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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Why Photo Mechanic?
Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Tucson | AZ | USA | Posted: 2:12 AM on 02.19.05 |
| ->> Hey gang ... After voting in the most recent poll, I see a majority of people that voted use Photo Mechanic as their browser. I would like to learn what advantages there are over, for example, the Photoshop CS broswer, which I use. Is it that much better? What are the benefits? Is it fairly simple to use? I've seen some threads on Photo Mechanic, but a lot of it seems to be aimed at experienced users and its website doesn't offer a lot of comparisons. Any feedback would be apprecited. Thanks |
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Wally Nell, Photographer
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SAN DIEGO (La Mesa) | CA | USA | Posted: 2:18 AM on 02.19.05 |
| ->> My preference is BreezeBrowser. It can do almost everything PM can, and then a little more. Like it can physically rotate images, and can do RAW conversions. PM is nice because of the FTP function, and the fact you can compare images next to each other. Apart from that, my choice is BreezeBrowser. |
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Mike Doran, Photographer
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Petaluma | CA | U.S.A. | Posted: 2:25 AM on 02.19.05 |
| ->> Breezebrowzer Pro is my choice mainly because it is so much more user friendly.I have Photomechanic on my computer as a demo right know.So far Breezebrowzer wins hands down for ease of use.After the demo is over I will let you what I think. |
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Craig Mitchelldyer, Photographer, Assistant
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Milwaukie (Portland) | OR | USA | Posted: 2:35 AM on 02.19.05 |
->> Here are the features of PM I use daily and love. It makes my job much easier.
1) captioning. You can caption photos as you "ingest" or copy the files to the computer. This saves a ton of time on a tight deadline. You can also open up the IPTC field once the photo is saved and make changes quickly or add a caption quickly without having to open the photo in photoshop, go to file info, re save, lose detail, etc, etc, etc
2) Tagging. You can quickly go through and "tag" images to edit, or look closer at, etc. You can copy only your "tags" to another folder and rename/caaption at the same time. Makes editing a breeze
3) Rotating. You can rotate the image on the screen and when you send it to photoshop (cs), it will rotate when opened.
4) Thumbnails load much quicker than in photoshop.
5) You can view the camera exif data and histogram as you look at the images
6) FTP. This feature is so advanced, you can caption, crop, rotate, resize, etc all from PM without ever sending the photo to photoshop. If you are on a tight, tight, tight deadline, you can get the photo from disk to your paper in inder 30 secons or so if your real good.
7) Batch Renaming. A peice of cake with PM. Just select all and rename.
8) Sorting. You can sort by filename, or capture time. I huge saver when you are shooting with 2, 3, or more cameras. You can dump all the files into one folder, and PM will display them, no matter the filename or whcih camera they came from, by the capture time. Of course this makes it important to have all your bodies synced, but it is a great feature.
9) If you shoot in RAW+jpg, it will display only one thumbnail for the two files, its smart enough to know that they are the same.
Anyway, I know I have not even used all the features, but those are the ones I do use and like a lot. |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Tucson | AZ | USA | Posted: 2:42 AM on 02.19.05 |
| ->> Our system here at the office is all Photoshop. Will PM files be compatible? Will the file info from PM drop into the areas in Photoshop where they should? |
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Craig Mitchelldyer, Photographer, Assistant
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Milwaukie (Portland) | OR | USA | Posted: 2:44 AM on 02.19.05 |
| ->> yes. I use PM for captioning on almost every picture I send out to newspapers, wires, etc, etc, etc and they all can read them. If you open a file in PS that was captioed in PM, the info will be in the "file info" |
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Mike Burley, Student/Intern
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Ventura | CA | USA | Posted: 3:28 AM on 02.19.05 |
->> The color coding helps me separate images into primary and secondary edits.
Batch: captioning / renaming / and color profile assigning / re-sizing / emailing
I'm not a user of the other programs, but PM very useful. Maybe one day I'll do the Pepsi challenge...
PS: The PM staff actually hunted me down and answered a question after reading a question I had asked in a thread. VERY helpful. I dont think I have ever gotten customer service like that from any other programmer before... |
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Louis Lopez, Photographer
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Fontana | CA | USA | Posted: 4:15 AM on 02.19.05 |
->> Jeff, Download the program and take advantage of the trial period you will see how it saves you so much time and you can compare the features yourself in your workflow.
