New lens or new computer?

[Lonewolf]

I'd been thinking about upgrading my 80-200 3.5-5.6 to a 70-200 f4 L.

Then I bought Photoshop Elements 4.0 and reworked my photos from that lens and was amazed at the difference!

So here's the dilema: New lens or Newer and Faster computer and use Photoshop Elements to upgrade my photos with the old lens?

Thanks for your input - Wayne.

[lost]

What are the specs on your computer now?

[Ronald S. Jr.]

Just think...if you were that blown away by the 80-200 just from that difference, imagine what it'd be like having the 70-200 f/4L, which is known for being quite a sharp and colorful piece of glass!

As for the computer, if you don't get a bunch of photos going at once, you shouldn't need a faster computer just for Elements. If you upgrade to CS2, it may be a different story, depending on what your current computer can do.

[Citizensmith]

A new lens, particularly an L will last you for many years. A new computer will just sit there becoming obsolete as fast as it can. If your computer is limiting you ability to get work done due to crashes, and incompatibilities then go the computer way. If it has no trouble with Photoshop Elements though buying a new one isn't going to make the results any better, you'll just get them a little sooner.

Do though go buy either an external hard drive or a DVD burner and back all your photos up. You don't want to loose anything to a dead hard drive.

[Kennymc]

The lens, the lens, get the lens...

My first computer that I bought back in 1991 cost £1000.00, it had a 133Mhz processor, 2Mb of RAM and an 85Mb hard drive, this is now long scrapped as a useless, worthless piece of equipment...

My first 'L' lens was the 200 f/2.8 MkI, it's quite a few years old now, it's still worth a reasonable amount and still takes excellent quality images...

Did I mention get the lens?..

[Nice Glass]

Lens.

[ron chappel]

Unless your current computer is way too slow,go for the lens

[Gerdav43]

The lens, get the lens. Spend more time shooting, not processing. Don't make a so so picture good. Make a good picture......great!.............if it's not already.

[lost]

Talk about uninformed advice. He could be running a 486 dx2 with 8mb of ram. I am waiting to find out what he is running before advising the lens(which would be my first choice).

[Kennymc]

Talk about uninformed advice. He could be running a 486 dx2 with 8mb of ram. I am waiting to find out what he is running before advising the lens(which would be my first choice).

You can't take photographs with a computer, but you can always store the better quality images until you can aford one... Rather than get a good computer and take images that maybe aren't as good a quality as they would like and spend hours processing them on the new computer...

[timmyb]

Any photo editing program will make a considerable improvement to your output.In fact with DSLR it's essential even if you use top L series lenses.If your current computer isn't powerfull enough to run photoshop or paint shop pro then you need a new computer.

[In2Photos]

Talk about uninformed advice. He could be running a 486 dx2 with 8mb of ram. I am waiting to find out what he is running before advising the lens(which would be my first choice).

Not if he is running Photoshop Elements 4.0. I am sure the requirements to run this software are a bit more than that, but I do get your point.

[jjonsalt]

Unless your current computer is way too slow,go for the lens

The best advice, I concur.

[Double Negative]

Upgrade your PC... Get an iMac. :P

No, seriously. If your computer works for you but it just slow, hang on to it a little longer. The lens you'll have for a lifetime. The computer only a few years.

[Citizensmith]

Talk about uninformed advice. He could be running a 486 dx2 with 8mb of ram. I am waiting to find out what he is running before advising the lens(which would be my first choice).

Yeah dude, calm down, the DX2 normally had 16Mb of RAM. :) Well at least mine did.

He said he made edits using PSE and he didn't make any comments about it taking 5 minutes just to open the damn file so we can assume the computer is at least acceptable. Also a few of us added in an "if your computer doesn't suck' clause anyway.

[jjonsalt]

He said he made edits using PSE and he didn't make any comments about it taking 5 minutes just to open the damn file so we can assume the computer is at least acceptable.

Just a bit over an hour to figure that out? When you're hot you're hot.

[aparmley]

Get the lens, take some pics, sell some pics, pay for the new computer with the new lens! ;)

[Chudilo]

Most likely all you need is a memory upgrade and those run relatively cheap. So you can get the computer upgrade AND the lense.

[Citizensmith]

Just a bit over an hour to figure that out? When you're hot you're hot.

Huh? an hour for what?

[cfcRebel]

It's been many hours already. I guess his computer is too slow to even connect to the internet, open a browser, login to POTN, select EF & EF-S forum.... Just j/k. :D

[jngo]

70-200 f4 will run you around 600, what kind of computer can you get with that amount?

