Newbie here! I've been a stalker for a while and have to say this is a an amazing group of people and look forward to learning and contributing what I can along the way.

I'm just starting out with a focus on outdoor/natural light babies, children & families.

I'm wondering if I need to upgrade my CAMERA or my PC first?

I will stick with Canon and am definately considering jumping to Apple over the PC.

Camera (is this is where you all laugh? ) is the Rebel (pre-Xti version purchased a year ago). Lens is a 24-70/f2.8L.

PC is Dell, 4600, Intel Pentium 4, 2.66GHz, 512 MB of RAM, bought in 2002 (I think), and drives me a bit crazy - seems to get slower the more images I add. Perhaps the laughing is continuing? I have Lightroom but am a tentative to intstall it because I'm worried it will slow it down more. Then do I just wait for the new iMacs? (I read the other post on that...)

I do have a budget - like, ideally one or the other - and I'm not in a HUGE hurry as I still have two day jobs (half-time work, full-time mom) so getting the business going is going to take some creativity.

So - what do you think?
Thanks for your help!

You know what you could do...is just buy more RAM for your computer, back up all your images to DVD or external hard drive and completely reformat the hard drive. Backing up your files and license keys for all your software (which you have to reinstall too) is a bit of work...but worth it every couple of years with a PC. That will help with most all of your speed issues.

And you can get a new camera body that way.

I ran on a Dell laptop for a while and did just fine...I think it was about 2 GHz, 2GB RAM.

Welcom to the forum by the way!

I totally agree with Fletcher ... get at least 2GB of ram in your system, add external drives if needed for both storage and backups, and if there is enough left over, get a new camera body. In fact, if need be, get either Lightroom or the new Photoshop CS3 (my preference).

Thanks for the comments guys. So which Camera would you get?

What about upgrading lenses before getting a new camera, which would give you time to keep shooting and decide what you do and don't want in a camera (unless you already know for sure). Just a thought. I was going to upgrade my camera, but am following the advice of adding more RAM, etc. to the computer, getting one really nice lens, and finishing my lighting set-up (basic - about $120 total for what I need to get)...that's all the money *I* am putting in - anything else I want has to be paid for with money I make from shooting (pictures, that is)...

I bought the 24-70/f2.8L which I really like for what I've done so far. I read some of the threads on fixed lenses with lower f's. Is there a lens you love? I'm definately thinking the adding more RAM suggestion is a good route to go.

One lens won't cut it. You definitely need to add more. You might find that going with primes will offer the best bang for your buck. They tend to be sharper, smaller, and cheaper. And you can always use "sneaker zoom" with primes.

Look into a combination of portrait and normal lenses to fill out your kit. The 50mm 1.4 or 1.8 and 100mm 2.8 would be a better investment than a computer because...


Your computer is fine. Following the RAM advice above is a good first step.

A second step should be getting an external drive (like a WD MyBook from Costco or something) and offloading your pictures to it (along with making DVD backups). That should speed up your computing a bunch.

Also, having a really kick-butt computer is overrated in my opinion. If you're taking good pictures then you should be spending less time in front of your computer. A quick run-through in Lightroom and basic Photoshop should be all you need to do unless you're going a more artistic route.

Thanks for the lens tip and the HD link! I've definately been thinking I need to add to the lens collection. I do back up my files to a HD and CD but I'm currently leaving them on my PC too. Looks like I have some PC maintenance in my future.

Thanks again!

In addition to adding RAM, you should probably add another INTERNAL hard drive for photo storage (then copy to an external or DVDs for backups). Try breaking down your images into smaller groups and putting them into separate folders. That should speed up read times.

As for camera gear, your 24-70 is a great lens for what you are doing. I'd add a 50/1.8 (as Damon previously suggested) for low light and possibly a 35/2 for groups. Or get a 580EX and learn to make your light "look" natural.

Cost breakdown (estimates):
2GB RAM = $100
500GB internal HD = $130
500GB external HD = $180
50/1.8 lens = $80
35/2 lens = $230
580EX = $350 street

Cheers!

Hi Jessica,

Are you the Jessica I did the phone interview with a couple of days ago? If so, welcome! If not, welcome!

What should you upgrade? Everything! Here's how (hindsight being 20/20 and all that)...

Buy a used 20D or 30D on the Buy & Sell forum either here or over on FM. It should set you back about $600-700 for the 20D, a bit more for the 30D.

You should also be able to get good deals on glass on the forums if you're patient. Canon is nice, but don't overlook Sigma EX series. The Sigmas are less costly, but still good lenses. If you go with new Sigma glass, look at sigma4less.com.

Watch the Dell Outlet site for a PC. Last year I bought a new machine for about $1000 from the regular Dell site. A couple of months later, I found a machine for my son with only slightly less specs for 1/2 the price! Look for decent speed, 2GB RAM and a good fast HD. You can always add an external HD for more storage.

Going this route, you'll prabably spend 1200-1500 for a 20D body and new PC with a monitor, not including add'l lenses.

I'm a different Jessica - thanks for the welcome!

Agree with the upgrade everything comment! Thanks for the information and links! I should have posted "what should be my basic tool-kit" or something to that affect.

That sounds like a good thread to start! I'm sure you'll get a bunch of great responses & options

Hey a local! Welcome

I agree about the ram and cleaning off your hard drive, for portrait work that'll be great (meaning you're not dealing with thousands of wedding or event images).

For the camera, I know it's expensive, but I highly recommend getting a 5D. It's THE portrait camera! Seriously, I've used all the pro bodies from both Canon and Nikon (except the MKIII of course) and, for portraits, I wouldn't trade the 5D for any of them. I know it's a lot of money, even used, and you'll have to stick with your current computer and lens for a while, but you'll never regret it.

And when you do come up for air in the lens department, go down to Glazers and play with some fast primes. I use the 50 1.4 and 24 1.4 alot, and if I was shooting kids/families full time I'd spring for either the 35 1.4 or the new 50 1.2. The images from all of Canon's ultra fast primes are amazing. You might also consider the 100 2.8 macro. It's very sharp and will be great for capturing small details like baby fingers and toes.

Hope that helps!

~Bill

Memory is on it's way!

For those that don't already know about this, I just learned about Belmanage. You can run a scan that creates a profile summary of your PC. It provides a TON of information, including what type of memory you need, your current memory configuration and how many slots you have.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html