Configuring a MacBook for Dive/Photography Travel

[Steve Williams 0]

Hey folks,

I need some help choosing/configuring a new laptop. I’ve been a PC user for years but I had a chance to use my son's MacBook on our last trip and I think it’s time to make the conversion. I love the Retina display and the whole feeling of an integrated system. I have to tell you that the last time I owned a Mac it had a II in the model number, it’s been a while, so I’m pretty clueless in defining my new laptop.

 

I want a travel machine that will process my 5DMkIII images and video quickly in Lightroom while running Photoshop occasionally. I’m OK with the weight of 13“ Mac Book Pro. Left to my own devices I’m thinking;

 

· 2.6 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 Processor

· 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3L RAM;

· 256 GB PCIe-based Flash Storage

· 13.3-inch IPS Retina Display, 2560-by-1600 resolution

 

Do you guys think that will do the processing I need on trips? I’ll have my I7 quad core machine at home to do any really heavy lifting like video editing. What would you upgrade or balance differently?

 

Cheers,

Steve

[DecidedlyOdd 3]

I can't speak to the MacBook Pro, but I have a Surface Pro 3 that's more comparable to a MacBook Air (mobile 1.9GHz i5 with 8GB of RAM). Obviously, a more powerful desktop runs faster, but I find it works fine for processing photos in Lightroom on a trip or at home. The beefier MacBook Pro should perform even better.

 

You may be able to find a demo computer in an Apple store running Aperture to get a sense of performance too.

[adamhanlon 0]

Steve,

 

I would up the size of the drive ("Flash based storage") significantly. I have 1TB and although it isn't by any means full, it gives me the option of storing stuff on it when I need to (all my images are downloaded onto external drives). 256gb will not be enough....

 

Lightroom is also RAM hungry-the more you can get, the better it will run.

 

Personally, I find the 15" is an acceptable compromise between screen size and portability.

 

Factor in the cost of some external drives that are Thunderbolt/USB3 compatible.

 

I love mine!

 

Adam

[Scuba_SI 39]

We have top spec MBP 13 and 15, latest generation. We got the 13 first and I really like it. Just got the 15 for Xmas and it's a bit snappier than the 13. However it's quite a bit heavier.

 

I'd be happier with the 13 for a lot of the travel I do as my carry-on is always super heavy. For editing pictures both are great. We have an 11 inch mac book air for non-diving travel and it's amazing for emails and doable for light editing. We sold a 13" air as at that size you might as well get the MBP.

 

If you want small and light... hold on for the next generation air.

[Steve Williams 0]

Thanks guys,

I appreciate the thoughts. Gives me something to think about. I'll head out to the Apple Store and compare. I really wasn't ready to spend the kind of money a full spec machine costs. I'm still trying to save up to house my 5D MKIII,

Guess, I'm trying to find the sweet spot between cost and functionality.

 

Simon, do you have a good website for tracking Apple rumored upgrades? I hadn't seen anything about the next gen air.

 

Cheers,

Steve

[TimG 62]

Hey Steve

 

I've got an iMac at home but use the same spec MacBook you are considering for my travel laptop.

 

It's my third MacBook, I bought it in April and I've very pleased with it. I'm running the latest version of LR with no problems. I looked at the Air version but the new Retina MacBooks weigh so little more than the current Air that it made more sense, I thought, to go MacBook Pro rather than Air. No regrets at all on the decision.

 

I'm using 256GB of SSD. So far my longest trip has been 10 days and that has proved no problem with the drive size which I also copy on to an external hard disk. I'm heading out to Bonaire for 3 weeks fairly soon and that may be more of a challenge! I'm just hoping Adam is not spot on with his 1TB

 

The MBP is pretty light weight for travelling and I've found the 13" screen fine for checking images. But it's nice to get them back to the 27" iMac

[Scuba_SI 39]

No website. Just a gut feeling. I was holding on for it and gave in for 15" Typically that means what I was waiting for is about to be released.

[denniscloutier 2]

My wife has the 13" MBP with the 256 GB drive and I have the 15" with the 500 GB drive, both late 2012 machines. They both work very well. The 256 GB drive isn't big enough to store her whole catalog, so we set it up with a travel catalog and move everything over when we get home. The smaller machine is a little slower than mine, but it works fine for travel using both Lightroom and Photoshop.

