21. Connections And Software, Continued

For work specifically with RAW files, Canon provides Digital Photo Professional. The name is deceptive, however, because the application lacks the functions a professional or even a dedicated amateur would expect. The basic functions are there, but if you want to make elaborate corrections you'll need to use another application.

The basic window of Digital Photo Professional is pretty much standard.

Basic corrections like working with curves are possible in Digital Photo Professional, but it's far from having the capabilities of a real pro application.

Among the other bundled software we should mention PhotoStitch for creating panoramas from several separate shots, and Arcsoft PhotoStudio, a photo editing application. EOS Capture can also control your 350D from the computer.

With the D70s, Nikon supplies Picture Project 1.5, a kind of do-it-all software package for managing your pictures. It lets you send them via e-mail, correct them, print, and create slide shows. Like many similar applications, Picture Project has a tendency to force your hand and make you do things its way instead of your way. That's probably okay for a consumer market that needs firm guidance, but not for a photographer with even a little experience. It's quite possible to use Nikon View instead, which is not bundled but can be downloaded from the Nikon support site.