

I can imagine the Adobe engineers sitting around saying people won't mind waiting 3 minutes for the application to come back to life. It gives them time to genuflect.

Holy Craptacular it took me until now to get ACR working in CS2 again. I did go grocery shopping in between though.

Bro, I want a camera that takes good pictures, one that's not full of shit and overpriced for what it is. The more pro the better without having to sell a kidney. I was thinking DSLR, but I'm open. I am not afraid of RAW, but sometimes quick shots for a web site or small print project are all I need... you know, for people too cheap to pay my normal photographer's day rate. Then something not too cumbersome to take my own creative pictures. So if I'm there at dawn at a beautiful mountain stream, and see a deer or an otter, I can capture the moment. Also something that'll be good to take pictures of my paintings for my portfolio.

I knew that hi-res thumbnails were going to be a problem, so I didn't even try. Anything that slows the Mac down even more, it's not worth it to me if I'm going to have to call 911 and have them rush me to the ICU because I stroke out because of the spinning beachball.

I only deal with Bridge because it's better and slightly faster than the Finder. If the Finder worked right, we wouldn't even need Bridge.

The Nikon that just died on you is it a P&S or DSLR? Are you invested in some lenses and compact flash cards already?

I have personally worked with Canon DSLR's on the job. Canon early on 2001/2 really started the push towards Digital. For my personal use the last several years I have been using the cameras Pana/Leica have been producing. After using Canon for 5 years and more at work I was tired of the total automatic everything especially Auto Focus.

I grew up using a Pentax K1000 I got as a kid instead of a bike. So when Pentax started getting serious with the DSLR market I started to take notice. Last Fall Pentax released the K10D. I had waited a long time to get a DSLR and the K10D looked to be just what I was waiting for so finally in March I laid out the greenbacks. It has fit the bill for me so far.

I am using manual prime lenses instead of autofocus zooms. Pentax has created their DSLR's in keeping with the tradition of all the great lenses they have produced over the last fifty years. I should have been buying up Pentax lenses 3 years ago because then you could have gotten 5 or 6 really outstanding manual prime lenses for far less than the price of one zoom lens. Now you can get 3 or 4 as the prices have been driven up. Pentax produced an A-series of manual lenses that have an A aperture setting that allows the camera to fully function with the lens sans auto focus. Even lenses produced 25 years ago. You can control the aperture with the camera body. So in manual mode the K10D has a dial on the front under the shutter release that controls the shutter and another dial on the back so your thumb can control the aperture. You can of course use all the other auto functions as well like aperture/shutter priority.

The other nice thing is Pentax built the shake reduction system into the body of the camera instead of in the lenses which is what Canon and Nikon have done. Pentax taking this route gives shake reduction capability to all the old prime lenses they produced for the last fifty years. Sony/Minolta also has shake reduction built into the camera body.

The K10D is using the same 10mp Sony sensor that is in the Nikon D200. The K10D is weather sealed and has a pro capable feature set in line with Nikons D200 and Canon 30D line.

Another selling point for the K10D is price. It is priced considerably less than the D200 and 30D. Both these camera bodies alone run around $1,500. The K10D body is around $850. Pentax has a rebate right now of $150 back if you purchase the K10D and battery/vertical grip together. Which essentially gives you the grip for free. The grip attached to the K10D might be the right fit for your mitts. Ergonomics wise the K10D has a much better feel than the Canon 20D I use in the office.

The K10D oddly is not just less is more but it truly has a sense of more is more. Pentax really hit a lot of marks with this camera. Image quality etc it is an all around package. For me at least. I really wanted to work with manual primes. The K10D has delivered on this in spades. I can carry several primes without any problem. The zooms are huge to lug around. Did I mention the viewfinder. It is large and bright. You can even change the focus screen. Using the manual primes I was able to get a split prism focus screen for my K10D which is a great aide for manual focusing.

