The Amazing Sony A1/A7/A9/APS-C & Anything else welcome Mega Thread!

snerkler said:
At least they go up in numbers so it's easy to follow each line, you've mentioned that the A6500 follows the A6300, but the A6400 didn't follow the A6300 it followed the A6100 instead, and was itself followd by the A6600, then the A6700 is different line again :thinking: :runaway:
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I didn't make it up and I didn't say it was good either, was just saying fuji is no better i.e. pot calling out the kettle

The A6300 follows A6000
And A6400 follows A6300
A6100 is a watered down A6400 for lower price category, i guess you could see it as A6000 replacement

A6500 is basically A6300 with IBIS
A6600 it basically A6400 with IBIS and larger FZ100 battery

And as mentioned A6400 has no replacement. May be because they have used up A6500 and they can't update it now :ROFLMAO:

And A6700 is A6600 replacement

And i agree it's a terrible, on many fronts
 
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woof woof said:
A bit OTT.

I'll get a new laptop when I get around to it as my current one is falling apart with a cracked case despite never being out of the house and the letters wearing off many of the keys and it's also struggling now with CS2026 and processing raws, partly down to Windows bloat I suppose?

I've watched some Youtube vids on Linux and have just watched one on Mint. I think things have moved on a lot in recent years. I remember hating Unix and Xenix, DSS had loads of them and I hated them. These days this type of operating system seem much more user friendly with lots of compatible versions of the usual software and lookalikes and similar software when the originals aren't available. Photoshop CSx doesn't seem to be available though.

Is anyone running a non Windows operating system? If so what's available to process pictures with?
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I run Mac, have done for years and would never go back to windows. I know people say Mac's are more restrictive and you can't manipulate them the same as you can windows but lets be honest how many of us do that? We jsut wnat the software/apps to run as quickly and flawlessly as possible and with an intuitive interface, and that for me is Mac. Yes you pay a premium for it but I'd pay it all day long to get the quick, easy and polished user experience. I have to have a windows machine at work for reading x-rays and scans from the NHS and windows 11 is a big improvement over 8,9 and 10 but it's still nowhere near as nice or easy to use as Mac imo. YMMV.

It's a bit like the difference between buying a Ford and buying a BMW, both are great, both fundamentally do the same thing but the BMW is generally the more premium product.

With regards to teh processors, any of the M4 series will be more than capable, but if you want to future proof then go for the best available and the highest RAM, however this comes at great cost.

I'm still running an M1 Max Macbook Pro (10-core CPU, 32-core GPU and 16-core neural engine) with 64GB RAM and it tackles Lightroom and Photoshop (as well as logic pro) with ease.

If you have money to burn you could buy a Mac Studio with M4 Max 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU and 16-Core Neural engine with 64GB RAM and 1TB SSD for £3k

I'd like an M4 Max Macbook Pro with 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU and 16-core neural engine with 128GB RAM and 4TB SSD, but at £6k I'll give it a miss ;)
nandbytes said:
I didn't make it up and I didn't say it was good either, was just saying fuji is no better i.e. pot calling out the kettle

The A6300 follows A6000
And A6400 follows A6300
A6100 is a watered down A6400 for lower price category, i guess you could see it as A6000 replacement

A6500 is basically A6300 with IBIS
A6600 it basically A6400 with IBIS and larger FZ100 battery

And as mentioned A6400 has no replacement. May be because they have used up A6500 and they can't update it now :ROFLMAO:

And A6700 is A6600 replacement

And i agree it's a terrible, on many fronts
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I'm not sure if I'm not explaining myself or whether we're talking something different but what I meant is while Fuji might have a lot of different body 'systems', the updates go in chronological order, so for example XT1, XT2, XT3, or XE1, XE2, XE3 etc.

The only exception I can think the X100 series didn't follow a logical sequence but it's just they use the letter of the generation rather than number, so X100, X100S (second), X100T (Third), X100F (Fourth) but then they had to revert to roman numerals because if they followed the same nomenclature it would have been another X100F ;)

I guess you could argue that's confusing, but at least it still goes up in numerical order, unlike the A6xxx series ;)
 
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Thanks for all the computer help folks.

Unfortunately it has to be a lap top because I used to "do" computers for a living and the house was full of them but I lost all interest and now I hate to see one at home as I think they dominate rooms. So, it has to be a lap top as when I'm not using it it's shut and put out of sight and I can't really hide away separates like a computer, screen and keyboard.

