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Archive 2011 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

Brit-007
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p.2 #1 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

I think the biggest advantage to photographers using Macs is that the ability to read raw files is part of the OS. Windows, you have to find and download programs to view the files.
The biggest problem with Windows is the registry. The Mac does not have a registry and if you want to try a program, Install it. If you want to remove it then just move the program to the trash. There are a few exceptions. The biggest is Adobe where it puts files in numerous locations so you really have to search to completely remove their products.

I was not sure about the App store but I am really beginning to like it. You find a program you want and click on the buy. You can install the program on up to 5 machines using the same ID. The real beauty is that if there are any updates to the program they show up. There is no software key to keep track of. If you change you Mac then it detects your purchase is not installed and will re-install.

Perhaps using the Mac is too simple and not challenging then fine, for me it is so much better not to have the worries that come with a PC. For all my Photo work I use Aperture. Simple to use and as good as Lightroom in most areas and some it is better. I can do 95% of my work in Aperture. One of the important features added in the latest version is curves and the ability to brush it in. I use 3 plug in Suites being; On One, Nik and Topaz. At the moment I still use CS5 for the odd image but I can export to Photoshop and save it back. Unless there is something major then it will probably be the last version I buy.

For on the road, I have a 6 year old Mac Laptop that is still as fast as when I purchased it. I have a funny feeling that next year I will probably upgrade it as I am sure that Apple will come out with a really updated laptop.

Nov 28, 2011 at 04:33 PM

Arka
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p.2 #2 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

luketrot wrote:
I put the hardrive from my Dell XPS 16 in my Mac Book Pro and the Mac booted into Windows without any bitching about drivers as the chipsets are almost identical.

Mac = PC + tweaked Unix/BSD OS + Marketing.

The fact that a Mac's hardware is similar to a PC's isn't really the point. The Mac experience is a "whole product" one. I've used two Lenovos; one 220X tablet and one 420T. Their internal hardware is concededly similar to my MacBook Air, and indeed superior in terms of pure processing power, and the tablet functionality. However, the MacBook Airs have a cool feature; a multitouch trackpad that actually works, as opposed to one that is supposed to work but only does so half the time on either of the Lenovos.

The Macs also have sublime industrial design and construction. Furthermore, in keeping with the "whole product" experience, all of the hardware in a Mac actually works with the software from the moment you unbox the system. By contrast, with a Lenovo 220X Tablet (one of the better Windows PCs out there), the Wacom tablet functionality does not come fully enabled. If you want pressure sensitivity, you have to download the proper Penabled drivers. If you download the wrong ones, they corrupt your registry, and you have to restore to a "last good state."

It's oversimplification to chalk up the appeal of Macs to shrewd marketing and a "tweaked" UNIX. The "tweaks" describe work to make the experience seamless to the user, which is the whole point. I'm not arguing that it's all perfect all the time on a Mac, but it always amazes me how many things I have to do to a brand-new Windows PC before I can actually start using it in the way I normally would.

Nov 29, 2011 at 05:56 AM

cineski
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p.2 #3 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

I don't know anyone on a personal level that uses PC in the industry in LA. I was PC based up until 5 years ago. My PC was plagued with problems. When I went Apple, all those problems went away and have yet to surface. To me, the grass is not greener. Apple works better than PC. The user experience is also wonderful compared to PC. Just the feel of touch on an Apple is better. It's more responsive and the overall feel of the system is in tune with me. Now when I hop on a friend's computer who has PC it's staggeringly sucky compared to my experience on my Apple. Problem of course is price. I'm in the market to upgrade my 4.5 year old Macbook Pro and I'd like to get an iMac. Fully loaded you're talking almost $3k but it's not something I'm completely balking at because I know in the long run it's money very well spent since I do so much post production.

Nov 29, 2011 at 02:03 PM

tcphoto
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p.2 #4 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

I am one of those that have never owned a PC. I bought my first Mac in '94 and have no reason to switch. Now that I think about it, I do not know anyone of my creative friends or colleagues that do not own a Mac. Don't we all own whatever we feel comfortable with whether it's a Mac or PC?

