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PC platform for pro photographer???

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aperture 56

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Now it's a time for me to buy a new laptop... I use it mainly for photographic applications and internet... at the moment I am familiar with PC platform only but seems Macintosh is more efficient for photographic applications... while I don't really consider myself a pro photographer at the moment, I just wonder if any serious pro photogs use PC platform... should I learn a new Macintosh platform or just stay with PC which I am so used to and familiar with???...
 
it really doesn't matter so much other than YOU need to feel comfortable with your new machine. if you are not very familiar with the mac platform, go to a apple store and play with one for 30 minutes... there isn't really a thing to learn anyway...

i would spend more time thinking about storage, backups, software (and and software license platform transfers) etc. and a decent monitor and calibrator.

--
Joergen Geerds
http://luminous-newyork.com
http://joergengeerds.com
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aperture 56 said:
Now it's a time for me to buy a new laptop... I use it mainly for photographic applications and internet... at the moment I am familiar with PC platform only but seems Macintosh is more efficient for photographic applications ...
Click to expand...
May I ask why it is that you think that the Mac is "more efficient" for photo use? To someone who is very familiar with a number of platforms, including various versions of Windows, Linux, as well as MacOS, it's the kind of a "nails-on-a-chalkboard" statement that makes one realize how good Apple marketing really is.

Consider this: http://xkcd.com/125/

Ultimately, there are reasons to use one operating system over another, but they generally have to do with inherent capabilities. When it comes to deciding between two platforms that share the same pool of software, the choice is rather like a coin toss.

To put it plainly - you're not going to process your photos better or faster on a Mac, compared to a Windows PC, given the same hardware.
 
Joergen Geerds said:
it really doesn't matter so much other than YOU need to feel comfortable with your new machine. if you are not very familiar with the mac platform, go to a apple store and play with one for 30 minutes... there isn't really a thing to learn anyway...

i would spend more time thinking about storage, backups, software (and and software license platform transfers) etc. and a decent monitor and calibrator.

--
Joergen Geerds
http://luminous-newyork.com
http://joergengeerds.com
http://newyorkpanorama.com
Click to expand...
--

28 years as a freelancer,(news,magazine, wedding photography) camera equip. over the years: Practica MLT, Canon A1, Minolta 9xi, 7xi, Dimage Z1,Fuji 5200,Canon S2,Pentax K100D,Olympus 380,Canon SX 10 ( http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/Buckl/ )
http://issuu.com/Lbuck
 
1. The question is what platform is more efficient for YOU.

2. What else do you do with the computer? If you do text processing, accounting, ... then you probably have preferred software for these purposes.

3. Will anyone else use the computer? What are their preferences? (Or: if you pick the right platform, will they stay off the machine, and leave it for you?
 
As other have stated, a lot of it depends on YOU.

I've used PC's since before there was a "Windows"...

I still use Windows based PCs. They do EVERYTHING that I need them to do.

I tried using a Mac for a while (pre Intel processor) and HATED it! My friend thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I, OTOH, couldn't FIND anything... All the buttons were "wrong" and nothing was where it was supposed to be... ;)

The point is, I'm comfortable with Windows and haven't found a compelling reason to use anything else.
 
thesurfdog said:
As other have stated, a lot of it depends on YOU.

I've used PC's since before there was a "Windows"...

I still use Windows based PCs. They do EVERYTHING that I need them to do.

I tried using a Mac for a while (pre Intel processor) and HATED it! My friend thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I, OTOH, couldn't FIND anything... All the buttons were "wrong" and nothing was where it was supposed to be... ;)

The point is, I'm comfortable with Windows and haven't found a compelling reason to use anything else.
Click to expand...
Agreed as well. I've been using a PC since '85 and haven't found ANY advantage to using a Mac (perhaps if I were editing video or music).

The Mac is a cult, boutique computer, and you pay ($$$) for it. Years ago when my friend was creating animation on a Mac and I was staring at a dot prompt, I would have said there is a big difference, but not now.

I'm not anti-mac (I have an iPhone I would surgically embed, if possible), but for the desktop, work with what you are compfortble with. It'll be less frustrating--and cheaper.

--
Thanks!

Reid

Kodak Brownie
Argus 126
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reid thaler said:
Agreed as well. I've been using a PC since '85 and haven't found ANY advantage to using a Mac (perhaps if I were editing video or music).

The Mac is a cult, boutique computer, and you pay ($$$) for it. Years ago when my friend was creating animation on a Mac and I was staring at a dot prompt, I would have said there is a big difference, but not now.
Click to expand...
great comment. flame bait and urban myths are always useful in a discussion like this.

(sarcasm_off)

--
Joergen Geerds
http://luminous-newyork.com
http://joergengeerds.com
http://newyorkpanorama.com
 
This is a rather civil discussion compared to most fanboy Mac versus PC threads isn't it?

fwiw, I also have used both platforms but prefer my trusty old PC. Why? Probably because I've used that system longer. All I know is that Photoshop on each both looks and performs exactly the same. The Mac is a beautiful and elegant thing though. I'll give Steve Jobs and Apple big kudos for that.
 