I'll have a think about an Apple. The only out of the ordinary spec demanding thing I do is photo processing and storage and other than that it's just the usual banking, shopping, browsing, emails and Youtube. As all of these can be done on an Apple maybe this time I'll give one a try,

One last question.

I have the subscription Adobe PS and I think when changing pc you sign in, deactivate the old one and activate the new one but can you switch from Windows to Apple?
 
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Oh, and I think I've come to a decision on some of my film era lenses.

I think I will try and move some on but I'm also going to keep a small number of earlier metal build 50mm lenses as they're beautifully made and are really almost forever lenses as they'll probably still be ok to use in another 50 years time even if they'll need an £80 service every 25 years and they'll probably work on any future camera if the Sony mount ever goes pop and disappears. The Voigtlanders are if anything better built and offer better IQ but they're not necessarily as future proof and portable to other mounts.
 
woof woof said:
I have the subscription Adobe PS and I think when changing pc you sign in, deactivate the old one and activate the new one but can you switch from Windows to Apple?
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It should make no difference - you're paying for the seat rather than the installation.
 
woof woof said:
Thanks for all the computer help folks.

Unfortunately it has to be a lap top because I used to "do" computers for a living and the house was full of them but I lost all interest and now I hate to see one at home as I think they dominate rooms. So, it has to be a lap top as when I'm not using it it's shut and put out of sight and I can't really hide away separates like a computer, screen and keyboard.

I'll have a think about an Apple. The only out of the ordinary spec demanding thing I do is photo processing and storage and other than that it's just the usual banking, shopping, browsing, emails and Youtube. As all of these can be done on an Apple maybe this time I'll give one a try,

One last question.

I have the subscription Adobe PS and I think when changing pc you sign in, deactivate the old one and activate the new one but can you switch from Windows to Apple?
Click to expand...
You can switch no problem it comes with 2 licenses anyway, but you can deactivate the old one if you won’t be using it anymore on adobe’s website in your adobe account. You don’t need to sign out of it on your old computer.
 
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snerkler said:
I'm not sure if I'm not explaining myself or whether we're talking something different but what I meant is while Fuji might have a lot of different body 'systems', the updates go in chronological order, so for example XT1, XT2, XT3, or XE1, XE2, XE3 etc.

The only exception I can think the X100 series didn't follow a logical sequence but it's just they use the letter of the generation rather than number, so X100, X100S (second), X100T (Third), X100F (Fourth) but then they had to revert to roman numerals because if they followed the same nomenclature it would have been another X100F ;)

I guess you could argue that's confusing, but at least it still goes up in numerical order, unlike the A6xxx series ;)
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I got what you meant but my point was X-T10 is same gen as X-T1 but XT100 is second gen and then X-S10 is like 3rd or 4th gen?

You never know what gen you are getting between these numbers then they also have something like X-T30mk2 but why not X-T40 like there is X-T4.

Then there are X-E, X-pro and X-H all at different level is generations too, so you never know just from the number which generation you are getting yourself into. Just because the digit is higher doesn't necessarily mean better like X-S10 in my example above its better than X-T20

All in all equally confusing in my opinion

Edit:
I also don't think Sony FF is much better they have A7 series with various letters and mk1,2,3 etc then A9 and A1 on either side with no letters all at different generations.
 
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nandbytes said:
I got what you meant but my point was X-T10 is same gen as X-T1 but XT100 is second gen and then X-S10 is like 3rd or 4th gen?

You never know what gen you are getting between these numbers then they also have something like X-T30mk2 but why not X-T40 like there is X-T4.

Then there are X-E, X-pro and X-H all at different level is generations too, so you never know just from the number which generation you are getting yourself into. Just because the digit is higher doesn't necessarily mean better like X-S10 in my example above its better than X-T20

All in all equally confusing in my opinion

Edit:
I also don't think Sony FF is much better they have A7 series with various letters and mk1,2,3 etc then A9 and A1 on either side with no letters all at different generations.
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Yes the FF nomenclature is easy to follow, but just as ‘complex’ as the Fuji series you mention, for example the A9 III is a newer gen that the A7RIV and A7IV, no different to the X-T1 and X-T100 being different gens (y).

