Laptop for (astro) photography editting

[Dan_1981]

Could have asked this question in here or in the computer forum but figured i'd come here first!

I'm playing around with a S50 digital telescope, running it in EQ mode etc and now at the point where I want to start editing images outside of the scope or my phone.

So i'm talking about stacking & editing at least several hundred frames.

My current laptop is about 11 years old and not upgradable either, nor am I looking for a desktop.

I think the sort of spec I should be looking at is 32gb ram, 1tb or storage and a i5 or i7 processor, or a ryzen of similar spec?

As someone that has been out of the laptop scene for along time does that spec sound about right?

Would something like this be suitable?

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/refurbished-hp-pro...

[the-norseman]

Surely a Macbook or Macbook Air is the answer (I'm not a Apple user btw)

[bstb3]

Sounds about right spec wise. 1TB will be enough for the current project(s) you have on the go plus storage of the stacked outputs, as well as the various software for editing, stacking etc. If you are planning on keeping the individual lights, bias frames etc then external storage is plenty cheap enough these days.

In my case I run a 1TB SSD on desktop, with 16GB ram and a ryzen 5600x (which is roughly equivalent to an i7 laptop processor according to AI) and it's perfectly fine for stacking, astro and general photo processing etc. No need for cloud storage, but I do regularly port things onto a 4TB external to keep the main hard drive clutter free.

In terms of windows vs Mac I'd say either would be fine, but I do know that some software is available on one but not both (in both directions) so it can impact that down the line potentially, but it's never been an issue for me (Windows 10).

[Dan_1981]

Never got on board with Apple stuff so happy to stay in a windows environment.... This photo editing malarkey is tricky enough on its own

[geeks]

Largely higher spec is better, I expect that as you are shooting with the S50 Alt-Az then you will have a larger number of subs to stack vs someone like me running 3-5 minute subs on an EQ setup. So with that in mind you want storage and then grunt. in that order. You'll need the storage for the large number of subs and then the CPU for stacking, what software are you using for stacking?

[Dan_1981]

Have a fluid head set up so can run EQ at 30 secs or if I've not aligned and being lazy then yeah just standard alt-Az.

But yeah still talking lots of subs.


Currently having to stack in the scope, plan to move to Siril if I move to a separate solution

[geeks]

Dan_1981 said:

Have a fluid head set up so can run EQ at 30 secs or if I've not aligned and being lazy then yeah just standard alt-Az.

But yeah still talking lots of subs.


Currently having to stack in the scope, plan to move to Siril if I move to a separate solution

Is that the sub length limit for it even in EQ mode?

However I expect you would get better results self stacking. Siril is great but the learning curve is a little steep but achievable. I use Astropixel Processor in the main these days would be happy to run your stuff through it and see what it produces if you like

[Dan_1981]

Yeah 30 sec max even in EQ.

I might well take you up on that when i've gto some decent subs.

Had a go at the Firework Galaxy / NGC 6946 last night but wasn't particularly impressed with the results.

Really wanted to get some time on M42 / Orion but next doors neighbours house is in the way & it never get's high enough at the moment.

[geeks]

Dan_1981 said:

Yeah 30 sec max even in EQ.

I might well take you up on that when i've gto some decent subs.

Had a go at the Firework Galaxy / NGC 6946 last night but wasn't particularly impressed with the results.

Really wanted to get some time on M42 / Orion but next doors neighbours house is in the way & it never get's high enough at the moment.

You're welcome to anytime just let me know.

Not surprised you werent impressed with the results, its not a great target for you.



I'd be looking for big and bright targets if I were you

Cygnus Wall in the North America Nebula


Monkey Head Nebula when its in a slightly better position


Even the Rosette Nebule could be mosiac'd in a couple of evenings

[StevieBee]

Dan_1981 said:

Never got on board with Apple stuff

How long has it been since you had a play with Apple stuff?

Day to day, it comes down to what you like as both platforms do the same thing well but Apple does tend to favour any image based content production and management. You'll also find a far bigger eco-system of add-ons and plug-in tools for Mac compared to Windows but whether that's of use to you depends on how far you're likely to dive into things.

If you've not used one for a while, might be worth a trip to an Apple Store to have a play as the latest operating systems are very, very good.

[geeks]

StevieBee said:

Dan_1981 said:

Never got on board with Apple stuff

How long has it been since you had a play with Apple stuff?

Day to day, it comes down to what you like as both platforms do the same thing well but Apple does tend to favour any image based content production and management. You'll also find a far bigger eco-system of add-ons and plug-in tools for Mac compared to Windows but whether that's of use to you depends on how far you're likely to dive into things.

If you've not used one for a while, might be worth a trip to an Apple Store to have a play as the latest operating systems are very, very good.

From an astrophotography point of view (and as someone who has ready access to both Mac and Windows on decent spec machines) there isn't anything that I have found for one that isn't on the other for Deep Sky stuff. On the planetary side of things there is more for Windows than Mac. Also with the workflows now actually very little is done outside of the the Astro packages such as APP, Siril or Pix. Once you are done in there its just fine tweaks in PS or Gimp, there are some PS plugins for Astro but again both available on Mac and Windows.