And if you need more time they will extend the trial for you, it is a fully functional trial. I used it as a trial for about a month and then I bought it. I found I could not get along without some of the time saving features like ingesting and the batch captioning options, color codeing while editing etc.... |
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Greg Ferguson, Photographer
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Scottsdale | Az | USA | Posted: 4:17 AM on 02.19.05 |
->> PM is not designed to replace Photoshop for editing. It is designed to do what the browser in Photoshop does, only it's designed to do it better, faster, and does more.
The IPTC tagging uses the standard fields that Photoshop does so they transfer across.
One of the biggest strengths of PM is its use of variables when ingesting files.
A variable is one of the EXIF, or IPTC fields, date/time stamps for creation of the file, etc. You can put variables in any field you'd normally enter text, and PM will plug in the appropriate information based on what is in the file.
For instance, my IPTC template for when I'm ingesting photos from a CF card has the original filename and frame count for the image based on what the camera called the file. I put that in so I can search later if I need those, because, I have PM rename my images as they're pulled in. My images are renamed, again using variables, to the date of shooting plus the time, down to a tenth of a second. That way I can glance at a filename, and know what event it came from just by thinking back. And, every file has a unique name so they won't collide if I move them around.
Also, in the IPTC as I'm ingesting photos, I plug in whoever was shooting (me or my wife), and then PM has enough information to plug in the full embedded copyright information using variables. It's very elegant and powerful once you figure it out.
It's also very fast when you're sorting and editing photos. You can view multiple images as thumbnails, zoom in, pan around, mark with a color or tag for later additional processing, then go to the next photo instantly. It's SO much more usable that Photoshop's browser.
And, their tech support is first rate.
It's worth trying out. I was convinced I wanted it within an hour of trying it. |
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Lucas Jackson, Student/Intern
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Ventura | CA | USA | Posted: 4:32 AM on 02.19.05 |
->> Iview Pro also works quite well as a browser and allows several different edits using nothing more than the number keys on your keyborad. It also writes captions much fater to your original files than Photoshop does for some reason (very helpful on deadline). Its a great program and does more than PM or Photoshop IMO.
PM is the industry standard though, it seems that every screen I peek at has that up while browsing. |
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Denny Medley, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Kansas City | MO | USA | Posted: 8:55 AM on 02.19.05 |
->> Jeff,
Like Greg stated, PM isn't designed to replace Photoshop, but it does save tons of time for editing, captioning, cropping, rotating, etc. before opening in PS for levels, sharpening and such. And I feel it has become the industry standard, as well it should.
I also second Mike's comments that the support staff at Camera Bits are absolutely incredible. I had a problem with the last update to PM, they emailed me offline from a post I had made on here. I sent them crash data, and through several emails they fixed the problem (which was not isolated to my PowerBook, but could affect many users), and have fixed that potential problem, as well as many others.
The entire software industry could take some lessons from the developers at Camera Bits - I applaud them (more like a standing ovation!). Not only in this particular instance, but they continue to improve the program's speed, features, and usefullness with every release. This is one company that truly has photographers and editors best interests in mind, and keep those foremost when evolving the PM program. And with the registered version, you'll get free updates for one year. The cost is minimal for what the program provides in speed, ease of use, and overall timesaving in your workflow. I consider it as indispensable as PhotoShop for my workflow! |
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George Bridges, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 10:16 AM on 02.19.05 |
->> Like the other PM users here, I love the captioning and quick tag features available.
I put in a caption shell in PM before an assignment so that when I copy all the files from my camera disk to the computer they are all renamed with the event, let's say "2-11 wizards-magic" so I can look at files later and know when and what by the file names, I put in the caption "wizards vs orlando magic 1st half" so, again I can look at the file in Photoshop or captioning program (KRT uses another browser program for high-volume picturedesk work) and it all transfers around. I also have PM set to copy data into the caption field from the camera so I can later look at files and know the exposure, ISO, lens, mm, etc without having to use PM to look at the files as well to see this data.
PM can also be set (on Macs) to launch and open the camera folder when you inserrt a disk into the computer -- you don't have to find it and hit Open. It just does it.
Also, any tags you put on images in the camera transfer into PM. So when you are at a night game and on deadline you can open the camera disk and immediately look at the images tagged in the camera for a quicker edit. Heck, you can even set PM to import ONLY those images that are tagged if you so desire.
A quick edit is to view only the tagged images, select them all and then to the preview function, click through them one at a time in the enlarged view, use the color tags for the ones you like there, then view onlly that color tag and you're down to the cream of the crop to make your transmits.