As long as the numbers correlate to the later version of the same camera that’s all that matters to me, I don’t see the number as being the same generation across all series (y)
 
woof woof said:
Thanks for all the computer help folks.

Unfortunately it has to be a lap top because I used to "do" computers for a living and the house was full of them but I lost all interest and now I hate to see one at home as I think they dominate rooms. So, it has to be a lap top as when I'm not using it it's shut and put out of sight and I can't really hide away separates like a computer, screen and keyboard.

I'll have a think about an Apple. The only out of the ordinary spec demanding thing I do is photo processing and storage and other than that it's just the usual banking, shopping, browsing, emails and Youtube. As all of these can be done on an Apple maybe this time I'll give one a try,

One last question.

I have the subscription Adobe PS and I think when changing pc you sign in, deactivate the old one and activate the new one but can you switch from Windows to Apple?
Click to expand...
I prefer working on a laptop. I had the iMac 5k and hardly ever used it because I do most of my editing sat on the settee watching tv at the same time. Also, it means I can edit at work if I have a gap too.
 
f/2.8 said:
You can switch no problem it comes with 2 licenses anyway, but you can deactivate the old one if you won’t be using it anymore on adobe’s website in your adobe account. You don’t need to sign out of it on your old computer.
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I didn't know it came with two licences but even if it didn't I have CS5 too which can stay on my old creaking Windows pc.
 
snerkler said:
I prefer working on a laptop. I had the iMac 5k and hardly ever used it because I do most of my editing sat on the settee watching tv at the same time. Also, it means I can edit at work if I have a gap too.
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I haven't had a desktop pc for a long long time, decades. I can't actually remember what I did with the last one. Probably sold it. It'll have been an Apricot of some sort as I did thousands of them. I think I must have had over 20 pc and lap tops at home at one time. That's more than I've had 50mm lenses at one time. Happy Days.
 
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woof woof said:
I haven't had a desktop pc for a long long time, decades. I can't actually remember what I did with the last one. Probably sold it. It'll have been an Apricot of some sort as I did thousands of them. I think I must have had over 20 pc and lap tops at home at one time. That's more than I've had 50mm lenses at one time. Happy Days.
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I prefer a PC myself. More enjoyable to use for me, bigger screen for working on/watching stuff & it's a dedicated place to sit & edit etc
 
LeeRatters said:
I prefer a PC myself. More enjoyable to use for me, bigger screen for working on/watching stuff & it's a dedicated place to sit & edit etc
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Me too. To be fair our house can be a bit hectic so sitting and working on a laptop anywhere but in my office is next to impossible so might as well have the advantages of a big screen and better performance.

I have a laptop but rarely use it other than for car diagnostics.
 
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f/2.8 said:
You can switch no problem it comes with 2 licenses anyway, but you can deactivate the old one if you won’t be using it anymore on adobe’s website in your adobe account. You don’t need to sign out of it on your old computer.
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It's actually even easier than that - at least with LR (I rarely use PS, so haven't seen how it's handled there) - if LR detects that you are signed in on a 3rd device on startup it will pop up a screen saying you only have 2 activations, and you can pick which of the 2 'current' to deactivate, takes a few seconds.
So in effect you could have 3 installations, and just switch between them this way.
(That's not what I do, I have 2, but for some strange reason LR on my desktop sometimes fails to recognise that it's one of the two active installations - and the pop up gives me my laptop and my desktop as the current activations, and I just deactivate my desktop to continue!).
 
Faldrax said:
It's actually even easier than that - at least with LR (I rarely use PS, so haven't seen how it's handled there) - if LR detects that you are signed in on a 3rd device on startup it will pop up a screen saying you only have 2 activations, and you can pick which of the 2 'current' to deactivate, takes a few seconds.
So in effect you could have 3 installations, and just switch between them this way.
(That's not what I do, I have 2, but for some strange reason LR on my desktop sometimes fails to recognise that it's one of the two active installations - and the pop up gives me my laptop and my desktop as the current activations, and I just deactivate my desktop to continue!).
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Problem is if you do that a few times it breaks their t&c’s and they will lock your account.

Not a good idea to switch between 3 machines like that.
 
A misty 3 deg. trip to the seaside.

A7cII and Sony 40mm.

1-DSC01426.jpg

Someone other than me taking pictures.

