Brian

I'm on it Chief!!

This is because the image you see on the camera's LCD IS NOT THE RAW FILE ITSELF, but rather the JPEG Preview File that is embedded within the Raw file. This is why your image goes from #Amazeballz to #Blah in ACR or LR. The "Blah" file is the Raw image; well technically speaking, it's Adobe's Camera RAW Plugin's interpretation of the Raw Image. But really...tomato, to-mah-to. The Internet Trolls who want to correct me can suck it. SD Cards go bad all the time. Flash-based Media wears out, usually without warning. It just does. Personally, I tend to refresh/replace my cards every 18 months or so. If your two cards are the only ones you own and they have lots of usage on them over the past couple of years, I'd swap them both out, pronto. Especially if they were bought around the same time. What camera body are you shooting with? It could be possible that the slot in the camera is starting to wear out, causing this issue, but I'm leaning more towards the cards themselves. Also, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...PRACTICALLY REQUIRED BY ME, to use a CARD READER and not use a damn USB cable attached to your camera. Don't ever use the camera to transfer your images. Way too much can go wrong, and usually at the worst possible time. I don't care if you say "...but it's always worked!" Card Readers tend to be between $20-$30 on the average, so the cost won't kill your wallet. Give this article a read for more clarification. So what can you do? If the images are really important, there are JPEG Extractor Programs that are available. What these programs do is pull that image you see on the back of the camera and create a JPEG. Granted, it's not 100% fool-proof, but if you are in a bind and NEED SOMETHING, it's better than nothing. Oh, keep in mind, this is a JPEG file that is extracted, not a Raw image. There is only so much data contained within that JPEG Preview, so you won't have as much wiggle-room as you would to recover something in ACR. It's always better to nail exposure in-camera just in case you are forced to do something like this. I've recommended this webpage in the past, see if one of the two Extraction programs that they recommend will work for you.

OK, I'm back. Before we begin, what is your current iMac? Year/Make/Model.

Probably the BEST way to backup your internal Mac HD is to use Time Machine. Hands down, Apple has perfected backing up. I will write more later after I study the Red Drives. Personally, I prefer the WD Gold line over the Reds. Keep in mind, that the NAS enclosures such as a Synology NAS (2 or 4 bay) are being made with really cheap plastic which has a tendency to vibrate, a lot. Not that it affects HDs; it’s just loud and is more annoying than anything. I do have a few other recommendations and will link to them tonight. Fortunately the store that I link to does ship to OZ.

It's not going to work the way you were thinking. That's because it doesn't have built-in speakers. From what I can tell by reading the manual, all that monitor does is take the audio from the DisplayPort or HDMI and forwards it to a set of external speakers of some kind. Here is the page that I'm referring to: "Port 8" is a 3.5mm jack, but you need physical speakers with their own power source, headphones will not work in this port. Only 2-Channel Audio is the audio that comes out of that display. My advice? Skip using this display for audio and get yourself a decent set of speakers and hook it up to the computer's audio ports. If you must use the monitor's pass-through ports, these Bose Speakers should work. I bought my wife a set of these for Christmas a few years ago and she likes them. They should work with either your display or computer. If you want something more, like a 2.1 system, I highly recommend getting a set of Klipsch THX 2.1 Speakers. This is what I have on my desk and they are on sale!! Normal price is $140 and they are going for $89.99...which is $10 less than the Bose Set.

