graphics
First off, welcome, -you'll be having a lot of fun here. As to
conversion- Adpro (Art Department Professional) is an excellent image
manipulation package that also supports most file conversions.
pcx (for pcpaintbrush) for sure, I expect they have a .pic module also.
ImageLink is also an excellent program that supports conversions from
(practicaly) anything to anything. No special hardware required, though
you might want to look into the HamE board from black belt systems.
Relitively inexpensive, allows 24-bit image manipulation and has conversion
utilities. Check out their forum over in AmigaVendor.