[Double Negative]

70-200 f4 will run you around 600, what kind of computer can you get with that amount?
A Mac mini! $599. :D

[cfcRebel]

70-200 f4 will run you around 600, what kind of computer can you get with that amount?This kind.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=145186

Quite a fast computer it seems.

[SuzyView]

What kind of camera do you have?

I have 2-3 year old computers and they are all I can have for now. Consider which you are more in need of.

[Nice Glass]

70-200 f4 will run you around 600, what kind of computer can you get with that amount?
Since he already has a monitor and hard drive, he could get a nice computer for $600. I'd still buy the lens though.

[I Simonius]

I'd been thinking about upgrading my 80-200 3.5-5.6 to a 70-200 f4 L.

Then I bought Photoshop Elements 4.0 and reworked my photos from that lens and was amazed at the difference!

So here's the dilema: New lens or Newer and Faster computer and use Photoshop Elements to upgrade my photos with the old lens?

Thanks for your input - Wayne.

you can upgrade a (or borrow or use another's) computer but you need that lens NOW
Look at my eyes, not round the eyes, not round te eyes, look right in my eyes...
you need the lens...you need the lens..you need the lens...:D

[Citizensmith]

70-200 f4 will run you around 600, what kind of computer can you get with that amount?

Check the ads in your local paper. $600 spent at bestbuy or dell will get you a reasonably decent system. No gaming rig, but fine for photography. Not sure about the macmini thing though. Buying a computer that was obsolete when it first hit the market wouldn't be a good move. :) Actually, does the mac mini even qualify as a computer?

[steved110]

If you were pleased with elements 4 on your current PC - then there is no real need to upgrade just for photographic reasons - make your decision on things like, how old your set up is, how much RAM, how much hard drive space, how fast, does it run current software well? I would guess it is good enough.

Get the lens. You know you want to!

[Master-9]

Not sure about the macmini thing though. Buying a computer that was obsolete when it first hit the market wouldn't be a good move. :) Actually, does the mac mini even qualify as a computer?

Mac mini At a Glance

* 1.5GHz Intel Core Solo or 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo processor
* Apple Remote with Front Row
* Up to 2GB memory4
* Intel GMA950 graphics processor
* DVI connector, VGA adapter
* Slot-loading optical drive
* Up to 120GB hard drive4
* Built-in gigabit Ethernet
* Analog and digital audio
* Expansion via USB and FireWire
* iLife ’06, Mac OS X Tiger

[Double Negative]

The Mac mini was just rev'ed a week or two ago. Master-9 posted the specs. It's not a gamer's box with that video card, nor is a screamer on the file system (notebook hard drive)... But everything else is pretty choice, considering the price. Think of it as a boxy iBook.

I have the older G4 version, and it's no slouch either. In fact, my only realy complaint is the lack of Gigabit Ethernet in this version. My main desktop, a G4 tower is only 867MHz and I use it every day just fine. The mini is nearly twice as fast, at 1.42GHz. Hmm. Why *aren't* I using the mini...

It would make a very nice Photoshop workstation for cheap, IMO. Plus it comes with iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD - you could do a lot with that software. Word of caution though, Photoshop hasn't been updated yet to run native on Intel Macs. You're forced to run it under Rosetta. It works fine - but if you USE Photoshop, it's not worth it yet. Wait for the update.

[Citizensmith]

$600 was the mentioned price and therefore this is all you get (according to the apple web site). Acceptable if it was laptop but it isn't. Lets face it it doesn't even come with a screen.

1.5GHz Intel Core Solo processor (2MB L2 Cache 667MHz Frontside Bus)
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
60GB Serial ATA hard drive
Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote

Anyway I guess my point was Apple make some great systems, but the mac mini always seems to have been pretty castrated.

[Lonewolf]

...HP Pavillion 531 w. It's running at 1.3 Ghz.

When it's time to get a new computer I'll be dedicating it to photography only.

Thanks to all for the input...very helpful.

PS: Think I'll go for the L.

[Master-9]

Review: Apple Mac mini
For PC Magazine, Joel Santo Domingo gives the new Mac mini four out of five stars, stating, “And because the Intel Core Duo is found inside, this mini should be just as appealing to traditional Windows-based PC users as to diehard Macheads.” [Mar 08, 2006]

[85lesabre]

Take a look at the new Macbook, it's got some pretty nice features!!

[lost]

...HP Pavillion 531 w. It's running at 1.3 Ghz.

When it's time to get a new computer I'll be dedicating it to photography only.

Thanks to all for the input...very helpful.

