Laptop for photo editing and WFH

[1961_vintage]

Is there nothing around the £700 mark that fits the bill? I’m hesitant to go into 4 figures. Unless it’s super reliable and would give me several years more use than something 3 or 4 hundred quid cheaper.

A Macbook pro with Elements for your photo processing will give you 5 years of reliable, hassle-free computing.

 

[crublue1]

Is there nothing around the £700 mark that fits the bill? I’m hesitant to go into 4 figures. Unless it’s super reliable and would give me several years more use than something 3 or 4 hundred quid cheaper.

Advise to any one... do not get serious about photography as a hobby unless you are wadded! Already have photography gear worth £3-4k but it took me forever to build it up. Then you need a laptop that’s over a grand too, to run the software. Expensive thing to enjoy!

Why don't you just take your films to boots? It's much cheaper than developing them yourself. And they put a little sticker on the prints if you've fucked up.
Seriously though mate, what gear you using?
I know what you mean about the costs, I got back into photography a while back, I'd never owned a digital slr, took me ages to relearn, I like dials and buttons not menus. I haven't got into light room yet but I know it's just a matter of time.

 

[Tricky_Trev]

Why don't you just take your films to boots? It's much cheaper than developing them yourself. And they put a little sticker on the prints if you've fucked up.
Seriously though mate, what gear you using?
I know what you mean about the costs, I got back into photography a while back, I'd never owned a digital slr, took me ages to relearn, I like dials and buttons not menus. I haven't got into light room yet but I know it's just a matter of time.

The mad thing is the gear I have is not even top end. Yet it still mounts up. I have a Nikon D7200, had it a few years now. Got 5 lenses, a couple of which were £800 and £600 a piece from memory. I love landscape photography, so got two tripods, one heavy duty and one lightweight, got high quality Lee ND filters, polariser, graduated filters etc, 2 different camera bags, large SD cards, spare batteries. But it’s possible to spend tens of thousands on all that to be top end, professional gear. I just started off with cheap gear that I was bought when younger and as I learned more, I became so frustrated with the limitations of the equipment I had, so year by year I’ve added to what I’ve got. Now I’m here contemplating another grand to drop on a laptop to handle the post-processing side. Expensive hobby, but I bloody love it. I gave up my seasoncard to get more gear and to fund trips/hikes etc.

 

[1961_vintage]

The mad thing is the gear I have is not even top end. Yet it still mounts up. I have a Nikon D7200, had it a few years now. Got 5 lenses, a couple of which were £800 and £600 a piece from memory. I love landscape photography, so got two tripods, one heavy duty and one lightweight, got high quality Lee ND filters, polariser, graduated filters etc, 2 different camera bags, large SD cards, spare batteries. But it’s possible to spend tens of thousands on all that to be top end, professional gear. I just started off with cheap gear that I was bought when younger and as I learned more, I became so frustrated with the limitations of the equipment I had, so year by year I’ve added to what I’ve got. Now I’m here contemplating another grand to drop on a laptop to handle the post-processing side. Expensive hobby, but I bloody love it. I gave up my seasoncard to get more gear and to fund trips/hikes etc.

Maybe rationalise your kit to generate some extra funds for your laptop? Do you use all 5 lenses for example?

 

[decmancity]

Check out the Dell outlet mate, can often find some good deals. There is a model on there now,
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/dfh/shop/dell-refurbished/cp/outlet

Inspiron 14” 3000
I7 10th gen
512gb SSD
8gb RAM (Can upgrade this to 16gb pretty straight forward)

£595 + vat. Can add on additonal warranty etc for peace of mind.

14" so portable if you need to take out and about but If you have the space at home then get a monitor, decent keyboard and mouse and then just hook up your laptop. Sorted.

 

[yeseye]

@TCIB is a man in the know I reckon

 

[Tricky_Trev]

Maybe rationalise your kit to generate some extra funds for your laptop? Do you use all 5 lenses for example?

It’s an option yeah. There isn’t one that I rarely use, but there are workarounds. I could get rid of my ultra wide angle lens and instead take multiple photos and stitch them together on the computer when I want something outrageously wide angle.

 

[crublue1]

The mad thing is the gear I have is not even top end. Yet it still mounts up. I have a Nikon D7200, had it a few years now. Got 5 lenses, a couple of which were £800 and £600 a piece from memory. I love landscape photography, so got two tripods, one heavy duty and one lightweight, got high quality Lee ND filters, polariser, graduated filters etc, 2 different camera bags, large SD cards, spare batteries. But it’s possible to spend tens of thousands on all that to be top end, professional gear. I just started off with cheap gear that I was bought when younger and as I learned more, I became so frustrated with the limitations of the equipment I had, so year by year I’ve added to what I’ve got. Now I’m here contemplating another grand to drop on a laptop to handle the post-processing side. Expensive hobby, but I bloody love it. I gave up my seasoncard to get more gear and to fund trips/hikes etc.

I've got the d5300, which seemed like a good choice price wise as I wasn't sure if I'd like digital photography. I have spent a bit on glass though, I've got the sigma 10-20 f3.5 and the nikkor 17-50 f2.8 Both fast and pin sharp. I've also got the mikro nikkor 40mm which was not the best purchase it's too short a focal length for a macro, but it does make a good all day prime. I'll be selling that and getting the longer one. Add to that 3 zooms covering 55- 300 and it all adds up. I was out in the garden trying to shoot squirrels today and I found myself thinking I need a 400mm lol.
I've got a manfrotto travel which seems a good compromise.
I've still got my old f4s which is like a house brick compared to the new stuff!

 

[Tricky_Trev]

I've got the d5300, which seemed like a good choice price wise as I wasn't sure if I'd like digital photography. I have spent a bit on glass though, I've got the sigma 10-20 f3.5 and the nikkor 17-50 f2.8 Both fast and pin sharp. I've also got the mikro nikkor 40mm which was not the best purchase it's too short a focal length for a macro, but it does make a good all day prime. I'll be selling that and getting the longer one. Add to that 3 zooms covering 55- 300 and it all adds up. I was out in the garden trying to shoot squirrels today and I found myself thinking I need a 400mm lol.
I've got a manfrotto travel which seems a good compromise.
I've still got my old f4s which is like a house brick compared to the new stuff!

Nice! I have the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and Sigma 50-100 F1.8, which are my two favourites. I can’t even comprehend how sharp they are, they are unreal. Then have the Nikkor 70-200 f4 VR, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 and a ‘nifty fifty’ prime lens. A couple of them I got used, but there’s been no issues with them at all.

There’s always another lens you need. It gets addictive!

 

[crublue1]

Nice! I have the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 and Sigma 50-100 F1.8, which are my two favourites. I can’t even comprehend how sharp they are, they are unreal. Then have the Nikkor 70-200 f4 VR, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 and a ‘nifty fifty’ prime lens. A couple of them I got used, but there’s been no issues with them at all.

There’s always another lens you need. It gets addictive!

Ooh lovely, I have serious glass envy. And I thought I had some decent kit! I bought my body second hand, low shutter count and mint so no worries there. I used to buy second hand kit all the time. Nikon gear tends to last, even if it looks battered it's usually optically ok.
What's the tokina like? I've heard mixed reviews?