1-DSC01419.jpg

Lots of dog walkers about. I caught this one with all paws off the ground. This reminded me of a shot I took years ago with my Panasonic G1 and a MF film era 50mm when I captured a horse with all hooves off the ground.

1-DSC01427.jpg

The car rated my driving at 92%. Cheeky. I deserved at least 96.

One last one. She who likes eating out and drinking coffee.

1-DSC01415.jpg
 
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LeeRatters said:
I prefer a PC myself. More enjoyable to use for me, bigger screen for working on/watching stuff & it's a dedicated place to sit & edit ett
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I just got sick of the sight of them. In a workplace they have a place but I don't like to see them in a home. You wouldn't believe I used to be obsessed with them but these days I just have no interest. Plus a 17" laptop on my knee is much bigger in my fov than the 50 odd inch TV and is big enough for me.
 
woof woof said:
Thanks for all the computer help folks.

Unfortunately it has to be a lap top because I used to "do" computers for a living and the house was full of them but I lost all interest and now I hate to see one at home as I think they dominate rooms. So, it has to be a lap top as when I'm not using it it's shut and put out of sight and I can't really hide away separates like a computer, screen and keyboard.

I'll have a think about an Apple. The only out of the ordinary spec demanding thing I do is photo processing and storage and other than that it's just the usual banking, shopping, browsing, emails and Youtube. As all of these can be done on an Apple maybe this time I'll give one a try,

One last question.

I have the subscription Adobe PS and I think when changing pc you sign in, deactivate the old one and activate the new one but can you switch from Windows to Apple?
Click to expand...

I’ve got a fancy Mac Studio as my office machine but bought a base spec M4 MacBook Air for travelling and working around the house.

It’s incredibly capable and to be honest I do most of my work on it now, absolutely chews through editing including use of AI noise reduction. It’s also compact and I’m a big fan of the build quality (metal case) . That and a small (form factor) SSD and you’ll be sorted. It was £880 but got a £265 trade in for my ageing Intel Mac, so cost me £614 in the end. There’s always good deals around on the previous generation M chips.
 
Worth looking at the Apple refurb site, 12 month gtee, free delivery and return if you don't like it and save a few hundred £
I had a Mac mini but returned it and got a studio, more ports and shinier :rolleyes: :) . Both looked as new, stock changes quite frequently so press buy if you see one you like.

www.apple.com

Refurbished Mac - Mac Studio

Save up to 15% on a refurbished Mac Studio. Tested and certified by Apple including a 1-year warranty. Free delivery and returns.
www.apple.com
 
T_J_G said:
I’ve got a fancy Mac Studio as my office machine but bought a base spec M4 MacBook Air for travelling and working around the house.

It’s incredibly capable and to be honest I do most of my work on it now, absolutely chews through editing including use of AI noise reduction. It’s also compact and I’m a big fan of the build quality (metal case) . That and a small (form factor) SSD and you’ll be sorted. It was £880 but got a £265 trade in for my ageing Intel Mac, so cost me £614 in the end. There’s always good deals around on the previous generation M chips.
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The computer might be small but I'll need a screen and a keyboard and than I'm getting into a static computer station or the hassle of putting a screen and keyboard and probably wiring too away and setting it up again when wanted. That's an increase in hassle over a laptop which can be put away out of sight or retrieved in seconds. The bloatware and the slowing down and filling up of Windows machines over time is very annoying but I can get a 17" laptop and I don't think that's going to be possible with Apple as the biggest I've seen is 16" and that might be ok but what about when that one needs relacing? Will I then be dropping down in size again?

I like the idea of an Apple but Apple seem to build what they want to build not what I want so sadly I'll probably end up with another Windows laptop.
 
nog said:
Worth looking at the Apple refurb site, 12 month gtee, free delivery and return if you don't like it and save a few hundred £
I had a Mac mini but returned it and got a studio, more ports and shinier :rolleyes: :) . Both looked as new, stock changes quite frequently so press buy if you see one you like.

www.apple.com

Refurbished Mac - Mac Studio

Save up to 15% on a refurbished Mac Studio. Tested and certified by Apple including a 1-year warranty. Free delivery and returns.
www.apple.com
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Looks like the only one they do with a 16" screen is the MacBook pro. I'll have a look when the times comes but the thought of dropping down in screen size even an inch bothers me.
 
woof woof said:
Looks like the only one they do with a 16" screen is the MacBook pro. I'll have a look when the times comes but the thought of dropping down in screen size even an inch bothers me.
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Don’t take this the wrong way but 17” laptops are basically dead in the water and have been for years.