As others have said, Dennis at CameraBits is very responsive. If a photographer sends a suggestion and he thinks it merits it and is possible with the programming he'll put it in the next version. |
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Oscar Sosa, Photographer
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Jacksonville | FL | USA | Posted: 12:08 PM on 02.19.05 |
->> Jeff,
I could make a huge post and go into all the details of PM, but the bottom line is that PM cuts my editing and transmitting time in half compared to all the other viewing and converting programs out there. It is so easy to use I've never read the instructions.
The customer service is first-rate. I had problems loading it into my cursed iBook G3, e-mailed Camerabits with a question and they CALLED me on the phone to resolve the problem. Every upgrade they come out with improves the program 10-fold and the upgrades are free.
PM and Photoshop are the two most essential programs loaded onto my harddrive.
Oscar |
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Ryan Van Scotter, Photographer
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Laguna Beach | CA | United States | Posted: 12:33 PM on 02.19.05 |
| ->> Injest and IPTC tagging, the best feature yet! |
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Vasha Hunt, Photographer
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Opelika | AL | USA | Posted: 3:17 PM on 02.19.05 |
->> I tried to work with Photoshop's File browser last night for a basketball assignment on a hyper-fast PC at work - it was torture compared to my day-to-day work with Photomechanic. PM is exponentially faster (and I use a Mac laptop that is probably only half as fast as the above-mentioned PC) at displaying thumbnails. Tagging and color-coding allow very intuitive editing, ingesting and IPTC automation increase timesavings, and the list goes on. I use PM with Photoshop every day and they work together very efficiently.
The service and support staff is the best not just in the software industry - they are the best I have ever experienced anywhere.
Try the free download!
Vasha |
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Wally Nell, Photographer
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SAN DIEGO (La Mesa) | CA | USA | Posted: 3:41 PM on 02.19.05 |
| ->> Jeff,do yourself a favour and at least try BreezeBrowser as well. It does everything mentioned above that are being mentioned of using PM. And it is at a good price. |
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Stanley Leary, Photographer
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Roswell | GA | USA | Posted: 5:46 PM on 02.19.05 |
->> Often I need to put the same ITPC information on many photos and with the PC you just right click, select IPTC Snapshot and select take of the photo you have all the IPTC done on. Then holding the ctrl key and clicking on all the photos you need the same IPTC info then right click on a selected photo, IPTC Snapshot and select paste. You can watch in the left hand corner of status bar it pasting the IPTC in every photo.
Also, you can just right click and copy a photo to a folder. I do this from my main folder to the one I will transmit.
I use Nikon View to ingest and rotate my photos. The PhotoMechanic doesn't do this as well. |
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Jock Fistick, Photographer
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Brussels | Belgium | | Posted: 6:45 PM on 02.19.05 |
->> I am surprised no one has mentioned the find and replace function - if you happen to make a spelling error in any of the IPTC fields - you can use PM to do a find and replace and tell it which IPTC fields to look in - this is very cool!!! I also find the zoom feature very useful for checking critical focus before sending the image to photoshop. And I too tip my hat to the software engineers at CameraBits - a very responsive group.
The addition of find and replace - color tags - being able to view only your selects - background ingests with batch captioning and renaming - PM is now ICC color profile sensitive - handles both JPG and RAW files as one preview and it is so much faster than the PS Browser or iView. The list goes on.....
As for BreezeBrowser - it is Windoze only so I can't make a comparison. |
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Ed Wolfstein, Photographer, Assistant
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Burlington | VT | USA | Posted: 7:03 PM on 02.19.05 |
->> The more I use PM, the more I like it. And I'm always discovering new things - stuff that isn't well documented (let's call it undocumented) by just trying stuff, or reading posts on Rob Galbraith's site.
For example, using "variables" is a powerful part of captioning, but even better is the ability to import XML data with different lists of variables. So if you're shooting one sport (say a college hockey team) you can import an entire list of the players to easily insert into a caption, where necessary. A real time saver, and it also eliminates typos. Then, if you shoot another sport the next day, you can save your hockey XML data, and import another data list for your next shoot. And speaking of spelling, the built-in spell-check is also great.
And as far as tech support goes, no one beats Kirk, and his personal and meticulous responsiveness to the tiniest of issues that may arise.
I could go one about other features, but this has been the latest stuff I've been more than happy with. Anything that makes workflow better/easier/faster is worth the price of admission, and PM is one of those front row tickets!
