What kind of computer do you use?

[Davey]

seems extreme but just my experience, gimp is a fine programme but there is a hell of a gap to photoshop. Last time I check the 16bit workflows and colour management issues as well as compatability problems with some software etc. Plus there is a lot that adobe suite can do and page layout and illustration that integrates with photoshop is something linux wont get. Photoshop versions hardly play nice as some worked in wine some do not and when you managed to do a lot of tinkering it doesn't run perfectly.

Most the web server market is bsd or linux you're right plus smartphones, routers etc etc. I wont go into the difference with distros here but likes of slackware, arch and gentoo are very different to ubuntu and are the core choice of the business linux use but they do require the setup I explained and are not for the average user since they can be a headache. Ubuntu goes for a more automated just works out the box since it is aimed at new users and desktop installs and those who wont configure it but it isn't a good workstation os since it is more desktop orientated and locks all the advanced side away since it isn't intended for that kind of thing.

Don't get me wrong many FOSS is good and the astro software is some of the best even compared to proprietary stuff but for image editing photoshop can do a lot more. Admittedly there is the price of it but my copies are bought for me so it's free either way but I chose adobe because most the free stuff is not up to pro standard IMO and if you have a choice why not chose the more powerful?

edit: One thing I do really like though is darktable which is *nix only at the moment and looking like it may be good alternative to lightroom in near future.

[ajohnw]

GIMP it seems now has a 32bit FP graphics engine. PNG's go in ok but last time I heard some one was having problems with the tiff routines. It will keep colour profiles in shots and will ask about that when they are loaded. It converts to it's internal RGB but does use either local or system colour management. I'd agree about the gap to PS but so far for me it just means more layers and different methods. Version 3 when it arrives is likely to be very different. I understand G'MIC already offers all PS layer types. It's certainly has some very useful filters and also the usual GIMP style odd balls that I assume graphics people use.

I use Fotoxx for much of my work but need to persuade the dev to add a couple of things now. They changed something and while the change makes sense I feel it now needs GIMP style levels plus normal contrast and brightness adjustments. Unlike PS I probably can persuade the dev to make changes. I pointed out that given the other things there especially when he added pasting in images etc cloning was needed to tidy things up. Trouble is I also use Rawtherapee and Photivo as well. All excel in some areas. I can run these as plugins to Fotoxx which is helpful. Fotoxx is intended to do 99% of what people need to do without the GIMP. It's rather different in some areas. Some think it's interface is quaint but I'm more interested in what ot can do. I also found another none destructive app recently. Not sure what that will do. It looks like extensive LAB adjustments plus others. Ufraw is in a mess at the moment in my view but GtkRawStudio is fine.

One thing for sure if some one wants to calibrate a monitor DispCalGui is even better than what comes with an expensive spectrometer.

John
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[Davey]

nice been a while since I used gimp so I'll check it out now I know that. Open source stuff does move fast when projects are large admittedly, my interest is perked especially now 16bit tiff work seems in reach; shouldn't take long as Eric Raymond said given enough eyeballs all bugs are shallow. ACR hard for me to replace but I am also tied to indesign, prem pro, speedgrade, aftereffects and illustrator and need to send others things in those apps formats so I can't jump ship but sounds like I am wrong and in near future there may be a real free alternative to adobe for most users who don't need some of the niche abilities from big proprietary software.

[Black Pearl]

Interesting that this thread has popped back up.

At the time of my first post I had only just bought my first iMac - I'm typing this on the same machine now and it is still doing a fantastic job. I've kept it up to date OS wise but nothing else has changed (actually Apple swapped out the HDD as there was a recall) and if I'm honest it is still fast enough for everything I ask of it.

Would I like a newer one with an newer i7 and beefier graphics card - yes.
Do I need one - no.

It wasn't cheap but I can honestly say it was a great investment.

[Kurtp]

Thanks Dave I kind of figured I was out of order shifting the thread but thanks I will look on that forum.

[dhimsbugs]

It all depends on the needs of each individual.

In my opinion, using a computer with an i7 processor and vga 2 gb is sufficient to do the photography project.

[Inkanyezi]

I use old hardware picked up from the recycle room - dumpster diving - P4 with 2G of memory and Linux, presently lubuntu. I have used RawTherapee for some time, but now I tend to prefer Darktable, although Fotoxx seems to be a good contender. The old hardware isn't fast with the newer systems, so I'll probably have to upgrade it, but I am not in the market for a new computer. Perhaps I'll find a multikernel 64 bit computer in the recycle room.

[ajohnw]

Interesting to see mention of 2gb video cards. Personally other that propriety mainly games orientated aspects I don't think much else makes any real use of it. I have generally used nvida silent types but have had other noisy things in and frankly they don't make any appreciable difference. In fact I did notice a card without much memory aimed at business graphics and have wondered about that - better colour linearity maybe. VGA actually is inherently slower than the set up Apple originally used. Not that it makes much difference really as generally the software that is generating the image has the main impact.

