Recent content by bludragon

OK, just noticed this other thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2343401&enterthread=y Looks like you may struggle to get a decent Quad for $500. Athlon II x4 might be worth considering.

Yep, for photo editing the more cores, the better. I would start with Quad core and 4Gb ram minimum. Preferably Core i5 or phenom II x4 if budget is tight. I don't think RAID or ram speed are going to make much difference.

Nice system, but here is what I would do: I would seriously wait a few weeks and get a core i5. I would spend less on the RAM, also, I haven't looked into pricing on the AMD boards, but would it not be worth going ddr3 at this point just to allow future upgrades? I'd also add a few $$ to...

I'm looking at the iso 800 images and I prefer the smoother, more solid looking canon image at the pixel level. Also the canon seems to retain slightly more detail on the bottles. The fabrics do look sharper on the pentax, but is that just due to higher default color saturation and sharpening?

An SLR would destroy a compact for low light iq, e.g: xsi + 17-55 f/2.8 + 430 EX II 5DmkII + 24-105 f/4 L + 580 EX II Adding a bounce flash makes for pro quality pics. But neither package is so great to carry around at parties... so, panasonic lx-3, or maybe canon G10, but wait for G11...

Just something to be aware of - rumor has it that canon will be announcing a replacement to the XS later this month. Of course, there will be a while before it is actually available and it'll likely only reach the price level of the XS just before its replacement is due to be announced...

I would pick one of these: http://www.americanmusical.com...dio-interface--srcin-1 Depending on what in/out you need. The tracker pre adds pre-amps (for mic or instrument), the 0404 adds midi, digital i/o and phantom power for the mic inputs. I have an 0404 usb, the only bad part is that...

I just bought a recertified MP980 for $150 with free shipping: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16828102427 It was packed like new, came with a new print head and new ink tanks, but does have some minor marks on the printer itself. I haven't tried scanning yet, but printing seems...

The point of an external flash is that you can bounce it and/or use a diffusor so that is does not look like you used flash. If you're looking for better indoor shots an external flash will make a bigger impact than a larger aperture. Check out some samples of flash done properly and you may...

Gave these a try last night... hardware acceleration for VC-1 and H.264 still seems broken in media player classic HC for me. It last worked in 8.12. This time instead of rolling back I just disabled it in Mplayer. Seems like it's not worth the effort as my cpu is capable enough anyway. This...

Overbudget, but if you want a real step up in sound quality, you might want to check out some small studio monitors: http://www.guitarcenter.com/St...itors-Recording.gc?o=1 Beware that most are priced individually though!

Are you half pressing the shutter first to get a focus lock? If not, that may solve your problem - try half press, "say cheese", wait for smiles all around, complete press

Try the demo and decide for yourself :-) I've settled on canon's dpp for now. The UI is a bit of a pain, but the results seem to be very good. If I didn't have that, I may well use DxO. The lens corrections work very well - assuming it supports your body+lenses, but I was not as convinced by...

BTW, all the cameras you linked have a big lens because of the zoom range. If you don't need such an extreme zoom, you will find that a smaller camera with less zoom may actually give better pictures. The reason is the design of the lens has to be compromised to fit in such a large range.

Generally speaking, the bigger the image and the brighter it is, the better the image quality and the bigger the lens needs to be to gather the necessary light, so in that you are correct. Technically speaking, rather than lens size, the determining factors are sensor size and aperture as well...