Re: [Leica] questions on computer for photo work

[Dave Yoder <leica@home.com>]

I've used Macs for years at my newspaper for digital work. I just bought the
Epson 1200, too, and I heartily recommend that as the ultimate photo printing
machine for anywhere near that price range.

My impression is that Mac is still the best for this kind of graphics work, and
that the calibration system is far superior to pc. It depends on what size
files you intend to use, too. In my opinion, Macs are about as fast as most
photographers need them to be now. Anything more and you're only saving a few
seconds a day.

If you're going to scan a lot of pictures, save money on the hard drive space
and put it into both RAM and a YAMAHA CD burner. That is by far the most
economical way to save images, and Yamaha is by far the best (we've gone
through a lot of burners at work, and those have obviously been the best for
us). With a CD burner to store your images on CD's, four gigs of hard drive
should be way more than enough. Two should be enough, but seems like most Macs
are coming with four these days.

One final suggestion--there are strong rumors of the G4 coming out in the
spring, with speeds up to 1200 megahertz--what that should mean to you is, when
that happens you'll be able to get a loaded G3 pretty cheap. I'll never need a
1200 speed G4.

Dave Yoder

Doug McLernon wrote:

> I'm sorry to ask such an extended question but I am just starting out in
> digital printing, I've used Leicas for thirty years (currently an M6, M4P
> and a IIIF) and also  enjoy a Contax G2 and a G1. The digital darkroom seems
> the way to go and I am into computer technology.
>
> I am retiring at the age of sixty from Trinity College Dublin to spend more
> time with things I enjoy. As an Economist with an specialisation in
> investment analysis and securities markets, I am on my fifth PC. The
> econometrics and forecasting packages are more readily available through
> academic licensing agreements and I do a bit of number crunching.
>
> The general feeling amongst the Arts faculty people seems to favour Mac over
> PC for Image manipulation. I intend to purchase a Nikon LS2000 and the Epson
> photo printer. Should I change the habits of the past fifteen years and go
> Mac. I shall retain a 166 Pentium for any economic work I may undertake as a
> consultant.
>
> How much hard disc space do you recommend, how much RAM for Photoshop, and
> what processor speed would you buy in a Mac? Of course budget constraints
> enter into to the equation so I am budgeting about $2500 for the computer
> alone.  I do know that the rule "a computer is obsolete as soon as one opens
> the box" holds true-  so  advances will be made monthly. How easy is it to
> update Macs rather than replacing the whole machine? Many thanks for your
> time.
> Regards,
> Doug