OK, that's what I thought we were talking about. A few things come to mind: You will need two lights at a 45º Angle on each side of your camera. At this point, I'm thinking of Continuous Lights. You will need two Softboxes as Modifiers. Sizes...either a 36" x 48" or maybe a 24" x 32". Personally, I'd get a pair of Westcott 3x4 Silver Softboxes or a pair of white Impact 36" x 48" Softboxes. The difference between the "White" and "Silver" is the Silver ones have a bit more contrast / punch and they can take a higher temperature of continuous lights. Which is a good thing, since we don't want to start any fires. :D Speaking of Continuous Lights, the ones I was going to recommend are no longer made. While you could use a light like a pair of Einstein 640 lights on a stand, I'm thinking a kit like this might be more something you are after? It comes with stands and lights, you'd just need matching Softbox Modifers, which I linked to above. Your camera is fine. Shoot at a the base ISO, and your model is probably around ISO 100. Shoot at f/8 or f/11. Do not use f/22. What happens is when shooting at f/22, you get something called Diffraction, which in layman's terms, you take a image quality hit. I know you are thinking of a "Deep Depth-of-Field," but it's more important to have the artwork as flat as possible against the wall, not leaning slightly off the wall due to a hook & wire AND have the camera dead straight on when pointed at the painting. You do not want any "angles" from either the Artwork or Camera. You will need a nice and robust tripod, complete with steady ball head. Here is one that shouldn't break the bank the Manfrotto MK055XPRO3-BHQ2 Tripod with Ballhead. Since you aren't lugging that tripod around, it will work really well and not break the bank. The tripod that I'm looking at buying is over $1100, and that's just for the legs! So $400 is very reasonable for a sturdy tripod with a Ball Head. Plus the model's center column switches to a horizontal mode, which is great for table-top photography. Oh, buy the Nikon MC-DC2 Remote Trigger for your D5600. Camera Shake is the enemy. Using f/8 or f/11 and a long-ish exposure will help things. Don't be afraid of 1/60th or 1/30 for a Shutter Speed. You are mounted on a tripod, so this will work for you. Your 24-120 will probably work really well. That said, you might want to invest in a Nikon 105VR f/2.8G Macro Lens, but that can come later. Final thoughts, at least for this comment box... COVID-19 HAS REALLY SCREWED UP A LOT OF THINGS. I have never seen so many things on back-order or just plain discontinued in the lighting dept. I guess with Photographers out of work, and nobody was buying, Westcott and other Lighting Companies orphaned a lot of their products and modifiers. So this process of finding the best lights that work for you might take a few months.

If it installs properly, it should copy the settings from the older version. Photoshop will install next to the older version of Photoshop. YOU have to manually initiate the un-install of them. What changes is the current version will be on the Dock Bar, and the older versions will be in your Applications Folder. So go ahead and try it. If it doesn't work well for you, then use the older version. One more thing, whenever ACR Updates, it almost always changes the default in ACR from sRGB back to AdobeRGB (1998). So when it doubt, use my instructions to verify things: Setting up Photoshop

Lenses really do not perform well at f/22! f/11 or even f/8 should be more than enough. Cut your ISO to 100 as well. It's a painting, it's not going to get "tired." Can you post one of the images so I really can get a visual? Even if they are crappy.

It has all sorts of glitches. I'm running Catalina and PS CC 2021. Not sure how well it will play with Mojave. Honestly?!? It's not that much of a big deal; in fact, you really aren't missing out on much. Unless you are interested in the fancy tools, but the stuff that photographers need can be accomplished in CS6! The most stable Photoshop CC is PS CC 2019. Hands down that works with just about everything, including older plug-ins and such. Personally...I'm thinking about going back to 2019. The cool part is that Adobe doesn't delete the older versions, they are still on your HD if you upgrade. So if you do go the PS 2021 route, you can always load PS CC 2019 in case if things get wonky.

So really, where did we leave off? I looked over this thread and we first were talking about lenses, then lighting. Your main subject matter was paintings of some kind, yes? So bring me up to speed, WHAT did you attempt that made "Horrible Results." What camera / lens combo were you shooting with and did you use a tripod at all? Lighting will be one portion of the whole thing, but we need to make sure the other components are also good. Simply put, WHAT did you do? An inquiring mind wants to know.