You will really struggle to find one that is half decent. They also tend to have fairly crap screens as well.

Most people that buy a laptop want portability, long battery life and a good quality monitor. Appreciate that’s not what you are looking for as you don’t really need it to be that portable but the manufacturers will only make what will sell and 17” laptops do not sell well and never did tbh.

If you restrict yourself to 17” you will be very restricted on what you will be able to get even with windows. Unless you are happy to drop maybe 3k on a high end gaming laptop, bear in mind though you will be lucky to get an hour or two battery life.
 
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f/2.8 said:
Don’t take this the wrong way but 17” laptops are basically dead in the water and have been for years.

You will really struggle to find one that is half decent. They also tend to have fairly crap screens as well.

Most people that buy a laptop want portability, long battery life and a good quality monitor. Appreciate that’s not what you are looking for but the manufacturers will only make what will sell and 17” laptops do not sell well and never did tbh.

If you restrict yourself to 17” you will be very restricted on what you will be able to get even with windows.
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Lots still on sale as of today.

I appreciate that time moves on and what I want may get ever harder to find but I just do not want a computer station in my front room or anywhere in the house. I'm past caring about computers and I wince when I see them in peoples houses. Don't take this wrong way, any of you, but I have more to my life than being sat a computer station... I see people who have them as a bit sad and misguided, missing out on life. That's how I feel about it. I just couldn't bring myself to sit at a computer. I know computers paid for my early retirement but I suppose I burned out and now I have no interest in them at all and if the choice comes to having a computer station or giving up photography I'll be honest and say that I'll be giving up photography or at least digital photography. I'll go back to art, drawing and painting or... shoot film :D

I don't know if I'm willing to drop down in screen size so a Windows machine is probably what I'll end up with even if the screen isn't up to Apple spec.
 
woof woof said:
Lots still on sale as of today.

I appreciate that time moves on and what I want may get ever harder to find but I just do not want a computer station in my front room or anywhere in the house. I'm past caring about computers and I wince when I see them in peoples houses. Don't take this wrong way, any of you, but I have more to my life than being sat a computer station... I see people who have them as a bit sad and misguided, missing out on life. That's how I feel about it. I just couldn't bring myself to sit at a computer. I know computers paid for my early retirement but I suppose I burned out and now I have no interest in them at all and if the choice comes to having a computer station or giving up photography I'll be honest and say that I'll be giving up photography or at least digital photography. I'll go back to art, drawing and painting or... shoot film :D

I don't know if I'm willing to drop down in screen size so a Windows machine is probably what I'll end up with even if the screen isn't up to Apple spec.
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I use the 16" macbook pro and the screen is superb, great resolution, wide colour gamut and pretty well calibrated from factory.
 
f/2.8 said:
Problem is if you do that a few times it breaks their t&c’s and they will lock your account.

Not a good idea to switch between 3 machines like that.
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I'm not using 3 machines - its the software that's failing to recognise that one of the registered machines is the one it's running on!
So I start LR on <Desktop> and get a popup saying Already logged in on 2 machines : <Desktop>,<Laptop> select one to log out?
Select <Desktop> , and it then continues.
I've probably had to do this 5 or 6 times now.
 
snerkler said:
I use the 16" macbook pro and the screen is superb, great resolution, wide colour gamut and pretty well calibrated from factory.
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A reduction in diagonal means a reduction in width and height and I don't really want that. I got my current one from PC Specialist in 2021 so I suppose it's mostly lasted ok except for the lettering wearing off some of the keys. I've just checked their website and they do a 17" at £769 but I may have to fiddle with the spec and I don't know if they'll give me any trade in or use the memory and SSD drive off my old one. I might have a chat with them.

In 2021 I paid £852 and yet a better spec one is cheaper today? Wow. Thanks to slaves in China I suppose.

I am tempted by an Apple though as bloat is a PITA. Just a shame about the backward step in screen size. I'm sure Apple screens are lovely but all of my laptop screens have been ok for what I want so I'd rather have the size and quality I have rather than better quality in a smaller size.
 
