I bought my first digital camera - now what?

[jjp]

I bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 from my local camera shop because I really liked the 12x optical zoom (got to take pictures of the kids soccer games you know).

It came with a 16mb card, which of course only holds 4 pictures. I'm going to go to Fry's to get a memory card and a card reader. There seems to be a wide array of prices for different brands, is one brand of SD memory cards better than another? How about card readers? Should I just get the cheapest one?

It came with some software "Lumix Simple Viewer 1.1e Photo fun studio". Anyone use this, or should I pop for photoshop?

Printing pictures. I've got a pretty cheap color printer. I was planning on sending the pictures out to be printed, but am I better off buying a better quality printer and doing it myself?

Anything else I'm missing?

[SamIAm]

Cards: The only thing besides size that I care about in cards is the speed. This isn't so crucial for your camera, though. I'd probably just go cheapest, if I were you.

CardReader: No, brand shouldn't matter at all. You can pay surprisingly litte from some no-brand reader from HK on eBay. Consider whether you want a card reader that reads multiple formats or just yours, but eBay is the right place regardless. (Does your camera not come with a USB cable to read directly?)

Software: I can't imagine the free crap that came with the camera is very good; I've never heard of it, anyway. I like PaintShopPro for color/contrast/red-eye/etc, and it's good at these things, but I'm no expert. I'm pretty sure the experts pay bunches of money for Adobe Photoshop.
-Sam

[Freakin]

There are quite a few free basic image editing programs around.

Try out Google Picasa. Supposed to be quite good.

[Guthrie]

There is a substantial difference in flash cards. Start here:

http://dpreview.com/

Until you're printing a lot, and maybe even then, it's probably easier and cheaper to use a digital printing service. There are lots of them online, but many people, including a lot of pros, use their local Costco.

If you have the money, Photoshop is essential. There are lots of others available, but Photoshop is the nuts. You'll need to learn a lot about Photoshop and color management before even sending your stuff out for printing, or printing it yourself, if you want more than snapshots.

There's probably as much, if not more, information and forums on photography as poker on the net, so dive in.

[LuckyTxGuy]

Good info so far. Photography is one of my major hobbies so I'll chime in.

I agree on the memory cards...cheaper the better for what you'll be doing. I've got some old no name Smart Media cards from 7 years ago that I use in some junker cameras and they still work great.

As for printing the photos.....you've got the right idea. Send them to Walmart, Costco, Sam's, CVS, Walgreens etc. They are cheap, do a great job and it only takes an hour. Printing them at home is fine if you are willing to buy the high quality paper, high quality ink, high quality printer, and then mess with it all. For .19 (or less) cents per photo, like most places are, I won't mess with it.

Good luck and have fun with the new camera!

[jjp]

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CardReader: No, brand shouldn't matter at all. You can pay surprisingly litte from some no-brand reader from HK on eBay. Consider whether you want a card reader that reads multiple formats or just yours, but eBay is the right place regardless. (Does your camera not come with a USB cable to read directly?)


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The camera does come with a USB cable, but the camera store guy recommended getting the reader because its easier and you drain the camera's battery when you transfer the pictures to your computer using the direct connection.

[baumer]

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CardReader: No, brand shouldn't matter at all. You can pay surprisingly litte from some no-brand reader from HK on eBay. Consider whether you want a card reader that reads multiple formats or just yours, but eBay is the right place regardless. (Does your camera not come with a USB cable to read directly?)


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The camera does come with a USB cable, but the camera store guy recommended getting the reader because its easier and you drain the camera's battery when you transfer the pictures to your computer using the direct connection.

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I see no reason to buy the reader, he was probably just trying to get some more cash out of you.

[cwsiggy]

Photoshop Elements is a great and much cheaper version of the full Photoshop. $99 vs $700. Probably the best way to go.

[LuckyTxGuy]

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CardReader: No, brand shouldn't matter at all. You can pay surprisingly litte from some no-brand reader from HK on eBay. Consider whether you want a card reader that reads multiple formats or just yours, but eBay is the right place regardless. (Does your camera not come with a USB cable to read directly?)


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The camera does come with a USB cable, but the camera store guy recommended getting the reader because its easier and you drain the camera's battery when you transfer the pictures to your computer using the direct connection.

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I see no reason to buy the reader, he was probably just trying to get some more cash out of you.

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While it is optional, I always suggest a card reader for several reasons. Downloading alot of photos definatly does put a very hard strain on the camera batteries. Also, having a card reader comes in handy when you have more than one memory card and your camera isn't handy when want to transfer photos to your pc off a card. Lots of legit reasons to use a card reader, but again, it is something you can do without, if the $15-$20 is an issue.

[ZBTHorton]

I worked for CanonUSA in their Digital Camera/Photography Division for 3 years.

I personally, WOULD buy a printer. Buy something with individual ink tanks, and refill them based on recomendations from DPREVIEW.com. You can make the pictures cheaper than 19 cents and save yourself a ton of trouble.