- Ed. |
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Wally Nell, Photographer
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SAN DIEGO (La Mesa) | CA | USA | Posted: 7:13 PM on 02.19.05 |
| ->> I might just have to try the new and improved PM! |
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Greg Ferguson, Photographer
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Scottsdale | Az | USA | Posted: 7:28 PM on 02.19.05 |
->> Two more points to make about PM...
First, the program is designed to protect your images. Some of the things we're used to doing in Nikon View or Photoshop's browser are destructive or have a higher chance of causing the loss of an image, such as automatically deleting images from a compact flash after downloading, or permanently rotating or cropping an original.
PM, on the other hand, will not delete images from the chip. That you have to do deliberately from outside the program. Matter of fact, PM offers the ability to make a duplicate set of images during the ingest process so you have an automatic backup, just in case.
PM does not rotate the originals, which is similar to Photoshop's browser. Only when you "Save As..." images will PM apply the crop or rotate, which leaves the original version untouched.
That paranoia of theirs was annoying at first, but now I'm glad they are that way. It's a good thing if you ever need to fall back.
The second thing ... dang it, now I forgot ... OH!...
Custom sorting. Not only can you sort by the normal attributes and filename and size and dates, you can build a sort key using the variables, and PM will look into the IPTC, EXIF and file attributes to arrange the files how you need.
Sometimes my wife and I end up with our images dumped into the same folder as we're ingesting files, and the IPTC doesn't get updated with the photographer's name. (I like having the right photographer's name in there 'cause I'm anal, and because I like our customers to know when she's the one who got the shot.)
I do a sort based on the serial number of the camera (Canon and Nikon both have unique numbers for each camera that is part of the EXIF info) and in a few seconds we have both sets of files tweaked. |
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Chris Large, Photographer
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Okotoks | AB | Canada | Posted: 7:29 PM on 02.19.05 |
->> Product support is unequalled. I posted a Pm question a few weeks ago and within the hour had a response for the PM guru at Camara Bits. That speaks volumes for their wanting to keep us happy. I'm sure they're reading these posts right now.
Chris |
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Nik Habicht, Photographer
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Trenton | NJ | USA | Posted: 9:54 PM on 02.19.05 |
| ->> Why PM? You've gotten excellent responses already. If I could afford only one application on my laptop or desktop to deal with editing and transmitting images to clients, that app would be Photo Mechanic. I could live without PS --- before I could live without PM........ |
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Stanley Leary, Photographer
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Roswell | GA | USA | Posted: 9:56 PM on 02.19.05 |
| ->> Latest version is 4.3.3 Have you updated? |
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Chris Large, Photographer
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Okotoks | AB | Canada | Posted: 12:57 AM on 02.20.05 |
->> My post 3 up from this..."I'm sure they're reading these posts right now"........and 10 minutes later I get an email from Kirk the PM guru........"yes we are reading them".......how cool is that.
Chris |
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Greg Ferguson, Photographer
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Scottsdale | Az | USA | Posted: 1:02 AM on 02.20.05 |
->> Kirk is everywhere, knows all and sees all. :-)
He doesn't have an official presence here, though I think it'd be a good thing for the SS gods to arrange a way to have a presence for Camera Bits and any other common tool vendors that we can identify as being significantly important for what we do.
It'd be way cool if Adobe had one of their PS gurus monitoring, along with Apple and Microsoft. I kind of doubt those companies would buy into it though. What Camera Bits does is SO rare in the industry these days. |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Tucson | AZ | USA | Posted: 1:20 AM on 02.20.05 |
| ->> Thanks a lot, gang. I knew I could count on this group to offer an easy-to-understand explanation of this software. Jeff |
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Wally Nell, Photographer
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SAN DIEGO (La Mesa) | CA | USA | Posted: 1:28 AM on 02.20.05 |
| ->> It would be nice if PM had a way of buying online. YOu can download online, but not pay online. |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Tucson | AZ | USA | Posted: 1:29 AM on 02.20.05 |
| ->> Wally, BreezeBrowser appears to be a Windows only program. Won't work on my Mac. |
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Tim Huntington, Photographer
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Santa Clara | CA | USA | Posted: 1:37 AM on 02.20.05 |
->> A very interesting thread. Here's a slightly off-topic (apologies if it seems this is too off-topic) contribution.
I'm looking for three things in a file browser - fast to show images (both in thumbnail and full screen), ability to view images at 100% magnification (again, quickly) and ability to organize images into different folders. I have no current need for what appears to be PM's most prominent asset, IPTC tagging.
