recommend a good computer and digital camera?

As a professional photographer I have much the same opinion as Gunbei. I have a Mac dual processor tower and the new 17" Powerbook. Both are excellent and you have the choice of several operating systems.

I have OS 9.1 on one hard drive in the Mac tower and OS X Panther (plus OS 9) on the other hard drive. The Powerbook is running OS X Jaguar.

For those who are accustomed to Win machines, the software that makes them so valuable in the business world is also written for Mac. I have Microsoft Internet Explorer, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage.

As Gunbei pointed out, Photoshop and Illustrator are native to OS X and not only run faster, they never crash. With each Mac, comes photo viewing software called I photo which is the "visual" counterpart to I tunes and the I pod.

If you install the editing software provided by Nikon or Canon, the Mac software recognizes it and allows the user complete control over where to view, edit and change images. The FireWire port on Mac will allow you to plug Nikon directly into the computer and control it from the desktop. Handy for time exposures, delay flash or astral photography or a situation where you wish to be remote (or in the comfort of your car).

As for Cameras, I don't know your budget but the new Nikon D70 is pro quality for reasonable price. I suspect it will sell for about 1K. Here is a link to a new test and review:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d70.htm

Good luck with your venture whatever way you decide to go.

I'm at Brooks Institute of Photography, and Macs are the choice computer and laptop for photography and digital imaging. The Nikon D100 can be found on the used market for approx. $600, or the new D70 are both excellent digital cameras. If you already own Nikkor lenses, they work with both the D100 and the D70. I own a D1X and the images are stunning. Check out my website for samples of images using the D1X. Canon also has excellent digital cameras.

http://homepage.mac.com/rosstamann/PhotoAlbum10.html

Mac? Surely, you jest? Isn't that the computer that started out with almost 10% of the PC market and has managed to go to approx. 3% of the market in a few short years? Don't get stuck with one of those boat anchors.

Get a reasonably-priced Dell or IBM PC and buy the digital camera with the money you saved from not buying the over-priced Mac. As for camera choices, Canon and Nikon have some very nice 3-4 megapixel models available for resonable bucks, and I am quite satisifed with my Toshiba PDR-M70 that I bought over two years ago.

Mac....don't make me laugh, geez.

-RW-

Surely, Rhwainwright is jesting. If we to subscribe to his notion that market share/sales is an indication of a company's or product's superiority, then we should be buying most of our sound equipment from Radio Shack or giant discounters. Viable (perhaps just different, but sometimes clearly superior) alternatives to popular PCs, solid-state devices, Cds, VHS, digital cameras are Macs, tubes, vinyl, Beta (yes, Beta) and 35mm cameras.

By the way, what works for me is a Mac and a Sony D770. The Sony's resolution is not as high as that of current models, but I like its flexibility--it operates much like a good SLR. I also use Adobe PhotoShop 5.0 (purchased inexpensively on eBay) to crop, adjust color balance, etc. I have two iMacs, purchased used for about a quarter of what they cost new; the Sony was a demo. I also use, however, film cameras because I have my own darkroom.

The only time I would definitely not recommend a Mac is if you're planning to play a lot of different games on your computer. Then a PC is probably a better choice.

Depending on how you ultimately use a digital camera will influence your model choice. Close-up abilities, focusing and exposure options, ease of operation, pixels, etc. should all be considered. And, of course, your budget.

A note re pixels: Unless you have a high resolution printer, and are planning to make a lot of enlargements (8X10) and higher, paying a lot for a camera because of pixel figures doesn't make much sense to me. It's a bit like owning a Leica or Nikon with high resolution lenses and taking your film to WalMart. Of course, some people might argue that Walmart must have high quality film processing because they do such a good business.

Good luck!

Nick (PS: sometimes I buy stuff at Radio Shack, too)

Sorry, for the typo. It 'rlwainwright', not 'rh..." Must have misread it because the resolution on my iMac's screen is so poor.

Nick (only jesting)