COVID has really jacked up the prices. Especially when it comes to Video Cards. Expect to pay around $3000 for a decent gaming computer that also runs Photoshop well and about $350-ish for a display. Check out some recent threads, I’ve given some links to stuff. Here is my latest article / rant: Buying a Computer in 2021 As for a curved monitor.... ”Meh.” Personally I like a nice flat IPS-based display in 2021. 27” is a really good size. Anything larger is personal taste and bragging rights. I’d also make sure both the video card and display have a DisplayPort or HDMI port.

You might have to reload those actions (or whatever.) This caught my eye: Try it. We can always restore if needed. Honestly, since there are two sides, "Forum" and "Website," the Forum should stay intact. "The ask.damiensymonds" part of your website should be left alone as it's in a different folder. The damiensymonds.net/actions or damiensymonds.net/tutorials, etc. THAT IS THE STUFF will also more than likely be deleted.

You might want to give everyone a head's up that the website might be down for a bit, this might be messy. Do you have all of your various articles backed up? (Another Backup Link) All of those tutorials & WTB things? Or does the new website have everything moved over and you are looking to "Nuke" the existing WordPress site? If you are just looking to nuke everything, those instructions are pretty good and it shouldn't affect the forum side of things at all.

Oh! Yeah, I’d skip it. Glad you found this out before you clicked buy. COVID has really messed things up in terms of pricing and availability. Even for the used market items. Keep looking, a 5DM3 is still worth it in 2021.

The shutter count isn't what people make it out to be. You can always replace the shutter mechanism. The 5D Mark III is rated to 150,000 clicks, so there is a lot of life in that camera. Now if the thing was 130,000 clicks, I'd say pass. But 100,000 stock photos is a lot of stock photos. LOL!! Some info: https://shuttercheck.app/data/canon/eos-5d-mark-iii/

The 6D is a "Bridge" camera / beginner Full Frame Body. This means that those type of bodies are meant for the Rebel Users that upgrade to Full Frame. If you shoot anything professionally, get the 5D Mark III. Actually, just get the 5DM3 and be happy. Trust me. PS: Even if it's just Stock Photography. Get the 5D Mark III.

The 5D Mark III is still a workhorse camera. 48,000 clicks seems reasonable. One thing with the 5D Mark II and 5D Mark III cameras is if you use both the SD Slot and CF Slot, the camera slows down when it writes from the buffer to the card. Canon likes cutting corners to save money and the CF slot slows itself down to the slower SD's speed when using two cards. So if you are shooting portraits, this isn't too much of an issue. If you are shooting Sports & Action, then you want to avoid using the SD slot altogether. I would not buy a 5D Mark II at this point. Not only due to age; the center focus point is the only reliable one as it's the only cross-type AF point. All the other ones don't work well. The 5DMK3 is a huge improvement in the Focusing Dept.

Personally, I'm not a fan of Seagate HDs. I've replaced that brand more times than I care to mention over these past 28+ years that I've been a tech. I've had them physically smoke on me and generally avoid Seagate as much as I can. In addition, 4TB isn't that much these days. It might sound like a lot, but with today's high megapixel cameras, and there will be more MP, 60MP-100MP, Raw file sizes are just going to increase. My D850 produces Raw files around 100 megabytes...each. That's only 45MP! I do recommend the Western Digital Gold Line of Hard Drives. They are "Enterprise Grade" which means they are built for Data-centers and heavy usage. Overkill for home use, but I like overkill with it comes to my data; I do not cheap out on my hard drives. In terms of NAS, A 2-Bay is a good place to start, but I'd go for a 4 or 5 bay NAS. You can always start out with two drives, and have room to grow, of course at a higher price-point. Keep in mind of the type of RAID setup. Two 4TB Drives in a RAID 1 will give you 4TB, but those drives will be mirrored, which gives you redundancy. RAID 0 will combine two 4TB Drives and give you 8GB, but if one of those drive fails, the whole thing goes and you lose everything. So if you are looking to setup RAID 1, keep in mind, you will need larger HDs to compensate for the Mirroring. Personally, 12TB is a good place to be in 2021. One more thing. Even though I like Synology's stuff, and I would purchase their line of products...it seems that the quality of plastic has gotten worse over time. Expect that two spinning hard drives in cheap plastic housing / trays will be noisy and loud. So if you have a computer / Server Room at work, or a "Phone Closet," put the NAS in there. Next to your desk may not be a good option.