I evaluated PM, and it only scored 1 out of 3 compared to some Windows freeware I was already using (its ability to organize images into different folders was strong).
So, if anyone out there is just looking for something that shows thumbnails and full sized images and does it (very) quickly check out EXIF Viewer here: http://home.pacbell.net/michal_k/exif_v.html
I've been using it for a number of years now and haven't found anything that works better for me. If anyone knows of something that beats EXIF Viewer in all three of my criteria, I'm all ears.
regards,
Tim |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Tucson | AZ | USA | Posted: 2:00 AM on 02.20.05 |
->> I am in the process of evaluating PM and Iview. The Iview website indicates you can use the software for a 21 day trial period, but when I attempt to open it, it prompts for a license number. I've tried everything and still will not open. PM opens just fine.
Anyone know why the Iview will not provide the evaluation period as promised? |
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Michael Troutman, Photographer
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Carmel | CA | USA | Posted: 2:02 AM on 02.20.05 |
->> Great thread.
I have yet to find the perfect all-in-one browser for my needs. Photo Mechanic comes closest, and if I had to live with just one, that would be it. My workflow often involves several programs (on XP machines):
1) Windoze Explorer for copying the files onto the HD
2) Nikon View for the *fastest* browsing/deletion of images
3) ACDSee for simplified batch renaming
4) Photo Mechanic for tagging and IPTC editing
5) Photoshop CS for processing/toning
6) Qimage (when necessary) for package printing
Would like to see Photoshop integrate all of this someday in a utility with blazing speed. Would love to see world peace too. |
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Jock Fistick, Photographer
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Brussels | Belgium | | Posted: 11:58 AM on 02.20.05 |
->> Tim:
You wrote:
"I'm looking for three things in a file browser - fast to show images (both in thumbnail and full screen), ability to view images at 100% magnification (again, quickly) and ability to organize images into different folders."
I think PM does all these things - you can view thumbnails of all your images in a contact sheet like browser - preview one image at close to full screen size and then with the push of one key zoom to 100% (200% max) to check critical sharpness - and with the ability to mark groups of images with a color tag you can easily view a specific group of images in one contact sheet - or you can copy sets of images to different folders - all these things are possible - however it is not free and I can not compare it to the freeware you mentioned since I don't do windows :-)
I was a big FotoStation fan but was won over by Kirk when he asked me what FS features I wanted to see in PM - and with in a few months everything I wanted was there - now I don't think this was done just for me - obviously I wasn't the only one asking for these features. I am currently demoing the new OSX version of FS and have to say what an unstable piece of crap - I now prefer the updated version of PM. |
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Greg Ferguson, Photographer
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Scottsdale | Az | USA | Posted: 2:30 PM on 02.20.05 |
->> Currently PM will not automatically sort images into separate folders based on some criteria that you define. That is on their request list and will show up. I remember Kirk mentioning it in some threads on Rob Galbraith's site.
If you use folders in your camera and tell the camera to use a separate folder for each contestant or event, then PM will honor those folders if you tell it to, and will create separate sub-folders in the main download folder. |
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Philip Johnson, Photographer
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Garland | TX | USA | Posted: 2:51 PM on 02.20.05 |
| ->> I was going through a DVD on Photoshop CS Power session last night and everything that can be done in PM can be done in PS. For myself I would rather spend my money on one program and learn all its capablities then spend money on different software packages and never really learning the potential of each software package. I think you need to look at what PS CS really has to offer. They have made some real improvements in it. |
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Michael Troutman, Photographer
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Carmel | CA | USA | Posted: 7:35 PM on 02.20.05 |
->> Well, I've spent the afternoon firing off emails back and forth with Kirk Baker at Camera Bits. After a little coaching there is now no question for me that Photo Mechanic is the best, fastest and most complete image browser *ever*. I was only using it for IPTC editing previously. It brilliantly executes the key things I need for my workflow. Point by point:
1) Image transfer. While somewhat slower than simply copying files off a card onto a HD using Windoze Explorer, it's doing so much more by automatically batch renaming and adding whatever IPTC info one wants. Plus you can copy to two drives at once, creating instant back up. There's no comparison. Bye-bye Explorer.
