MichaelVadon
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This question is for those who make their money solely through photography and do a good amount of volume per year. So please only answer this question if you fall into that category.
What computer you use? What computer do you suggest a professional who does a good amount of volume per year get?
I will tell you my experiences which are the following:
- Laptops are really only for emergency use or away on trips. Even the best custom built laptops, i.e. Alienware, are too slow for professional use.
- High performance and gaming consumer level desktops are a bit better doing things in half the time. They don't overheat like the laptop and can be left alone to do the work while you surf or do email on your laptop. However, consumer level desktops are still a tad bit slow for someone who does gigs each week and needs to process a lot of photos quickly through the usual programs like photoshop.
- Professional level computers with Xeon processors and dual pro-level graphics cards are the only serious tools for the professional who does a lot of volume.
I will admit that I am a PC fan and have never liked Apple, however, if a professional were to approach me asking what kind of computer they should get then I would say the current Mac Pro with the 12 core Xeon processor. Fully optioned out on the Mac website with 64gb of ram and dual video cards is nearly 10 grand. Its expensive, but if you regularly make six digits or more digits per year as a photographer then you would have no problem spending that much for one. Apple is known for catering to photographers and videographers so the Mac Pro is optimized for that type of work. The Xeon 12 core processor is currently the highest performing processor sold and better performing then the regular i7 consumer line.
Another workstation is the HP Z820 which you can option out with dual Xeon processors versus the Mac Pros single cpu. Dell precision. If you are looking into spending 10,000+ on a dual-Xeon system then you are probably a videographer, graphics artist or a really high volume in-demand professional photographer who has a lot of work. If you are at this level in the game, then you know exactly what kind of computing power you need and you don't need a thread like this on the DP-Review giving you advice.
So my recommendation for most professional photographers with a six figure income would be the 12 core Mac Pro with dual D700 cards. Fully optioned with everything on it runs about 10 grand. Its a lot, but if you really do that much work per year it will save money in the long run. The E5-2697 v2 12 core processor is the best performing processor on CPU Benchmark.
Also, I post this in this forum because I want to get a response from the "Professionals". I didn't want to post it in the computer forum because then I would get all kinds of responses from different people who may not be professionals. Lets hope I get responses from the professionals.
What computer you use? What computer do you suggest a professional who does a good amount of volume per year get?
I will tell you my experiences which are the following:
- Laptops are really only for emergency use or away on trips. Even the best custom built laptops, i.e. Alienware, are too slow for professional use.
- High performance and gaming consumer level desktops are a bit better doing things in half the time. They don't overheat like the laptop and can be left alone to do the work while you surf or do email on your laptop. However, consumer level desktops are still a tad bit slow for someone who does gigs each week and needs to process a lot of photos quickly through the usual programs like photoshop.
- Professional level computers with Xeon processors and dual pro-level graphics cards are the only serious tools for the professional who does a lot of volume.
I will admit that I am a PC fan and have never liked Apple, however, if a professional were to approach me asking what kind of computer they should get then I would say the current Mac Pro with the 12 core Xeon processor. Fully optioned out on the Mac website with 64gb of ram and dual video cards is nearly 10 grand. Its expensive, but if you regularly make six digits or more digits per year as a photographer then you would have no problem spending that much for one. Apple is known for catering to photographers and videographers so the Mac Pro is optimized for that type of work. The Xeon 12 core processor is currently the highest performing processor sold and better performing then the regular i7 consumer line.
Another workstation is the HP Z820 which you can option out with dual Xeon processors versus the Mac Pros single cpu. Dell precision. If you are looking into spending 10,000+ on a dual-Xeon system then you are probably a videographer, graphics artist or a really high volume in-demand professional photographer who has a lot of work. If you are at this level in the game, then you know exactly what kind of computing power you need and you don't need a thread like this on the DP-Review giving you advice.
So my recommendation for most professional photographers with a six figure income would be the 12 core Mac Pro with dual D700 cards. Fully optioned with everything on it runs about 10 grand. Its a lot, but if you really do that much work per year it will save money in the long run. The E5-2697 v2 12 core processor is the best performing processor on CPU Benchmark.
Also, I post this in this forum because I want to get a response from the "Professionals". I didn't want to post it in the computer forum because then I would get all kinds of responses from different people who may not be professionals. Lets hope I get responses from the professionals.
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