Subscription Model

[ejatpa]

Thank You.

EJ

[elianoimperato]

Someone named Dennis wrote this:

"Photo Mechanic is an essential niche for a lot of professional photographers and they recognize its value for their bottom line which is to save time, which is money. Photographers who aren't professionals should maybe find other software that suits their needs and wallet".

He should now that there are a lot of professional photojournalists (like me) and photographers that, unfortunately, are not able to spend more money, even if they are PROFESSIONALS! I'm working for Anadolu, AFP and others but I don't have a Z9, I'm still using a D4s. But I'm a PROFESSIONAL!

I want to tell mine also on another point. A lot of users here are continuing to say that these increase prices need more updates of Photo Mechanic, then they will be happy to pay. For me is a non sense, especially if you're a PROFESSIONAL. Which kind of update you want? Every month? Every Week? Every day? Are you crazy? All the features are enough to do our work and if a software version will not change often will be more stable and stability is essential for a PROFESSIONAL!
Is not necessary to repeat that, for me, the new prices are too expensive. I hope just that for who will buy a perpetual license there will be a not expensive price for the upgrades to the new versions, after one year, or some years, like in the past.

All the best,
eliano

[rhomberg]

Hey there! Just wanted to check back in to see what has happened in the last year or so.

I still use my perpetual license from 2019 and it seems like I am not missing a single feature that would make me want to update. Am I missing something? I thought the subscription model would enable a plethora of features that we can't afford to miss out on.

That last purchase feels like a steal since I am still using a software virtually indistinguishable from the most recent version seven years later. On the other hand I would have felt robbed if I had paid for a subscription and still have basically the same piece of software seven years later. If we would talk 50 to 70 bucks a year max I would find it fair value just to keep the lights on at Camerabits.

Also, Adobe Lightroom development seems to really speed up with batch features that are heavily AI supported. Any plans on that front? Is automatic marking for out of focus shots for example as a very first basic improvement imminent to be released for Photo Mechanic? Or what is the roadmap for new features that will blow things out of the water?

[Claude Diderich]

I recently bought a new license (at the discounted price they offer to "old" software owners) of the latest version of PhotoMechanic when I upgraded to a silicon M5 Mac (from and Intel PC) to get native silicon support (I explicitly did not chose the subscription variant - currently one license is about two years of subscription). To me I mentally added the license cost to the cost of buying a new Mac, as using PhotoMechanic with Rosette will soon no longer be supported by Apple in upcoming OS versions. What I also like in the new version is the field of how to allow/disallow AI to use the image. Without switching computer (and CPU type), I probably would not have bought a new license (as the changes are too limited to warrant the expense).

[Claude Diderich]

Someone named Dennis wrote this:

"Photo Mechanic is an essential niche for a lot of professional photographers and they recognize its value for their bottom line which is to save time, which is money. Photographers who aren't professionals should maybe find other software that suits their needs and wallet".

He should now that there are a lot of professional photojournalists (like me) and photographers that, unfortunately, are not able to spend more money, even if they are PROFESSIONALS! I'm working for Anadolu, AFP and others but I don't have a Z9, I'm still using a D4s. But I'm a PROFESSIONAL!

I want to tell mine also on another point. A lot of users here are continuing to say that these increase prices need more updates of Photo Mechanic, then they will be happy to pay. For me is a non sense, especially if you're a PROFESSIONAL. Which kind of update you want? Every month? Every Week? Every day? Are you crazy? All the features are enough to do our work and if a software version will not change often will be more stable and stability is essential for a PROFESSIONAL!
Is not necessary to repeat that, for me, the new prices are too expensive. I hope just that for who will buy a perpetual license there will be a not expensive price for the upgrades to the new versions, after one year, or some years, like in the past.

All the best,
eliano

I do see it somewhat differently. To me, there are some costs of doing business (being a professional photographer). If I am unable (or unwilling) to pay those costs/spend that money, I cannot successfully do business. To me, owning a fully functional version of PhotoMechanic is part of that cost, the same way as owning two mirrorless cameras (and lenses) allows me to be competitive. What every photographer needs to do business and be "competitive" is subjective (and may or may not include the latest software, as it may or may not include the latest camera).

On the pricing side, I am willing to pay/upgrade if the value added by news features allows me to keep or regain a competitive advantage. For example, if you want to cover Wimbledon Tennis, you need a silent mirrorless camera. Similarly if you client needs certain IPTC fields that are only available in the latest version of PhotoMechanic. As such, timing of releases is less relevant than new features of releases. The decision "buy" versus "subscribe" depends to me on the frequency of new features. Currently, to me the "buy" decision is the better option (as about two years of subscription is the price of one purchase license).