On Thu, Dec 3, 2009 at 2:17 PM, Chris O'Halloran <cmoman(a)gmail.com> wrote:
In previous reading on this topic, I understand the opinion varies amongst manufacturers on the various file formats and how well they allow the RAW file formats to be extracted from the camera. The two brands I am mostly considering at this stage are Nikon and Canon.
Would anyone care to comment if a Linux user is likely to have a preference for either and/or if there is another brand that is very Linux friendly?
I have a Canon EOS450D and have had no issues using it under linux. I use an SD Card reader to transfer the raw files off the card onto the camera. I've never actually tried to connect the camera to the computer directly, but afaik it just turns up as an USB mass storage device. Most likely you want to use a card reader though, it's so much easier when you're swapping cards, etc. There are no shortage of utilities to process and manipulate the CR2 images the camera produces, the format is relatively well documented and understood.
I like the idea of a camera that uses SD cards and possibly conventional batteries but that requirement isn't hard n fast. Additionally if there is some way to use my legacy 300m telephoto lens, that would also be cool but I'm resigned to it being incompatible.
Personally I think it's a pretty tight race between Canon and Nikon when you're in the prosumer market. Both make good cameras and lenses. I used to shoot Nikon years ago, but I've a Canon guy now simply because that's what most of my friends and colleagues use these days so it's much simpler to swap, borrow and trade lenses, etc. You can usually get adaptors so you can use older lenses on new bodies (even across brands), but you'll likely not get any of the new, fancy features like auto-focus, etc. You will need to watch out for the crop factor and focal length changes as well. Cheers -- Matt Brown matt(a)mattb.net.nz Mob +353 86 608 7117 www.mattb.net.nz