A final note having gotten some great manual focus lenses I said a film body would be great to have for them. I was able to find in Excellent+ shape an old Pentax MX manual film body. It is so small I can actually bring it along sometimes to shoot both digital and film. The viewfinder in the MX is just outstanding. There is even a little portal so you can see the aperture setting right on lens barrel right in the viewfinder as well as a shutter speed dial. The MX is fully manual. No batteries needed for the shutter to function. Only the light meter needs 2 A76 batteries to function.

I could go on and on. Fire any questions away.

The Nikon was an older Coolpix P&S. I have compact flash cards for it. It took fairly good pictures for what it was, and the LCD was crisp and bright. It's just that the technology has come so far in four years or so. I was thinking of just going for a latter gen Coolpix camera, something like the 8800. But I might want something better.

I had a friend with a Pentax K1000 as a kid, and he used to let me use it. Fun days. My first uh, exposure to photography.

Holy crap, I just watched the K10D product tour. Awesome. Not just the camera, but I love the tour! I do stuff like that, so I know what kind of work went into that tour.

I see the camera body around for $600. So I just need to figure out the lenses I need. I don't want to have to lug around a jillion lenses. So I might just start with some basic lenses. It would be great if I could keep it under a grand.

Almost all the camera's are now using SD media cards. Even the DSLR's. That was another reason I went with the K10D. I already had SD cards. There is a new standard SDHC which is bringing them into their own capacity and price wise. 4GB cards are well under $100 now. Even 8GB cards. These prices will fall even more. The top range down the road for SDHC is 32GB's. Itis hard to believe a postage stamp size card will be able to hold so much data.

If you like the form factor of the 8800 as an all in one super zoom Panasonic/Leica are the kings at delivering top notch models for this segment. The latest one is the DMC-FZ50. This is a first rate product.

My point and shoot has been another Panasonic/Leica effort. I have the Leica version D-LUX 3 in black. I hate to call it a point and shoot because it is a really solid performer. It is not for happy snaps.

As Panasonic produces the CCD for theirs and Leica's P&S camera's they have been really innovative in their approach. As in the DLUX3 the CCD is actually sized in the 16:9 aspect ratio. The LCD is is also 16:9. The lens is perfected with Leica's help to optimize image sharpness to the size of the sensor across the focal range. This camera and Panasonics version the DMC-LX2 are pocketable cameras.

For the K10D $600 seems a bit low. There is a K100D that sells for around $600. The K100D is a solid performer also. It does use four AA batteries. Some people prefer this over the proprietary lithium ion batteries. The K100D also has shake reduction built into the body. It accepts all the lenses Pentax has made the last fifty years also. The K10D is a whole other beast. It truly has a Pro feature set along with being weathersealed which non of the competition offer in any but there top of the line $6000 models.

The reason I wanted to go with prime lenses is because of there size. You could fit a 28mm and 50mm lens together in your pocket. Even a 135mm can be compact such as this manual 135 f3.5. This lens will out perform a zoom lens. It's compact size is ideal for hiking. It is not a fast lens but in good light out doors it will give sharp images across the f stop range. It will deliver nice bokeh as well wide open. As you can see the price is reasonable. Getting a couple of primes like this along with the kit DA18-55 lens and 4GB SDHC card you should be able to keep it close to a thousand with the K10D. Definitely with the K100D. The SMC-A 50mm f1.4 lens are real gems. Perfect portrait lens. The crop factor for the K10D is 1.5 so a 50mm is really 75mm. The 135mm is really 202mm.

I am really jazzed about the film MX I just got. I have developed a few rolls of Tri-X already. I remember being in a store that I think had an MX it might have been an MV brand new back in the day. I always wanted to upgrade to the MX but was too cheap. I still remember looking at it in the case. I think it was around $200 at the time. It is true pleasure to finally have one. I bought the black MX with a Pentax SMC-M 50mm f1.7 for $120. The camera shows some ware but is in perfect working condition. A mint black MX just went for $385 on ebay recently.

Here's where I saw the K10D body for $599.

I love the idea of the weather sealing and the dust killing technology.