PS: Think I'll go for the L.

Yeah that 1.3 will still run decent. Just make sure it can breath (enough RAM).


Go for the L and enjoy.

[Nice Glass]

“And because the Intel Core Duo is found inside, this mini should be just as appealing to traditional Windows-based PC users"

Not sure why.

[kram]

Well, my PC replacement decision happened after the 70-200F4 purchase:) But seriously, to me, there is nothing more irritating than taking snaps and not be able to work on them coz the comp. sucks.

Its like shooting roll after roll without a dark room worth talking about. If your comp. sucks, dont think twice - get the comp.

Actually, in a way its a moot question coz once you decide one way, the other will be such a huge bottleneck you will shell out some more and finish it :)

[Master-9]

Take a look at the new Macbook, it's got some pretty nice features!!

http://images.apple.com/macbookpro/images/designcontentopenlap20060109.png
MacBook Pro At a Glance

* 15.4-inch widescreen display
* Up to 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo
* 667MHz frontside bus and main memory
* PCI Express architecture
* Up to 120GB Serial ATA hard drive
* ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with up to 256MB memory on 16-lane PCI Express
* ExpressCard/34 slot
* Dual-link DVI, VGA adapter included
* One FireWire 400 port, two USB 2.0 ports
* Optical digital and analog audio I/O, built-in microphone and stereo speakers
* Slot-loading SuperDrive
* Illuminated keyboard, Scrolling TrackPad
* Built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11g), Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, and Gigabit Ethernet
* Mac OS X Tiger with iLife ’06 featuring iWeb, iWork ’06 trial, and more

[Kennymc]

Ah Master-9! I see from your signature you already have the 70-200 L f/4 so the choice for you would be simple... ;)

[Double Negative]

The MBP is a sweet laptop. I have the 17" PB now... Portable darkroom. :D

[Master-9]

Ah Master-9! I see from your signature you already have the 70-200 L f/4 so the choice for you would be simple... ;)


Glass before sillicone waffers :D

[I Simonius]

The MBP is a sweet laptop. I have the 17" PB now... Portable darkroom. :D
I too have the 17" and am glad I bought that and my desktop (G5 dual) before the change to intel as apparently CS2 doesn't run natively with Intel but has to go through some emulation deal first - anyway it (CS2) runs slower so Im told

[nadtz]

I went from a 1.6 ghz system to a 2.8. I got the new system from dell for about $300 shipped when they were having one deal or another and got extra ram for it later. For a total of about $450 this box is markedly faster at photohop/raw processing (increase in ram bus speed and HT alone made it worth it) and since I had monitor and OS already I didnt need to purchase these (my old system is now m freebsd backup server that lives in the util closet). though I never really took th time to benchmark the time difference, I often have 50-100 pictures after weekend events to go over and the process is much less painful on the new system.

Just a quick look at dell's small biz section shows the SC430 at $449 with a free processor upgrade to 3.0ghz. For memory you can do one of the various upgrades or get memory after market (and save money) and have a nice system that will run well, has various upgrade options (not sure on video options, the SC420 which I own had a 'non standard' pcie slot that could be hacked) that will last you a good few years before you even had to worry about upgrading. If you are going through less photos on a regular basis then the lens might be the overall better 'right now' choice, but believe me, you wont be dissapointed if you upgrade your other neccasary set of hardware.

[tbrasington]

If you bought a decent pc now with a good spec it could last you just as long as your lens. That is if you only want to use it for touching up photos. If that is the case I would get an iMac. If you are a student you can get a good discount on them. If you aren't a student maybe you have a family member who is and you can get them to order it.

Also I would go for an external hard drive over dvd back ups as they have a tendency to break or get corrupted. They have about 2 years life of safety before things get risky. But it is advisable to also have them on dvd as well incase in the unlikely event your hard drive breaks.

Buying a solid desktop pc now will last you a long time if you only want it for photographic needs. If you also have gaming desires it won't last as long.

It also depends on your needs. If photography is your living the lens would be better probably. These are always hard choices as they are a lot of money. Just a case of saving for both!

[JennB]

Just because this is a photography forum, I would suggest purchasing the lens.;) If you posted this in a computer forum, I'm sure they'd say otherwise.:) Your computer outfit seems substantial enough. If you said that it was ancient, then I would definitely go for new computer equipment.:)

[tdaugharty]

I've been looking for ways to bring a MAC G5 home. I've got CS2 but it doesnt work well on the Intel MAC so I'll just wait. So my point to your post is nothing except I "want" a MAC to go along with these pricy pieces of glass ;)