Mac or pc - PS / LR
dipphoto
Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
Ok. I know this may start a war. Lol
I currently use ps3 ext. After 9 years I went from a blackberry to a iPhone and now with this new lion os I'm actually thinking of buying a MAC for my photography needs.... So here is the question:
Is PS better on a MAC or a PC? I'm sure I'll have to buy all new plugins for the MAC right? Or does the PS for MAC not have as many plugin offerings as the PC. I really want to get PS CS5 as I hear it's much nicer. I got a student copy of ps cs3 ext right now. Is there really a major difference or need for the cs5 ext or just cs5 is good for photography?
Now 1 other ?an.
I have installed used the trial and never went beyond trail for LR. I'm so use to PS; LR seem to be a pain. Lol. But now there is a new version out. How many of you use both LR and PS? Is LR better for just quick fast fixes? I only shoot cannon raw....
Advance thank you for your input.
Ps: I thought of the mac mini. And if I like it then go to a mac book pro. Is the mac mini a good starting point? I want both worlds for now.
I currently use ps3 ext. After 9 years I went from a blackberry to a iPhone and now with this new lion os I'm actually thinking of buying a MAC for my photography needs.... So here is the question:
Is PS better on a MAC or a PC? I'm sure I'll have to buy all new plugins for the MAC right? Or does the PS for MAC not have as many plugin offerings as the PC. I really want to get PS CS5 as I hear it's much nicer. I got a student copy of ps cs3 ext right now. Is there really a major difference or need for the cs5 ext or just cs5 is good for photography?
Now 1 other ?an.
I have installed used the trial and never went beyond trail for LR. I'm so use to PS; LR seem to be a pain. Lol. But now there is a new version out. How many of you use both LR and PS? Is LR better for just quick fast fixes? I only shoot cannon raw....
Advance thank you for your input.
Ps: I thought of the mac mini. And if I like it then go to a mac book pro. Is the mac mini a good starting point? I want both worlds for now.
Advance thank you to you!!0
Comments
I'm a Mac guy but I don't think there's much difference. Photoshop has its own UI that is the same on both. It is the OS where you will notice differences, not Photoshop. The only Mac/PC differences inside Photoshop are where it meets the OS, like the Print dialog. Otherwise it is all the same.
Photoshop started on the Mac and it is said Mac/PC share of PHotoshop is 50/50, so there are probably at least as many. Most plug-in makers code for both. I don't buy many plug-ins since PS itself is so powerful now. Its good to try to learn how to do things in Photoshop before spending even more money on add-ons. Some are just macros for what you can already do.
There is not much that the Extended version adds, for photography. There are specialized uses where Extended is very useful, but not for general picture-taking. Save your money.
I wouldn't say quick fast fixes, more like the most common fixes. It's faster to push a 200-image shoot through LR, but there are fixes you can't do in LR like pasting multiple images together. If you want to save money, learn how to use Camera Raw and Bridge like Lightroom, since Camera Raw and Bridge come with Photoshop and do many of the same things.
A Mac mini is basically a laptop without a screen. The hard drive, CPU, and video card in the Mac mini are laptop components being used for a mini desktop computer. It will run Photoshop just fine if you put enough RAM in it, but.....
......for sheer power, right now the Mac minis are a little behind the times. You can only get the aging Core 2 Duo processors for them. The MacBook Pros are now equipped with very current Intel Core i5 and quad-core i7 CPU options plus an SSD option, all of which add more speed. The laptops also have much better graphics cards. If you think you might want a MacBook Pro it would be better to skip right over the Mac mini and go directly to the MBP.
I would add that if you intend to use Photoshop for serious photography and/or video, do spend some research time and money on a decent monitor. Quality monitors do cost more and they are not necessarily obvious. User "Newsy" has some excellent insights and recommendations on monitor choices.
Currently I am using a CyberPower desktop computer (Win 7) with a 23" NEC Multisync EA231WMi-BK, IPS monitor as the primary display, with the desktop spanned to an old MAG 17" CRT. I am extremely pleased with both performance and cost/value.
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=187754
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=196378
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
But with the advent of Lightroom3, I find I can do 80% of what I need to do in Lightroom3 ( much faster than Bridge ) and many images never leave Lightroom. When I do leave Lightroom for Photoshop, I would be quite happy with CS3 or CS4. I own and use CS5, but I very rarely really need its unique features. What I go to Photoshop for, from Lightroom, is Layers, and access to my plug ins, like Genuine Fractals - many of the plug ins are now Lightroom3 compatible as well. I just go to PS for them out of habit sometime ( and for the ability to edit with Layers and Masks )
Content Aware cropping is pretty cool in CS5, but I rarely find I really need it. Layers I can and do need from time to time, even though 80% of my images never leave Lightroom.