Strarting from scratch, with no existing software you want to keep using, and a generous budget, I'd go for a mac, the same way vast numbers of pro photographers do.

But if you are watching your budget -- or would rather spend it on more software, or a bigger monitor, etc. -- I've never found a Mac that does not cost more than a roughly comparable Mac.

Don't worry about learning to use a Mac. Most good PC programs today are copies of Mac programs, so you won't have much of a learning curve.

Macs permit the use of software for PCs, reasonably effectively, if you load some special software into the Mac.

But if most of what you do with the mac is run PC software, you might as well buy a PC.

I just bought an 11 inch ACER loader with Photoshop Elements 8, and a desktop PC with a 23 inch monitor, and the combination works very well, for less money than a 17 inch Mac (to the extent you can ever compare prices reasonably)

But a 17 inch Mac notebook plus an ipad ... that would be close to heaven for lots of photographers.

BAK
 
I think that there is not a war between of Mac and pc users.
It' s rather a subject of fetishist approach.

Mind you there are tenths of pc's more stylish than a Mac but there are not ...heavilly signe...

And as the vast majority of people the most users are consumers not clients, so they eat what they feed them...
 
I use a Windows PC (home-built) for most of my processing and all that fun jazz... calibrated, magical, inexpensive, easy to maintain.

I use a Dell laptop running Windows 7 for my non-power uses (posting this message, emails, blogs, etc) and for showing clients photographs.

I've also used Macintosh systems and simply don't see what the big deal is -- it's not 'bad' or anything, it's just simply not better.... so I use what has the cheapest total cost of ownership... and for me, that's a windows system. I spend the savings on better other gear (monitors, lenses, flashes, etc).

JOE FEDERER
Websites:
http://www.joefederer.com
http://www.federerphotography.com/blog
http://www.theprofessionalphotographyforum.com/
 
I use a Mac and I have found the one simple reason that I prefer it is that whenever Apple upgrade the OS, my three and a half year old machine runs faster. With the last upgrade, Snow Leopard I also gained an extra 10Gb of space. The upgrade cost me $29 There is a misconception that Macs are more expensive, if you take like for like on the specs, then PC and Mac's run out at a similar price. If you look long term you will find that the build quality combined with the fact you do not need to upgrade when a new OS is released, means you may find going with a Mac is a better investment.

As a side note, all Macs made in the last 4 years are capable of running all Windows from XP to 7 64Bit both natively or within the Mac OS itself.
--
http://www.jasonrowphotography.co.uk
http://www.jasonrow.wordpress.com
'Travel is the antidote to racism, bigotry and prejudice' Mark Twain
 
aperture 56 said:
Now it's a time for me to buy a new laptop... I use it mainly for photographic applications and internet... at the moment I am familiar with PC platform only but seems Macintosh is more efficient for photographic applications... while I don't really consider myself a pro photographer at the moment, I just wonder if any serious pro photogs use PC platform... should I learn a new Macintosh platform or just stay with PC which I am so used to and familiar with???...
Click to expand...
This is the same debate between Canon vs Nikon vs... And that's wrong, plain wrong. It's not Mac vs PC but applications.
  1. Go and try Aperture 3 at an Apple store. If it's much better than what you have now then switch platform. If you want to use Photoshop and/or Lightroom stay with the PCs. According to Tom Hoggan 2009, Windows represents over 75% of their business.
  2. Do you need to run accounting on it, then it's PCs, there's almost nothing for accounting in the Mac world.
  3. Who does your support? Do they know Mac?
  4. Price, can you afford the inflated Apple prices?
  5. Accessories, see above...
Given the choice, I prefer Windows.

--
Thanks
http://foto-biz.com
The Business of Being a Photographer -- Lightroom Q&A -- Canon 7D
 
making my next purchase a Mac as I don't like windows tendency to slow down over time, or after adding new programmes.
W7 seems to be the same in this regard.

However, when I compared workstations of the same or similar spec, it seemed I was paying at least three times the price for the equivalent Mac, if not a great deal more.

I have searched quite a few times and always failed to find a new mac that wasn't hugely more expensive than the equivalent PC.

Hackintosh could be an option. Shhh.
 
I think there are only two things to think about, which platform do you prefer and what software are you going to use.

If you are talking about "pro" photographers they will be using third party software, not anything that comes with the OS. So the platform is out of the picture so to speak. If you use Adobe Lightroom, it will be Adobe Lightroom on the PC or the MAC.

Its all about the software. This debate about creative work being done on a MAC started back when Windows or pre-Windows machines did have the creative software written for its platform. So people had to use Macs to get their work done. Not the case anymore.

These things both use CPUs and hard drives. There is not going to be much if any speed, efficiency or output difference between the two platforms. Windows 7 can be native 64bit. I use it and it is massively efficient.

It is time to end this debate about which is better. It is more about which works for you as has been stated.
 
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