Tech / Special Interest → Digital Imaging Technology > Anything such as this?

Anything such as this?

I was wondering if there is any editing that can be done to point and shoot camera firmware to enable it to shoot in RAW.
I read of the CHDK hack for Canon P&S that allows this feature. I was wondering if anything like that existed for Nikon P&S.
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Photoshop these nuts in your mouth.

Some models can. Not all Canons do, the same with Nikon »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ca···at#Nikon

Bummer. Mine unfortunately isn't listed.
(CoolPix S8200)
Oh well. Guess I'll just have to keep honing my skills with a P&S till I have the spare cash to upgrade to a big boy camera.
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Photoshop these nuts in your mouth.

I've got a gently used Panasonic GH1 with the kit 14-42mm lens that you can have for $350 (including an extra battery) shipped. It's a great camera but be very specific about your needs/wants before you decide on ANY expensive dSLR system.

I inherited the GH1 and a GH2 from my father but if I had bought my own I think I would have gone a different route because I like to shoot action with the rapid-fire shots and others have faster/longer fps capabilities, and more lens options. Thankfully there are adapters I can use with some of his old lenses, and m4/3 is gaining in popularity (Olympus) giving more options.
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"While you can teach an old dog new tricks, you simply can't teach him to be a cat."

"Are you my Mummy?"

How long have you been taking pictures? You must have an idea what you favor by now. Like I live near Boston and I love trying to get muzzle flare shots from the reenactors. I also love landscape shots (mostly ocean ;-D). Right now I'm trying to learn jewelry photography. But I don't like portraits. So with those bits I've learned about myself, I would research a camera with fast fps abilities and a selection of both macro and telephoto lenses.

I would also look into the weight of the camera (you're going to be carrying it around a lot), the costs of a few accessories like a spare battery, flash and remote shutter release, and what kind of cards you're already set up for. Do you currently use CF? MS? SD? I'm purely an SD girl and luckily Panasonic is SD as well so I didn't need to buy new card formats and readers.

Since you have to save up the money, you can learn about your shooting needs and wants and take your time with your research.
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"While you can teach an old dog new tricks, you simply can't teach him to be a cat."

"Are you my Mummy?"

said by onebadmofo:

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So I simply try to get the best shots I can with the camera I have. But then I see some shots that can be pulled off with the big ones and I'm like, "damn...if only my camera had that setting".

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said by onebadmofo:

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I can post some of the shots, and you guys can critique them if you'd like. Maybe even give me some tips on how to get the most out of my camera too.

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It been said that the camera is the least important part of taking a photo.

That's true, to a point, but no matter how good the photographer is, they're limited by the camera specs. Just like even a horrible photographer will waste an expensive set-up. That's why I suggested the OP figure out exactly what his desires are before buying. He's got the desire to learn, and that's a big part of the equation.
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"While you can teach an old dog new tricks, you simply can't teach him to be a cat."

"Are you my Mummy?"

Yeah, I forgot to upload the picture

Your pictures are great though! It's easy to see that you have 'the eye', just not the equipment.

Lighting is actually pretty easy. I recently made up a studio for about $30 using things I already had and a few more pieces. I had several tripods and my father's old lights ($7 at Walmart for similar) so I got a couple of 5000K lightbulbs and some metal strapping and nuts to strap the lights to my tripods. Not the most beautiful solution, but function over looks The big cost was the 18" lightbox.
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"While you can teach an old dog new tricks, you simply can't teach him to be a cat."

"Are you my Mummy?"

Thanks again.

Speaking of a lighting, I actually made this the other day. I took a shot of a thumb drive and my car keys. I haven't really had time to mess with it more yet.
»digital-photography-school.com/h···ght-tent
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Photoshop these nuts in your mouth.

I saw that and made one for myself out of pvc pipe and 'ripstop' fabric. I have space constraints so I needed to be able to break it down Yours is good too because you can turn it on its side and have two different sizes.
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"While you can teach an old dog new tricks, you simply can't teach him to be a cat."

"Are you my Mummy?"

I was thinking of making mine out of PVC. But I wanted to see how well or not well that it would work for me.
Now that I seen basically what I can do with it with my camera, I'm thinking of making it out of hinged pieces of aluminum. that way I can fold it and unfold it quickly.

Ripstop fabric huh? Never heard of it. But that would work with a folding device.
I'll have to look into it.
Do you have any pics of yours?
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Photoshop these nuts in your mouth.

Mine's broken down at the moment but there are these - »www.google.com/search?q=pvc+ligh···&bih=609.

Just remember to put the writing on the OUTSIDE corners
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"While you can teach an old dog new tricks, you simply can't teach him to be a cat."

"Are you my Mummy?"