Ask a Pro

Q. Can you explain why all cameras are designed to be “right-handed”? What I mean by that is when you are looking on the back, they all have the shutter button on the right side of the camera for shooting a picture. Are there any cameras with the shutter button on the left side that I am not aware of? I would really appreciate your comments on the subject very much. Thank you.

Q. Now that Adobe has announced a new cloud version of Lightroom, I’m not sure which one I should be using. Should I switch to this new version?

Q. My Windows 10 computer is old. I built a modest machine a few years ago and am starting to select components for a new build. My question: Do Lightroom and Photoshop use the graphics card to assist in processing images? I convert the Canon 5D Mark IV Raw CR2 files to DNG files and then process them in Lightroom. I then make both 60 percent and 20 percent JPEGs, the former for on-screen viewing and the latter for e-mailing. Rendering DNG and JPEG files is often slow enough to make me impatient. On occasion I process large files in Photoshop and want maximum speed. Will a fast (and expensive) graphics card be a worthwhile expense? I want this new build to last at least four or five years. By the way, if you want to recommend a graphics card and a processor that would be just fine. Thanks!

Q. In the July 2017 issue, one of the questions dealt with processing black-and-white images in Lightroom as opposed to shooting black and white in camera. One of your suggestions was using add-on programs in Lightroom such as Nik’s Silver Efex Pro to “open up a whole new world of black-and-white possibilities.” How much more benefit or advantage do you get from using an add-on program versus just learning the advanced features of Lightroom and creating the effects yourself? Is it worth spending the extra money on the add-ons or should you just learn to use Lightroom more efficiently?

Q. You mentioned the Canon 5D Mark III and its full-frame shooting capabilities in the June 2017 issue. I own a 5D Mark III and have noticed that when printing some of the photo is cropped, depending on the size (such as 11x14). I have printed at home and used print labs, and there is always a portion of the photo that is cropped. Is there a formula for getting the whole photo printed—either how the photo is shot, camera settings, software, etc.?

Q. I have a Lightroom catalog that contains pictures I have accidentally erased. The items are not in the “Recycle Bin” nor do I have any other access to the JPEGs. Is there anything that can be done using Lightroom to retrieve the JPEGs?

Q. I have a Canon EOS 5D Mark III and a Canon EOS 7D. For sports and nature I use the 7D with a Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L Mark II lens. With the Canon 7D APS sensor it makes the lens about a 150-600mm. Would I get better quality if I bought a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, used the Canon 100-400mm lens, and cropped the image in Photoshop?