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woof woof said:
A reduction in diagonal means a reduction in width and height and I don't really want that. I got my current one from PC Specialist in 2021 so I suppose it's mostly lasted ok except for the lettering wearing off some of the keys. I've just checked their website and they do a 17" at £769 but I may have to fiddle with the spec and I don't know if they'll give me any trade in or use the memory and SSD drive off my old one. I might have a chat with them.

In 2021 I paid £852 and yet a better spec one is cheaper today? Wow. Thanks to slaves in China I suppose.

I am tempted by an Apple though as bloat is a PITA. Just a shame about the backward step in screen size. I'm sure Apple screens are lovely but all of my laptop screens have been ok for what I want so I'd rather have the size and quality I have rather than better quality in a smaller size.
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You may find a smaller screen at a higher resolution means you won't lose out too much unless your eyes are poor. My Dell XPS15 has close to a 4K screen, and is capable of super detail. If your 17" screen is HD then a better screen can feel larger.
 
My eyes are ok, it's my brain and ocd that's the problem as regardless of any increase in display quality I'm losing size. The display quality I have at the mo is adequate both for looking at pictures and processing them. I did find going from 15 to 17" a massive improvement and going backwards to 16 will almost certainly rule out Apple for me.

I'll have a think but I think for me 16" rules Apple out.
 
woof woof said:
My eyes are ok, it's my brain and ocd that's the problem as regardless of any increase in display quality I'm losing size. The display quality I have at the mo is adequate both for looking at pictures and processing them. I did find going from 15 to 17" a massive improvement and going backwards to 16 will almost certainly rule out Apple for me.

I'll have a think but I think for me 16" rules Apple out.
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I thought the same as you, I used to have a 17" dell laptop and thought of downsizing didn't appeal to me, but I've not found it an issue and the better screen, as well as better product overall far outweight the small difference in screensize. YMMV.
 
woof woof said:
. I got my current one from PC Specialist in 2021 so I suppose it's mostly lasted ok except for the lettering wearing off some of the keys. I've just checked their website and they do a 17" at £769 but I may have to fiddle with the spec and I don't know if they'll give me any trade in or use the memory and SSD drive off my old one. I might have a chat with them.
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Upgrade that to 32GB ram and it’s going to come in at just under £900. It only supports the older DDR4 ram as well. The processor is slow even by today’s standards.

Yeah a 16” Mac will will have a smaller screen. However there is a huge difference in image quality and colour accuracy between the two screens.
There will also be a huge difference in performance.

Even if you were to go to their higher spec laptops and spend between 2.5k-3k you will struggle to match the performance using Lightroom and Photoshop as the Mac’s have the M series processors and unified memory. There will also be a huge difference in battery life, the Mac would be much better. The Mac is also very quiet, those PC Specialist laptops are usually very noisy especially when being used for more intensive tasks.

SSD’s have a limited lifespan if the one in your current laptop is already 5 years old, it’s likely better to not move that over from your old laptop. With your old laptop being 5 year old it may have an old 2.5” SSD the new one will need an NVME, Obviously you can move the data over. You might be able to move your ram over as it uses the older DDR4 but that will only give you 16gb. You might find though with your current laptop being 5 years old that it has DDR3 and can’t be moved over.
 
f/2.8 said:
Even if you were to go to their higher spec laptops and spend between 2.5k-3k you will struggle to match the performance using Lightroom and Photoshop as the Mac’s have the M series processors and unified memory. There will also be a huge difference in battery life, the Mac would be much better. The Mac is also very quiet, those PC Specialist laptops are usually very noisy especially when being used for more intensive tasks.
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I agree with this, I need a Windfows Laptop for my buisness, and I bought a Dell XPS machine 18 months ago 16" screen, 32Gb RAM, fast i7, 4Tb SSD and it was pushing £2,500, the equivalent machine today is nearly 3K

A well specified MacBook is much better option for photo editing and casual use.

I'd also agree about all the screen comments, for years I had 17" laptops, but have had no issues adjusting to the slightly smaller but higher resolution screen of my current Laptop.
 
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@woof woof Alan, I reckon it's worth visiting an apple store and just having a look, maybe take some files on a memory stick & see if they have a machine with LR installed. If you decide after that a 16" screen is too small then it will be from a perspective of knowledge rather than guessing.