Nov 29, 2011 at 02:30 PM

luketrot
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p.2 #5 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

Mac's are the BMW's of the computer industry.

Nov 30, 2011 at 08:52 AM

infocusinc
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p.2 #6 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

dbyers wrote:
I bought my first Mac and started using Photoshop version 2 way back in the early 90's and have stuck with that platform ever since. At that time everyone who was editing images was running a Mac and I assume that PS was only available for Mac. .

And you would be wrong. I stated doing digital imaging professionally in 92 using a Kodak DCS200. a Dell Pentium 90 and Photoshop 2.5 I'm STILL doing professional advertising imaging on a W7 box. For years now I have been submitting images to agencies and pre-press houses and no cared a whit what platform the image came from.

I also own three macs, two i7quad MBP's and a dual boot Hackintosh. I enjoy the Macs as entertainment, but I'm still using the w7 workstation for processing and delivery and a brace of W7 laptops for tethered location capture. I might move forward to doing production on the hack if I find it stable enough. But quite frankly I can't see any speed incentive for either platform.

No doubt the macs are pretty, but pretty does not make a hill of beans when it comes to producing work. And I simply don't see the ROI making sense on Mac.

I'm having fun with the Macs, mostly because its different.

To each his own I guess.

Edited on Nov 30, 2011 at 12:03 PM · View previous versions

Nov 30, 2011 at 11:50 AM

mdude85
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p.2 #7 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

infocusinc wrote:
And you would be wrong. I stated doing digital imaging professionally in 01 using a Kodak DCS200. a Dell Pentium 90 and Photoshop 2. I'm STILL doing professional advertising imaging on a W7 box. For years now I have been submitting images to agencies and pre-press houses and no cared a whit what platform the image came from.

Adobe Photoshop 2.0 was released in June 1991 for Macintosh only. I don't know why you were using Photoshop 2.0 in 2001? Six more versions had been released by then. Also I don't know why you were using a DCS2000 in 2001? That camera would have been 10 years old by then. I mean I still rock the 10D with the best of 'em but the thing is on its last leg.

Edited on Nov 30, 2011 at 12:04 PM · View previous versions

Nov 30, 2011 at 11:57 AM

infocusinc
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p.2 #8 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

mdude85 wrote:
Adobe Photoshop 2.0 was released in June 1991 for Macintosh only. I don't know why you were using Photoshop 2.0 in 2001? Six more versions had been released by then. Also I don't know why you were using a DCS2000 in 2001? That camera would have been 10 years old by then. I mean I still rock the 10D with the best of 'em but that thing is on its last leg.

TYPO, and you are correct it was v 2.5, I just went and dug out the floppies. Been a long time ago...

Nov 30, 2011 at 12:03 PM

infocusinc
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p.2 #9 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

cgardner wrote:
Digital photography didn't really become a viable replacement for film until around 2004 when cameras hit 8MP.

I purchased the DCS200 to replace film based photography and stat camera screens of B/W prints for the tech publications created by our in house marking department well before that, like early 93 Once we had the bugs worked out, we cranked out parts catalogs and service manuals for conversion vans, boats and RV's by the hundreds with this system, based on a Windows box.

Nov 30, 2011 at 12:19 PM

Jonathan Huynh
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p.2 #10 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

I recently purchased iMax 27", only because it look cool, the front / back /side and every angles.

Dec 01, 2011 at 11:58 PM

KibblesNbitz
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p.2 #11 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

Like the first response said, they just work and don't seem to fail as much, which is critical when doing photography professionally. I'm actually torn between purchasing a new 27 inch iMac or a 70-200 2.8 VR II....decisions, decisions lol...

Dec 02, 2011 at 12:45 AM

MaxiKana
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p.2 #12 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

The operating system does not get in the way of work the same way as windows does. There are WAY less pop up's asking for permission or promting you to click OK. Most applications have the same basic UI structure making it easy to navigate and easy to learn new applications.

