do you use photo mechanic? - DPChallenge Forums

Sony Sonnar T* 35mm F2.8 ZA

07/05/2021 11:21:31 AM · #1

This came up in my searches for a better way to organize photos.

Do you use it? Do you have an opinion?

Thanks!

salmiakki

Sony Alpha a7R III

07/05/2021 12:07:53 PM · #2

I've not used it personally, but I've heard a couple of wedding/photojournalist photogs I know talk about it. It's not an editing software, just an organisational tool and as far as I understand (having had a discussion about it) it's really quick to import, sort, keyword etc. Much much faster than LR or other tools.

07/05/2021 12:39:06 PM · #3

Originally posted by salmiakki:

It definitely is faster than lightroom. LR takes so long to render photos that if you're looking at 1200 photos, it's painful. Photo Mechanic is immediate. I'm trying the 30 day free trial, but I haven't really dug into learning it. It's not all that intuitive, though it's easy to do the basics. I was just wondering if it was worth actually learning it. :)

glad2badad

DJI Mavic Air 2

Sears 55mm f/1.4 M42

07/05/2021 01:39:23 PM · #4

The scary part in switching is ALL of the time and effort it takes to update a new library. And then, you hope that whatever you're using is still viable 5 or 10 years from now.

I made that mistake once and had spent a ton of time keywording everything using a proprietary Sony software app that came bundled with their cameras (years ago) only to have them change it so much that (well, long story - let's just say I've never recovered all of time and work yet).

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70 f2.8 L IS

07/05/2021 02:51:22 PM · #5

Haven't used it either... note that *any* library programs that seem to be really fast on RAW files compared to Lr are that way because they use the embedded JPEG image for the initial display. The upshot of this is that you will see what the camera shot, in the picture style that the camera used.
Not saying Lr is a speed demon, it is not. But it is essentially hardware-limited. the better (faster) hardware you have, the less it drags. There are also optimizations that can be done to improve Lr speed.

bob350

Fujifilm XF 10-24mm f/4 R IOS

Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM

07/06/2021 10:16:09 AM · #6

When I point PM to a memory card newly inserted in the card reader, I can quickly review all the images and eliminate obvious failures that are not even worth importing at all. The browser in PM works off the embedded jpg of raw files, so this is very quick.

But the biggest advantage of PM for me has been the automation using variables as placeholders. I enter a �job� description (short reminder of main idea of the shoot), select a metadata template stored for my common locations (or a mostly empty one if elsewhere), add any information common to all the images, select the images I want to keep, and click on �ingest from selection.�
PM then:
� Makes a new folder to receive the images from the shoot (and makes any needed parent folders so I always have a year folder that contains yyyymm folders which contain yyyymmddjob folders for each shoot). That used to be a time-consuming, tedious manual process.
� Makes a new folder on a separate external drive to receive the untouched originals.
� Ingests the photos quickly to both my image drive and the archive drive. While ingesting it renames each image to eliminate duplicate file names and assure chronological sorting in the file system and adds my copyright information (with current year a variable so I don�t have to remember to update each year), along with location data and other metadata from the template.
� When ingestion finishes, I go to Lightroom and synchronize the folder to get the images into the LR library. I generally apply hierarchical keywords within LR, but only after additional culling.

PM has powerful automation that I don�t use, but that sports and event photographers find useful, where it is possible to set up a table matching generic abbreviations (mob for mother of the bride, etc., or jersey number for sports) to specifics of the particular event or game (e.g.: mob = Mary Doe, 14 = Sammy Doe, outfielder, etc.). Entering short abbreviations allows autocompletion to put useful metadata in the appropriate fields. This normally would be done after further culling rather than on initial ingestion.

PMplus has cataloging functions that I have not yet used. It also has extensive automation capabilities that I have not touched. But it was worth the purchase price for lazy me just to have the automated ingestion so easy to do.

markwiley

Fujifilm X-Pro2

07/06/2021 04:40:59 PM · #7

I use Photo Mechanic but at the most basic level. I like it a lot. I just use it to transfer images from a card to a folder it sets up. Scrolling through the images is super quick, and I will rate the ones I like. If I find one I like to work on, I hit "E" and it opens the image in Photoshop (or the editor of your choice). There is so much more I should be doing with it (much like my usage of PS).

07/07/2021 05:32:19 PM · #8

Thanks -- that's helpful. I think I'll do more digging. My new Sony takes CFexpress A type cards, and lightroom doesn't recognize them as removable media -- it shows up as a hard drive. And so when I try to import the photos, it just wants to import them to the current hard drive (in that case the CFexpress card). I'm really worried that I'll mess up and accidentally erase the card thinking that I've imported it. When I've only imported it on to itself. :(

So since I needed a new workflow, I'm looking at more possibilities.

bob350

Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM

07/07/2021 07:51:52 PM · #9

Photo Mechanic offers a free 30 day trial. That might be long enough to do a good evaluation of how well it might fit your needs.