Personally now, if I were after an editing computer, I'd buy a Mac mini.
 
ancient_mariner said:
I presently use a 16 inch Lenovo with 2560 red screen, but TBH it's not as good for editing as the 15 inch Dell with 3840 screen. Size isn't everything (cue Sid James).
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Screen quality isn't everything either. As above I'm just about certain that I prefer a larger screen with adequate image quality over a smaller one with better image quality and going back from 17" to 16" is going to be a step backwards. It's not as if my current screen is awful to the point that it spoils my enjoyment of my pictures, it isn't and it doesn't. I would hate to go back to 15" and I'm not sure that 16" will, oh er, satisfy. As the Americans say, there's no replacement for displacement.

Me, in female form thinking about having a smaller but better screen...

1-DSC01413.jpg

and when thinking about staying with a big screen.

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f/2.8 said:
Upgrade that to 32GB ram and it’s going to come in at just under £900. It only supports the older DDR4 ram as well. The processor is slow even by today’s standards.

Yeah a 16” Mac will will have a smaller screen. However there is a huge difference in image quality and colour accuracy between the two screens.
There will also be a huge difference in performance.

Even if you were to go to their higher spec laptops and spend between 2.5k-3k you will struggle to match the performance using Lightroom and Photoshop as the Mac’s have the M series processors and unified memory. There will also be a huge difference in battery life, the Mac would be much better. The Mac is also very quiet, those PC Specialist laptops are usually very noisy especially when being used for more intensive tasks.

SSD’s have a limited lifespan if the one in your current laptop is already 5 years old, it’s likely better to not move that over from your old laptop. With your old laptop being 5 year old it may have an old 2.5” SSD the new one will need an NVME, Obviously you can move the data over. You might be able to move your ram over as it uses the older DDR4 but that will only give you 16gb. You might find though with your current laptop being 5 years old that it has DDR3 and can’t be moved over.
Click to expand...

Battery life doesn't matter as the only time I use it is when I'm doing a print upstairs. Noise isn't a problem as it's silent until the fan does kick in and even then it isn't a problem, it's quieter than the fan on my previous branded laptop which was noisy. More ram and a clean operating system might be all I need but I'm not going to do any of that with my current laptop with its cracked case and the letters wearing off the keyboard.

Looking at the age of the components I think you're right, new ones it'll be.
 
woof woof said:
Screen quality isn't everything either. As above I'm just about certain that I prefer a larger screen with adequate image quality over a smaller one with better image quality and going back from 17" to 16" is going to be a step backwards. It's not as if my current screen is awful to the point that it spoils my enjoyment of my pictures, it isn't and it doesn't. I would hate to go back to 15" and I'm not sure that 16" will, oh er, satisfy. As the Americans say, there's no replacement for displacement.

Me, in female form thinking about having a smaller but better screen...

View attachment 473672

and when thinking about staying with a big screen.

View attachment 473673



Battery life doesn't matter as the only time I use it is when I'm doing a print upstairs. Noise isn't a problem as it's silent until the fan does kick in and even then it isn't a problem, it's quieter than the fan on my previous branded laptop which was noisy. More ram and a clean operating system might be all I need but I'm not going to do any of that with my current laptop with its cracked case and the letters wearing off the keyboard.

Looking at the age of the components I think you're right, new ones it'll be.
Click to expand...
:p The screen size comparison gave me a giggle.

Yeah for sure if you think that’s the best option for you do that.

With your old SSD you could get an enclosure and use it as an external hard drive. I have a few of the drives from my old p.c running in enclosures. With yours being an older drive you could probably get away with 10gbps enclosure they are only about £10-15.

I had a really great p.c absolutely maxed out 64gb of ram etc and I never thought that the fan noise annoyed me when I was using it.

The Mac just makes no noise at all. I still use the p.c as I haven’t got around yet to sorting out an equivalent way of designing albums, although I will sort that soon and pass the p.c on to the kids probably. Every time I turn it on I can’t wait to turn it off again.
 
I have too many external drives already but an SSD external might be worthwhile as it'll be quicker.

I've been processing pictures for over an hour now including panoramas and the fan hasn't kicked in once. I'm pretty convinced that noise isn't a problem with this 5 years old one and if new ones are as quiet it won't be a problem.

Just thought of an issue I could have with an Apple, plugging my printer into it.
 
A tweak to a panorama I took a while ago. I have similar single shot pictures so I suppose the only advantage this one has is being bigger.

The view from Redcar towards Saltburn from our normal parking spot for a sitting in the hatch picnic. A7cII and 40mm again.

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