Photography has long (and Imean, 50-ish years) been a hobby of mine, and I agree that what you can get from a modern phone is quite astonishing …. in most circumstances. And, it’ll do for most people, most of the time. But there comes a limit. One is macro, another is very long telephotos, a third would be very low light situations, and all three of those, and others, start to show their limits with large sized prints. Of course, that assumes you have a large-sized printer and if you do, you’re an enthusiast or a business already. ;)
As for software, I used PS since about v3 back in the ’80s and no, not pirate versions. I moved from Micrografx Picture Publisher. I wasn’t a photographer as such, but did use it in my business. But I draw the line in the sand, absolutely adamantly, at subscription software. If it was still a business expense …. maybe. But it ain’t. And I might use it intensively for a few days or a week, then not touch it for several months. Subscription? “Bleep”, no.
So I hunted around. Yes, there are free options, including GIMP, and Darktable. At this point, I think we get into the realms of how experienced a user is, how much they’ll use it, and how much of a learning curve they want. That said, PS itself was never exactly learner grade either. Ultimately, for me, it came down to what “clicked” with me. What was powerful enough, and yet, easy enough. It just wasn’t free.
I ended up with Affinity/Serif’s Affinity Photo for an editor, and ACDSee Ultimate, as a Lightroom-type “manager”. Not hugely expensive, perpetual licence (sort-of, with ACDSee) and (IMHO) extremely good, but not super cheap either. A LOT less than PS though.
I think it’s a very subjective choice. Those two, for me, hit the right blend of powerful enough while being easy enough to use. I do know some pro photographers that agree, and dumped Photoshop/Lightroom for them but, be prepared to adapt your workflow. They won’t do everything PS will, especially in a commercial print enviroment, but certainly do everything I need as a hobbyist photo nut.
Would I recommend them? Up to a point. It depends what you need and, also up to a point, whether the UI clicks with you, too. It did with me, and as a one-off (sort-of) I can stomach the price. Will it suit you? All I can say is, if the price isn’t a barrier, then they are both work a good, hard look, for a pixel-peeper/editor, and for a photo management/development tool. From there, you mileage may vary, to mine.