2) Browsing/editing is blazing fast. The key for me was being able to delete quickly. By holding down the "shift" key ("option" on Mac) while pressing delete the irritating dialog menu is bypassed. This is a small thing that was really huge for me. Plus, being able to tag selects and view images side by side or full size is incredibly powerful. One problem I had was previewing NEF files; by checking the "zoom" box I can preview the embedded JPEG at 100%, which makes a difference in judging sharpness. Kirk indicated to me that full RAW support (including batch conversion) is in the works for a future edition. This would be awesome. And it already recognizes D2X files. Bye-bye Nikon View.
3) Batch renaming folders of images can be done at anytime. Use the Rename command and check the "Sequence" box to rename your pictures. You can use the "Set Sequence..." button to reset and set the format of your sequence. And it's FAST. Bye-bye ACDSee.
4) There is no better program for IPTC editing than PM. It now has built in FTP capability too as most of you know. And probably a zillion more things that I haven't learned yet. There is definitely a learning curve with this program.
5) Images can be sent straight into Photoshop for editing. Why anyone uses the sluggish browser built into CS is beyond me. I do also use Nikon Capture for some of my RAW editing, since it has more capabilities and works better (for me) than the utility built into CS.
6) Well, I still need Qimage for occasional package printing. ~8o)
My only complaint is that Photo Mechanic doesn't have a proper written workflow manual with complete instructions, detailed examples and tricks/tips/hints. But their customer support is absolutely top notch, no question. I'd happily buy the program all over again. Money well spent.
Photo Mechanic is clearly the best! |
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Nik Habicht, Photographer
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Trenton | NJ | USA | Posted: 8:36 PM on 02.20.05 |
->> Philip Johnson wrote: I was going through a DVD on Photoshop CS Power session last night and everything that can be done in PM can be done in PS. For myself I would rather spend my money on one program and learn all its capablities then spend money on different software packages and never really learning the potential of each software package. I think you need to look at what PS CS really has to offer. They have made some real improvements in it.
CS can batch caption and rename on import and ftp now? Gee, I must have missed that.....
Seriously, the value of PM is the speed with which you can perform its functions; yes PS CS can duplicate many of these, but not at nearly the same speed. Add to that that the programmers at CameraBits are possibly the most responsive to the needs of photojournalists, and I think you might get a better idea of the program's value..... |
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Billy Suratt, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Nashville | TN | USA | Posted: 5:02 AM on 02.21.05 |
->> You contact Camera Bits with a problem: they fix it. You contact Adobe with a problem: they've probably never even heard of the program you're using and they won't even tell you *that* until you figure out your Adobe customer number from 10 years ago. The last time I called Adobe was to ask some questions about CS; the guy on the phone had never heard of "curves" or "levels." Sheesh.
Photo Mechanic is fast. Photo Mechanic actually adheres to IPTC standards, so all your metadata will still play nicely with other applications (unlike FotoStation; UGH!).
Variables rock. Multiprocessor support (*two* thumbs/previews drawn simultaneously) rocks. ICC awareness rocks. Batch captioning on ingest rocks. Integrated FTP upload support rocks. The ability to import and export as many or as few of your presets as you like rocks. Zoomable previews rock (especially if you have a fast machine). The fact that the program runs at all on my piece of crap notebook is simply incredible.
It does have a bit of a learning curve, but what software doesn't? Version 3.0 of the manual will probably start shipping with version 5.1 of the software, but I can live with that. Who the hell reads manuals, anyway? lol
I've used FotoStation, FotoStation Pro, Bibble, IMatch, Breeze Browser, IrfanView, iView Media Pro, Canon Digital Photo Professional and probably a few more apps I can't recall offhand. None of them come close to Photo Mechanic in features, file compatibility, speed, ease of use and overall value for the money (though several are still very nice). Cheaper would always be better, but then they couldn't afford to keep paying Kirk's exhorbitant salary. ;-)
And, last but not least, try bitching about a bug in any other program on this board and see if anybody from *that* company contacts you inside of 10 minutes on a weekend to attempt a fix. |
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Greg Ferguson, Photographer
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Scottsdale | Az | USA | Posted: 10:30 AM on 02.21.05 |
->> You know, we've done enough sucking up to Camera Bits on this thread that we should ALL get complimentary life-time serial numbers for Photo Mechanic. :-)
And, I imagine Kirk will have something to say about that next time he emails me. And, now he'll be tempted to NOT email me just because I wrote that too. :-)
Lurking does no good when we know you're out there. :-) |
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Michael Troutman, Photographer
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Carmel | CA | USA | Posted: 3:34 AM on 02.22.05 |
| ->> Great post Billy. I totally agree. Especially your last sentence. Incredible responsiveness. Absolutely incredible. |
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