Bridge is Damien's thing. I'd post a new question here. Chances are, you just have to change the Drive letter and spot where Bridge stores stuff in it's preferences.

Oh, one more thing. I configured a Dell XPS Special Edition system and made sure the video card was one that would play Video Games as well as run Photoshop extremely well: That's $3193.99 before Tax and better shipping. At the time of this writing, that works out to be $4013.85 Canadian. SMDH.

Now that I think of it, yes...and it's the next step up from the Dell XPS line, the Dell XPS Special Edition. They cost a little more, but usually come with better components under the hood and have traditional tech support and warranties. That said, you really have to pay attention, often you must PAY for these type of things. So let's get into it... I went to the Dell XPS Special Edition on their website and found the following: Looking at the specs, we can clearly remove the two models from the columns on the left as I do not like their Hard Drive Configuration and the one on the left only comes with 8GB of RAM. Plus the video card, while it has its own GPU and Memory, it's a lower end card at this point. So we will begin by comparing the $2099 and $2649 Models: Either one of these systems will work well with Adobe Photoshop. They check all of my boxes and there is one main difference between the two of them: The Video Card. The one for $2649.99 has a more powerful and robust video card than the other. NVIDIA video card's drivers seem to play well with Photoshop, but as I've said before...either will work. Since I like NVIDIA's products and it's a more powerful card, which is required for Video Games as well as Photoshop, I will pick the $2649.99 model and take a look at what I'm getting. Remember, NEVER ASSUME anything before clicking "Buy." Scrolling down the options, I discover that better components that are offered, for a slight price increase. So let's configure it as I would if I were buying it. CPU: 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-11900 processor (8-Core, 16M Cache, 2.5GHz to 5.2GHz) - This is the default option and is "fine" for Photoshop needs. I'm not into many video games and the ones that I do play, aren't that intensive. So we can skip upgrading this feature and put that $100 up-charge to something else. Graphics Card: I see that the NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3070™ 8GB GDDR6 is offered for a $200 up-charge. This card is my current favorite on the market and the one that I would by buying. It works BEAUTIFULLY with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. Video Games also run well. Hands down in 2021, this Video Card is the "Best Bang for your Buck" model. In fact, these cards are in such high-demand that they retail for $1500 or more all by themselves. Optical Drive: This is worth upgrading if you still offer DVDs or Blu-Ray Discs to clients. It's only $50 more to upgrade to a Blu-Ray Drive, so I will add this too. Now we get into the RAM and Hard Drive Configurations. Believe it or not, both of these items are fine with this model, so we will leave them alone. OK, we have the bulk of the computer configured and we have moved onto the "Warranty" Section. Dell now includes basic Hardware Support, but if you want more, like the phone support that you are used to getting, guess what? You will have to pay extra for it!! As of the time of this writing, this is the current default warranty offerings: So if you aren't the Tech-Savvy Type and want someone to call, you will need to pony up the $$$ for this to happen. Between the two, the Premium Support is the one to get. I don't care how much a manufacture advertises about "Accidental" Coverage, whether you spill, drop something or have a power-surge, they always seem to find a way to get around things. Personally, I try to take care of my stuff even while on the road, so for me, "Premium Support" is fine and is worth the small up-charge. For this example, I will pick the 2-Year Premium Support which is $199 extra. As of right now, the cost is $3,098.99! Since I'm more of a Power User and do "Stuff" with my computer in the world of IT, for me...I'm upgrading to Windows 10 Pro. This adds another $95 to the cost and we haven't figured out Shipping and Tax yet. I see they have "Free Shipping" but I'm also wondering what other options they have. Free Shipping isn't always the best choice, especially if using the US Postal Service and if I'm spending over $3000, I want a tracking number that provides real-time updates, or at least something more than "We picked up your package..." "We delivered your package." KWIM? I want to see what Airport it's at, what distribution facility and where it is on the truck in my neighborhood. "Porch Pirates" are a very real nuisance in today's world and I want to be aware of WHERE my $3000+ computer is! To recap, this would be the computer that I would personally purchase in 2021 that is "Good for Photo Editing" That's right folks, $3200 for a Dell Computer. That's the cost of a Macintosh Computer! For a stinkin' Dell!! Welcome to 2021's pricing! A year and a half ago, this same PC would be closer to $2000. Again, there is still tax and shipping on that price, so the final outcome will probably be closer to $3400 or so. Now do you understand why I'm not recommending purchasing anything in 2021? We are paying more...A LOT MORE, than we should. I seriously recommend just dealing with what you have and keep saving. Sooner or later things will level out. But as you can see, there is no getting around today's high prices for something "Decent."