I really like this camera so far. Thanks for the lens info. I'm a bit over my head with lenses, but I think I understand most of what you're saying. Would I need a macro lens for the artwork?

I am always wary of such online outfits. When the price sounds to good to be true and they have an address like this:

ShopCartUSA.com
2744 Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11207

These Brooklyn based online places are notorious bait and switch operations. They either sell you grey market stuff with no warranty or hit you up for "extras" as in if you want the owners manual battery and cables that will cost you.

B&H Photo/Video is very reputable even though it is basically the same characters running the show as the bait and switch places in Brooklyn. The B&H guys live in Brooklyn. If you check most of the others listed in the compare shoppers you will find they are based in Brooklyn.

This K10D page at B&H has the Pentax recent rebate PDF under the Rebate Available button. The last one listed bundled with the 18-55 kit lens for $889 might be your best bet. The Kit lens is a good performer for the price. This will save you some if you bought them separate. The kit lens will get you going.

When I first bought my K10D five days in I sent it flying down at least 10 flights of stairs if you remember. The battery compartment door was shattered right off. I could see right inside the camera. To the credit of Pentax the camera still worked and I mean the camera went flying like I threw it. It came out of my bag as I was pulling it onto my shoulder so the camera came out like it was in a sling shot. (Oh shit I replaced that bag with one called a sling shot! Nice compact bag though) I picked up the pieces turned it on it was ready to go. I even photographed the event with it. I took it back to B&H and they exchanged it for a new one bless their hearts. I have bought alot of stuff from them over the years which did factor in and it was within their 7 day return policy.

As for photographing your art work it would depend on the sizes. If they are smaller drawings or smaller objects then a macro might suit the task. But in general you want something that will not distort the objects which would be in the 75mm to 100mm focal length range. So a normal 50mm will do the job. (The 1.5x digital crop factor 50mm=75mm digital) I actually have this older A-series 50mm f2.8 macro that is a great performer with good color and contrast. There are also older macro M-series 50mm f4 versions that are a bit less expensive. For macro work these manual focus lenses actually work better than the newer autofocus lenses. You can control the focus better.

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When I first bought my K10D five days in I sent it flying down at least 10 flights of stairs if you remember. The battery compartment door was shattered right off. I could see right inside the camera. To the credit of Pentax the camera still worked and I mean the camera went flying like I threw it.

Yeah, I love that story. That's about as good a testimonial for durability as I've ever heard. You could be an Iraq war correspondent with that camera.

Hey, what's that attachment I see at the bottom of the camera? Is that additional battery power? Do you have that? Is that worth it?

Thanks for the head's up on the bait-and-switch joint.

Oh, what about a flash? I read in one of the specs "built-in retractable P-TTL auto flash" But there's still a shoe for a flash. What do you use, a separate flash? I know those range in price like wildly.

Yes that is a battery grip port on the bottom of the camera. It is a nice addition to the camera. It is really useful as you can see it has a shutter release for portrait orientation.

If you haven't downloaded it yet here is a direct link to the recent Pentax rebates. This sort of thing happens to me. I could have saved the $125 on the body and grip combination.

As for flash I am old school. I have not even used the pop up flash other than testing it. But a flash is not a bad idea. Pentax has two P-TTL flash units. The AF540FGZ and the AF360FGZ. The differences are the 540 is more powerful and also swivels left and right. They both allow for bounce. There are rebates on the flash units now also. The 540 is around $100 more than the 360 after rebates $289 and $195.

The more I use my K10D the more I am satisfied with it. It truly is usable right up to ISO 1600. I have gotten really good results up to ISO1250. This is really pushing the limits of the sensor but at these high ISO you can still get very usable B&W images out of them.

I think I am going to have to spring for the CS3 upgrade. I was using the beta to long and the RAW component is much better than what is offered in CS2. The fuckers at Adobe disable ACR 4 which is what CS3 uses not to work in CS2 even though there is no reason it could not work as it is a separate plug in. Plus Adobe offers educational discounts. What is the only discount they do not offer. You guessed it for PS CS3 upgrades.