OS X has A LOT more keyboard shortcuts than windows has, all of them help me work faster. When I'm working I never have to interact with the operating system, I only interact with the programs I use. If that makes sense. OS X has spotlight which is just brilliant, you can do minor calculations, have it open programs, search for e-mails or contacts.

Dec 02, 2011 at 04:38 AM

grahamg
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p.2 #13 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

Macs, now they come with glossy screens as standard i'm not intrested. They look good and have good resale value but I have 15 + PCs and laptops in my business and they do all work. Guess I'm lucky

. But seriously I see most of the press guys in my business with Windows laptops.

Dec 02, 2011 at 10:51 AM

mmurph
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p.2 #14 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

Make sure you are comparing equivalent machines.

I have several laptops that cost around $400 each. Yeah, they may not stack up from a design level againast a $1,600 laptop, but come on, what do you expect? Buy a $1,200 laptop, add a $400 service contract, then you are comparing equivalent products to a low end Mac laptop.

At home we have 4 iPhone's 4s, a Mac laptop, Windows i7 desktop server, Windows 7 64 bit laptops (2), Linux NAS with Windows Home Server, Motorola Xoom with Android, etc, etc. Along with 4-5 special purpose windows boxes (13 year olds computer, video capture box, streaming servers, etc.)

I honestly find no real advantages to the Mac over any other platform. They all work well, unless you garbage them up with a lot of useless aps. I also barely notice a difference moving from one to the next, except habit.

I do get **very frustrated** with the iPhone and Mac sometimes when I can't get behind the basic interface level to adjust the device, without adding 3rd party tools. For a somewhat trivial example, but off the top of my head, the iPhone 4 didn't even have a built in task list/to do list, which my Palm had in 2001. No way to adjust font sizes, no way to print, etc.

Those things are starting to be adressed with 4s, but they are still pretty lame.

Bottom line to me: Apple does a great job on the 80%, but if you are a "power user" or want to tweak beyond that to get the extra 20%, there is no way to get under the shiny interface to tweak setiings and customize the tools (network settings & config, etc.) without adding 3rd party tools.

But I have an MBA in Information Systems (after my photography undergrad), and 20 years experience in the imaging industry on large scale ($1 million+) systems.)

Dec 02, 2011 at 12:58 PM

anthony whitmo
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p.2 #15 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

I was just thinking the same thing myself about a year ago. My PC (a quad core with 16 gig of ram) was struggling to open more than 10 Raw files at a time in ACR for quick view delete or keep editing (The first step of my workflow)

I decided to take the plunge into the Mac word with an IMAC I7 and 16 gig RAM. I can honestly say there's no comparison to any windows machine I have EVER owned. The Imac is robust and error free. In my first year of running the IMAC I have NEVER (NOT ONCE) had my MAC freeze or lag PERIOD............ After years of watching my PC freeze and having to do a complete system reboot (This happened almost daily) to get the damn thing to respond I couldn't be happier now with my mac.

As a test, in Bridge, I selected 100 photos and clicked to open them in ACR..... To my surprise all 100 files were opened in ACR in seconds and all 100% viewable!!! I tried the same process on my quad core PC and it took about 5 minutes to be able to view the files AND the PC had so much lag it was impossible to scroll through the images.

Last week I finally decided I was tired of fighting my PC Laptop and purchased a new Macbook PRO from Apple. It arrived a few days ago and the thing is SMOKIN fast!

Yesterday my wifes PC..... WINDOWS Machine completely Crashed....... That's her second PC in two years that crashed and burned the first one was the mother board and I think this one is Power supply...... I'm DONE!!!

So I (just now) purchased the new 27" IMAC I 7 Quad Core 3.4 Gig and I am giving her my 27" IMAC I 7 2.9 Gig Quad Core.