@Anne Adlington: I found a PC that would be perfect for Video Games as well as Photoshop. I'm not sure if they ship to Canada, and the exchange rate will be high, but here it goes: https://www.digitalstorm.com/configurator.asp?id=2484463 All you would need to do is change the "Storage Set #1" to: 1x SSD M.2 (2TB Samsung 970 EVO) (NVM Express) [+$292] This brings the cost to $3036 US Dollars. It's only money, right?

If you have made it this far, I congratulate you. This is pretty dry material and I can sense the frustration now with people thinking, Usually, my typical response is, "What is your budget?" Unfortunately, that's not going to work in 2021. Manufactures have really cut their product offerings down to the bare-minimum these days and personally...I would hold off on buying anything Technology-Wise in 2021. Yep, you read that correctly. Keep saving, resist the urge to buy anything and plan on spending money in 2022 or even 2023. Hopefully the shortages will end and prices will even out globally. Sure! Just expect to pay A LOT MORE in 2021. As I've stated above, no way around that. What you need to do, now more than ever, is take a look at the Technical Specifications on what you are planning on buying and look at everything. If the manufacture doesn't list a particular item, like a Non-Integrated Video Card, do not assume that is has one. Actually, that's a good point: Do not assume ANYTHING in 2021 with today's Desktops / Laptops. If there is any feature that would be "Good" or cause a demand for that particular model, believe me...they are going to list it and brag about it. It won't be buried in the list. So let's go shopping. Normally, in the past I recommended the Dell XPS line, as they are decent for what they are. Are they Performance Beasts that will run the latest Video Game on the Highest Graphical setting? Probably not. But for the majority of Adobe Photoshop users, they tend to work "fine." Without further ado... First, I went to the Dell XPS Section on their website and picked the two computers on the right side: This is a really good example of what I'm talking about. The computer for $769.99 has a couple of "Gotchas:" Intel i5 CPU - "Meh" in this dept. Only 8GB of RAM - Not enough for today's modern software, you want 16GB at a MINIMUM. Intel® UHD Graphics 730 with shared graphics memory (Meaning it's integrated and won't play well with Photoshop. In fact, this is a pretty low-end card.) The Hard Drive, capacity is fine at 1TB, but it's a traditional spinning hard drive and not a SSD model, which is way more expensive and A LOT faster. "...but can't you upgrade those things? at some point?" Sure! But there is a catch, especially with the video card: You need a Power Supply with enough wattage to support the fancy video cards, and Dell's Power Supplies are proprietary, meaning you can't install a 3rd party one, especially on their lower end models. So while you could increase the RAM and HD, you are kinda stuck with the Video Card and Photoshop complaining about it. So let's spend a little more and choose the $999 model: Intel i5 CPU - "Meh" in this dept. NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 SUPER™ 4GB GDDR6 - See how the Manufacturer point this out? This is a very good thing, it's a non-integrated video card. While certainly not the best, it's WAY better than the $769 counterpart. 