My EOS 40D is back from repair. Although it took longer than expected it was still very reasonable (<2 weeks including long 4-days Easter weekend) and I am still quite pleased with Canon service center in Germany. They did repair under warranty (i.e. for free) and besides the repair upgraded the firmware.

Meanwhile I was testing my new Canon G9 that I purchased as a backup to SLR plus macro plus camera suitable for family members.

Besides that I am going to test whether in-camera settings affect RAW files from EOS 40D (see the story in the previous post).

So the test, and my impressions about G9 to come out soon. Sorry I am too tired due to some family emergency (that seems to be getting better now).
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Canon RAW files and in-camera settings

A friend of mine has discovered insteresting thing about RAW files from his Canon EOS 350D.

Apparently in-camera settings do affect RAW file unlike common belief. Camera mounted on tripod, manual settings, and 2 pictures made - one with sharpening set to zero in camera; and another with medium sharpening. When both files are processed by RAW converter (sharpening in converter set to zero) there is a very clear difference:

(click to see full-size)

The same effect was experienced with several different RAW converters. However original Canon converter allows to remove sharpening from the second picture (while setting sharpening to zero in non-Canon converters still keeps it)

Somebody has told me it's not the case with RAW files from EOS 40D - I will indeed test it after I will get the camera from repair.

Interesting that the situation with RAW files from Canon G9 is almost the opposite. There is no way to change sharpening settings in camera, but I compared RAW processing by Canon and by Adobe converters. Picture converted by Canon converter does have sharpening and noise reduction applied even when parameters set to 0; but converting with Adobe Camera RAW it's not the case - zero sharp level really means no sharpening.

Remark: When talking about EOS 350D and G9 I am talking about different RAW converters. EOS350D processed by Canon Digital Photo Pro (DPP) while G9 processed by Canon RAW Task (via Zoom Browser). I don't know if RAW processing engine is the same of different for these 2 applications.... Canon DPP doesn't recognize CR2 files from G9 (even the latest upgrade).
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My EOS 40D is still at Canon. Long Easter weekend contributed to the delay. They expect to have it ready tomorrow.

Meanwhile I've got Canon G9 as a second camera to serve as a backup, and a compact that I plan to have more often with me thatn the SLR. Also a tool suitable for other family members.

And the weather is playing jokes. Just when I expected spring (and when many trees have already blossomed) there was so much snow in Belgium... it wasn't pleasant at all with temperature above zero and dark grey skies. The snow is already over but it's still gloomy. Hope will get better before the weekend.
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My camera suddenly broke last weekend (EOS40D). Still switches on, but nothing on LCD screen, controls half not working etc... I didn't drop it, didn't have any water or anything - it just happened one of the times I was taking the camera from the bag.

Took it to Canon service in Germany today. It's actually the first time I have to use Canon service. My initial impression is very positive, and they said the repair takes normally about 3 days. I really hope it will work that way because I have many plans for the next few weeks.

The camera is under warranty so I hope they will not charge me for the repair...
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I've got a new computer. As I am doing many other things besides photo processing, and computer is shared with my family members I am using PC. I must admit that 3 GB of RAM and Intel Quad 6600 CPU make a big difference in photo processing. Adobe Lightroom works on that PC just fast.

The PC I used until now is AMD Athlon based with 1.7 GB RAM and I have it for about 3 years.
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I am busy reading 'The moment it clicks' - a new book largely commented/referred in photography forums.

And just a few days earlier I received the POTN photography book (book published by members of Canon digital photography forum, using blurb.com service).

More about both to come later.
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Another photo of Leuven train station. It was raining, but the sky was still nice blue after sunset (or may be during sunset as it's not easy to say with completely overcast sky). Rain wasn't heavy and stopped while I was taking photos.

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