Not sure where windows is now but in the past people have fitted more memory than the OS version they have can handle Then there have been phone MS if you upgrade your machine too often and many things like that. Also some new releases that just never got used in places where machines are used every day in anger. That's why XP hung around and still does sometimes.

PC speed increases are debatable in some ways. I know of people who managed to get windows 3.1 running on a modern machine. Ok it was faster but not to the extent that the clock speeds etc would suggest. In practice rather a lot of the speed increases have been eaten up by deskilling software production. Also certain aspects of modern object orientated coding that can encourage people to do the wrong thing without really thinking about it. I would assume windows users are also aware of slowdowns following updates and also application installations. I don't use it much but most certainly have.

John
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[Manfred M]

Interesting to see mention of 2gb video cards. Personally other that propriety mainly games orientated aspects I don't think much else makes any real use of it. I have generally used nvida silent types but have had other noisy things in and frankly they don't make any appreciable difference. In fact I did notice a card without much memory aimed at business graphics and have wondered about that - better colour linearity maybe. VGA actually is inherently slower than the set up Apple originally used. Not that it makes much difference really as generally the software that is generating the image has the main impact.

Not sure where windows is now but in the past people have fitted more memory than the OS version they have can handle Then there have been phone MS if you upgrade your machine too often and many things like that. Also some new releases that just never got used in places where machines are used every day in anger. That's why XP hung around and still does sometimes.

PC speed increases are debatable in some ways. I know of people who managed to get windows 3.1 running on a modern machine. Ok it was faster but not to the extent that the clock speeds etc would suggest. In practice rather a lot of the speed increases have been eaten up by deskilling software production. Also certain aspects of modern object orientated coding that can encourage people to do the wrong thing without really thinking about it. I would assume windows users are also aware of slowdowns following updates and also application installations. I don't use it much but most certainly have.

John
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Not quite true John; Photoshop uses it for some fairly basic graphics functionality, such as rotating the image while you work. Liquify and Warp functionality, etc. on it through OpenGL.

The Mercury Engine capable cards are also used by Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects for rendering. This approach totally blows the CPU based systems out of the water

[ajohnw]

I should have started 1gb or 2gb cards Manfred. Also on GPU's things like Nvidia CUDA. Graphics card MPEG video engines can also make a big difference however when I had one of those it wasn't a 2gb card but did prevent the CPU from getting rather hot. That really was a while ago. I haven't much call for high frame rate video or 3D graphics.

Nvidea have expanded the the memory sizes on the boards I mentioned. Frame buffers are mentioned and well as GPU. My impression is that frame buffers and internal decoding can have the biggest impact but not on still photo applications

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvs-graphics-cards.html

Obviously I run OpenGL but frankly have no idea what my applications do with it. Currently I also run the OS nvidia card driver. I usually install the Linux driver Nvidia maintain but it fell out with the kernel recently - maybe because the Linux man himself for some reason hates Nvidia. Probably because they wont tell people how they do it. The one aspect of Linux I am not keen on. He probably hates Samsung too, same reason - best source of Linux lasers as they come with a good driver. It seems HP people maintain Linux printer drivers in their own time these days - no idea what he thinks about that.

John
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[David Pine]

I primarily use a 15" MacBook Pro. I have a 21" iMac. I use Adobe Creative Cloud (PS CC and LR5) along with NIK and Topaz. I have other programs that I seldom use. I am a PC convert and find that I have no problems being away from Windows. I still have two PC's that I seldom use.

[akurcan]

Completely depends on what types and volume of work you're wanting to get into. PC's and Macs equally run photoshop and lightroom very very well. I'm a mac user, and shoot commercial product photography, but only because in my experience the laptop experience is better on a mac than a pc. Also, earlier versions of Lightroom were more stable on mac - especially with live capture. That being said - regardless what system you're getting, go for 8gb of ram (16 up if you're looking to branch off into video). Solid State drives help cut down file transfer times and render times.

It all comes down to what you're comfortable with.

[jerryk1949]

Hi I use a HP Pavilion dv7. It is 3 years old I use it for photos and everyday use as well. For my photos I use Corel Paint Shop Pro X6 Ultimate.

[wtlwdwgn]

About 4 years ago I went to the big box store and bought an HP desktop with an AMD quad processor. 8 GB of RAM, 750 GB HD, and a 24 in monitor. It's been pretty reliable although I did have to replace the HD with two 1 TB drives. If you're shooting with a newer 18 to 24 MP DSLR you're going to need all the storage space you can get. I also replaced the video card with a newer GeForce 750 and my internet streaming has improved remarkably well. Then I got an HP 17 in "laptop" (yeah, righteo) with an Intel dual processor, 4 GB RAM, and 500 GB HD. I've got Win 7 Pro on both and they both handle anything I throw at them.

I used to build my own but I can't do that now with computer prices as low as they are now. Stores like Costco include an extra year of warranty and free tech support too. It's hard to beat a deal like that.

I've never used a Mac but the folks I know that have love them. They even greet me with, "Windows crashed again did it?" or "I hear there's a new security breach in Windows!" or "When are you going to upgrade to Windows 8?" (Never!)