16GB of RAM - This is a good thing 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive + 1TB 7200 rpm 3.5" SATA Hard Drive - OK, this is going to get it's own paragraph, which will be covered next. I see this all the time, a manufacture will install a small / Microscopic SSD or M.2 Drive and include a 2nd Hard Drive for storage of files. While in practice, this sounds like a compromise: You get the benefit of 15 Second Boot Times and a faster overall experience, and the ablity to store stuff on the 2nd drive. Sounds like a win, doesn't it? Well, yes and no. Sure it "Works," but you really need to by HYPER-ANAL on what is installed on that M.2 / SSD Drive. Since it's only 256GB, when you install programs or copy files, you need to choose the 2nd hard drive. You simply can no longer click "NextNextNext...OK...Next-Next...Finish." You will need to choose a "Custom install" and specify that the software be installed on the larger HD. Basically all files and programs really need to be on the 2nd HD and that will take more mental effort on your part. Sure, you can install one or two programs on the main / small M.2 drive, but that's it. Believe me, I have enough trouble with people having problems with 256GB Drives and Photoshop having issues. Now we throw two Hard Drives into the mix, and we are asking for trouble. So this is a "Gotcha" model, even though there are some good points with this model. I'm so glad you asked. A friend of mine just purchased this PC before it was sold out and it's a perfect model for not only Adobe Photoshop / Lightroom, it also can be used for gaming: ABS Gladiator Gaming PC - $1799.99 Here are the highlights: i7 CPU - Check NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8GB - Non-integraded and one of the best video cards on the market. Photoshop CC LOVES this card! - So BIG CHECK! 16GB RAM - Check 1TB M.2 Drive - Check Windows 10 This particular computer checks all of the boxes! All we need is to pick a IPS-based display, and we have all the things needed for a "Good Computer for Photo Editing." Here is another computer line that is "Good for Photo Editing." The Lynx line by Digital Storm. Here are the four different main models: As you can see, those prices are a bit higher, but ANY of those computers would be "Good for Photo Editing." The only thing I would change is to click 'CUSTOMIZE' and UPGRADE the Main Hard Drive (It's listed as Storage Set #1) to a 1x SSD M.2 (1TB Samsung 970 EVO PLUS) (NVM Express). It only adds about $142 to the cost and is totally worth it. All of the other components are fine and they check the "boxes." For this example, I picked the Intel based one, and the final cost $2252, plus shipping and tax. To give you an example of how much the prices have increased, this same model was $1599 in 2019. It's still "reasonable," but expensive none-the-less and has WAY more horsepower than that $999 Dell with the "Gotchas." Make sense? This is what you need to do when buying a Windows Computer in 2021. Edit: If I were to fork out money for one of Lynx computers, I'd pick the one on the right for $2744 and upgrade the HD and Windows to Windows 10 Pro. That will set me back $2915. Man...$3000 for a Windows Computer! That's a cost of a Macintosh! I'd never thought I'd see the day!

Honestly? That would be wise. That $2999 PC we are talking about should have been $1899 Canadian a year and a half ago. Maybe less. That's how much prices have jumped. Personally, I'd just start saving money now and be prepared to buy something in 2022. If prices are still high, the blow will be less because you have more at your disposal in savings. If they go down, you have extra money to put towards something else. Personally, I'm not buying anything in 2021 if I can help it. At least Technology-Wise. The only thing on my plate is the new Xbox that's out, but nobody can get, and I refuse to pay scalper's prices. I will wait until I can buy one off-the-shelf locally if i can. Even if its 2022 or 2023.