I would not give up Lightroom for CS5, I would just continue to work with LR and CS3 or CS4 first. I do like having access to both sets of programs though.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
Aaron Wilson
http://www.dipphoto.com
The quad-core i7 MacBook Pro is a pretty darned fast machine.
If you're considering a desktop machine IMO the iMac is a much better deal from a price/performance standpoint. The performance of the new ones is extremely fast, and with the Thunderbolt connector there's no issue with getting external storage that's fast enough. You can get an amazing machine for around $2K with a 27" monitor built in, FWIW.
Still, it's not portable…
But for a Mac Pro and 27" monitor that's the same speed as a 27" iMac upgraded to the i7, you're gonna be out $4500K+, and you're not getting more performance necessarily, just more "expandability."
The iMac desktops use i5/i7 CPUs, just like the MacBook Pros. And now you can put 8GB or even 16GB in a MacBook Pro along with an SSD, so the performance of a MacBook Pro can meet or beat an iMac desktop. The problem with the Mac Pro desktops is that the CPUs are getting old, so it is possible for a fast iMac to beat a lower-end Mac Pro currently. This might all change as soon as Apple announces another round of laptops and desktops.
Point being that, right now, the performance difference between Mac laptops and desktops is not as big as it has been (or probably should be). You should be buying on how much you really need portability, and your budget.
Right. It's not as big as it has been. It still exists though. An SSD as the drive would reduce the difference.
Here's a recent Macworld article which has a very high-level overall comparison:
http://www.macworld.com/article/159765/2011/05/imac2011.html
Of course, not content to put ALL recent systems in the same place, it doesn't have the Core i7 iMac in there. Here's a link to that one:
http://www.macworld.com/article/160469/2011/06/ultimateimac2011.html
So you're looking at "298" versus "206" on Macworld's "arbitrary benchmark scale of whatever" but that's about 45% faster overall. It's of course 100% slower if you're traveling and don't have the iMac with you, but it all sorta depends on whether that matters :-)
http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2011/20110310_2-MacBookPro_PTGui_16GB--reviews.html
Nose high in the air exuding a haughty superior attitude:
If your a sophisticated intelligent person the only answer is Mac!
Somewhat paraphrased but close to what Andy told me a few years ago.
Sam
How about those of us who work on both? Seriously, I build my own computers so my desktop is a PC. It's powerful, cheaper than a mac, and since I built it, I know how to easily upgrade/replace components.
But love my macbook pro too and will probably never buy a PC notebook again (Mac wins the notebook category on just about every level -- from visual design to speed of start/shutdown to the ability to run Win or Mac OS to battery life plus the mac simply works without the issues PC's can have).
I have PSCS5 on both Mac and PC and they both run fine. For video, I opted for Premiere Pro since it's cross platform and it also runs fine on both PC and Mac. I also like that it instantly renders video (older versions of Final Cut don't do this).
For my workflow, I use Photo Mechanic for imports and sorting/selecting and cataloging images. It's blazing fast. I've tried LR but the combo of Photo Mechanic and Bridge work fine for me and LR didn't add anything to that (that's my experience anyway -- I know there are people who use LR and it makes sense for them so I'm not saying LR is a not an option).
The downside of both a mac and pc is you often have to buy separate software licenses for each one. That was another reason to skip LR. Photo Mechanic was cheaper and works for me. Also had to buy MacDrive so I can share files between Mac and PC via an external harddrive.
Anyway, just wanted to point out that a lot of photographers work on both Mac and PC -- usually a Macbook Pro and a PC desktop. So that's yet another option for you.
Oh, and the iPad works as a second screen for a Macbook Pro too using air display. You can set it up on a PC laptop too but it's more complicated. So yet another option is a Macbook Pro and iPad so you have more screen real estate.
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
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While that is normally true, ironically...Lightroom is a major exception to that assumption. If you buy Lightroom on a disk, you get both the Mac and PC version, and there is one serial number that works on both. If you downloaded Lightroom and you are switching platforms, just download the other platform's version and enter the same serial number into that.
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/676668
It's too bad this doesn't work with their other software!
I know!!! I'm glad Adobe does it with LR but I was kind of surprised they don't on CS5. I supposedly purchased a license to run it on two computers but only if they are the same OS?
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
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Shouldn't be a surprise; that's how most of the industry works. Cross-platform licenses are the exception.
About the two licenses, another standard is that if you read the terms, most software today allows a "single-user license" to be used on two computers, like office + home or desktop + laptop. Since it can be different from title to title, you need to read the license you got.
A license that says "2 computers, used only by you, on one platform" is probably the most common type today.