And then I came to FM and saw your post

I can't say enough about MAC products......... After years of fighting windows I couldn't be happier with Mac and never going back

Ant

Dec 03, 2011 at 04:51 AM

Ho1972
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p.2 #16 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

anthony whitmo wrote:
I was just thinking the same thing myself about a year ago. My PC (a quad core with 16 gig of ram) was struggling to open more than 10 Raw files at a time in ACR for quick view delete or keep editing (The first step of my workflow)

...As a test, in Bridge, I selected 100 photos and clicked to open them in ACR..... To my surprise all 100 files were opened in ACR in seconds and all 100% viewable!!! I tried the same process on my quad core PC and it took about 5 minutes to be able
...Show more →

There was something seriously wrong with your Win machine, and it wasn't the fact that it was a Win machine.

At the moment, I'm sitting in front of my secondary editing station, a 6 year old, AMD dual core XP system with 4 GB of RAM. As a test of your method (which I would never use) from Bridge I just now selected all the files in one folder (a total of 51) and opened them in ACR. Took about 6 seconds for ACR to open. Then I emulated an initial rating pass through the images, giving one star or no star to each image. This takes about 2 seconds per image, but longer if viewing each image at 100% since it takes my old PC about 5 seconds to generate a full resolution, 100% preview.

The whole thing was done in about 2 minutes, not employing 100% views.

I'm not taking anything away from your Mac. Given how your PC was performing you definitely needed to do something different.

Dec 03, 2011 at 06:32 AM

anthony whitmo
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p.2 #17 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

Ho1972 wrote:
There was something seriously wrong with your Win machine, and it wasn't the fact that it was a Win machine.

At the moment, I'm sitting in front of my secondary editing station, a 6 year old, AMD dual core XP system with 4 GB of RAM. As a test of your method (which I would never use) from Bridge I just now selected all the files in one folder (a total of 51) and opened them in ACR. Took about 6 seconds for ACR to open. Then I emulated an initial rating pass through the images, giving one star or no...Show more →

That could be true...... It seemed like I had to do a complete system restore or just reformat HD and reinstall windows about once or maybe twice a year to keep things running smooth on all my windows based systems. I hadn't went through the two to three days of formatting the HD, REinstalling Windows, and days of installing software again for about 6 months when I did this test. about........ I was over due I guess and the PC probably would have run smoother had I done that.

I've had the Mac for almost a year and it runs as fast today as it did the day I got it. I've never had to reinstall the operating system / system restore and reinstall software yet on my MAC. Man I don't miss those days............

But these are MY OWN experiences and YMMV

Dec 03, 2011 at 06:52 AM

Gregory Edge
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p.2 #18 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

mmurph wrote:
Make sure you are comparing equivalent machines.

I have several laptops that cost around $400 each. Yeah, they may not stack up from a design level againast a $1,600 laptop, but come on, what do you expect? Buy a $1,200 laptop, add a $400 service contract, then you are comparing equivalent products to a low end Mac laptop.

At home we have 4 iPhone's 4s, a Mac laptop, Windows i7 desktop server, Windows 7 64 bit laptops (2), Linux NAS with Windows Home Server, Motorola Xoom with Android, etc, etc. Along with 4-5 special purpose windows boxes (13 year olds computer, video...Show more →

BTW your iPhone 4 has task/to do list if you would have just upgraded to the latest OS. That was free. Although Apple appreciates you buying the newest phone which really only gives you Siri and a little faster processor.

Dec 03, 2011 at 10:54 AM

Micky Bill
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p.2 #19 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

anthony whitmo wrote:
But these are MY OWN experiences and YMMV

That is the bottom line. Unless there is something new, there really should be a five post limit to all Mac/PC threads. Maybe it mattered ten years ago, it doesn't anymore.

Dec 03, 2011 at 11:51 AM

James Markus
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p.2 #20 · Mac the choice of Pros - Why?

A mac is a pc...trick question...the mac (both hardware and OS) died in the 1990's, Tom. I've used both for decades. Nobody cares what I think, but to distill it down to a single sentence. People that use mac do so because it is a status symbol.

Tom K. wrote:
A cursory look at exif data shows that the vast majority of the worlds best photographers use Macintosh computers for there editing work.

Simple question: Why is that?

Dec 03, 2011 at 01:49 PM

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