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Choosing a Computer System for Digital Imaging
ATA drive, the system sometimes slows down or nearly freezes for a second before
you get control back, and this lack of responsiveness can be annoying. I've changed
computers a few times over the years, and once I looked at transfer rate/seek time/
etc and "deduced" that SCSI wasn't worth it. It's the only computer-buying decision
I've ever regretted.
By the way, forget benchmarks : they don't give any relevant information. The only
way to judge a computer's speed is to actually use it to do the work you have to do.
-- Serge Boucher, January 4, 2004
ARCHIVAL LIFE: One should be aware that archival life is dependent on BOTH
ink and paper types. For instance, prints from my canon i965 fade very quickly
when printed on standard canon paper. However, when printing on Ilford papers,
fading is much less of a problem. I've had photos on my wall (not under glass) for
about 6 months now with no visible fading - hopefully this will last. One should
also not place the blame entirely on the printers. Be careful where you keep your
photos; for instance, keeping them near a fridge or laser printer may result in severe
fading due to high ozone levels. Equally, keep photos away from air conditioning
and direct sunlight. Even lab photos will fade readily if not looked after.
Also worth noting is that the prints I get from my humble inkjet are very difficult to
distinguish from lab prints. Given this, the benefit of having your own printer that
you know really well should not be underestimated - it provides so much more
control than the average lab. IMHO any standard of digital photographer should
have an decent inkjet (or equiv) even if only to provide proofs.
-- Fergus Kane, April 3, 2004
On the archival media side, don't overlook magnetic tape - whetever DAT/DDT or
DLT. While it is much more expnsive than just getting a CD-RW drive, the media
is much more archival oriented than CD-R / CD-RW is ever going to be. It also
comes in large media (starting in 10 - 15GB per tape).
If you *are* going the CD-R / CD-RW route, you should absolutely read some of
the articles that have recently been published about its potential for not being longlived
at all.
-- Sander Vesik, May 8, 2004
Well these days there is a program out there that will let a linux/unix based PC
http://www.photo.net/photo/computers (31 of 33)7/3/2005 2:19:07 AM