[Tom_Kline 137]

Steve, check out these two links:

http://www.macrumors.com/mac/

http://appleinsider.com/

Looks like there have been some recent price reductions probably due to the recent changes in exchange rate in our favor (for a change!).

I am also looking into the 13"MBP, what is particularly attractive is the long battery life as I will be using it quite a bit driving around the state without AC power (other than the vehicle)

Tom

do you have a good website for tracking Apple rumored upgrades? I hadn't seen anything about the next gen air.

[Drew 0]

I agree with Adam. Pay for the 1TB upgrade, especially if you are going to shoot RAW video on the 5D3.

I also think you need to consider the Retina resolution on the 13" MBP makes text VERY small. If you don't have good eyes/corrective eyewear (presbyopia etc), software menus can be tough to read. The 15" has that extra bit of real estate. I definitely agree with your idea of going to an Apple Store to view the screens with the intended software.

 

 

[Steve Williams 0]

Thanks guys,

I hadn't thought about the video requirements Drew, The last trip when we used my sons MCP we didn't process any video on the boat and the 1TB wasn't an option for the 13.3 system on the Apple website I was looking at. Another reason to reconsider the 15. Time to head to the Apple Store. I appreciate all your help.

 

Cheers,

Steve

[coinee 17]

One thing to consider is that external harddrives are a LOT cheaper than internal upgrades on Macs, and with new Macbook Pros (even Airs, but don't get that for editing, too slow) you get the Thunderbolt adapter, which is very fast - faster than any hard disk you can currently get. You could get something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236699&cm_re=thunderbolt_hard_drive_enclosure-_-22-236-699-_-Productand never worry about travel storage again, 4 times the storage of the largest internal drive at half the price. 233MB/s is also very reasonable for photo editing.

 

There's the additional bonus of it being usable on a new Mac, should you ever need one, and not being in the weird proprietary format for built in flash storage that Apple uses. And you could get a 13" Mac, which I consider to be enough for travel editing.

[thetrickster 328]

I used to travel with my 15" Retina (i7 8GB etc etc)

 

But I got the new/current 11" Air (basic model too). It edits 4K video (make rough cuts - discard the rubbish - not applying multiple effect ) edits RAW files - yes not as quick as my 15" but nippy enough, that I never think 'gee..come on'!

 

As stated above, I use external storage and its lighting quick. (plus a USB3.0 SD Card Reader - its copies stuff off that rapidly)

 

Plus the weight - does make a difference!

[Vondo 28]

Hey folks,

I need some help choosing/configuring a new laptop. I’ve been a PC user for years but I had a chance to use my son's MacBook on our last trip and I think it’s time to make the conversion. I love the Retina display and the whole feeling of an integrated system. I have to tell you that the last time I owned a Mac it had a II in the model number, it’s been a while, so I’m pretty clueless in defining my new laptop.

 

I want a travel machine that will process my 5DMkIII images and video quickly in Lightroom while running Photoshop occasionally. I’m OK with the weight of 13“ Mac Book Pro. Left to my own devices I’m thinking;

 

· 2.6 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 Processor

· 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3L RAM;

· 256 GB PCIe-based Flash Storage

· 13.3-inch IPS Retina Display, 2560-by-1600 resolution

 

Do you guys think that will do the processing I need on trips? I’ll have my I7 quad core machine at home to do any really heavy lifting like video editing. What would you upgrade or balance differently?

 

Cheers,

Steve

I have more or less this laptop as my travel laptop. While 8GB of RAM is fine for now, I think, I'd consider upping it to 16GB if you can. You probably also want more storage. I only store what I'm working on (a couple of trips at a time) on the laptop, but 512GB is nice for that. If you can get 1TB, that's great.

 

The CPU is acceptable for me. Rendering my 1:1 previews for 200 images takes maybe a half an hour(?). I spend that time changing batteries, showering, etc. Once that's done, LR is quite snappy on the machine.

 

I really like the new 13" Retina. The 15" is nice too.

[JamesR 26]

My Mac has 16GB RAM and the 1TB SSD....bought from B&H as $500 off bc it's one model spec old. I would check around outside the Apple store.

 

I run Adobe CC (Lightroom and PS only) and it works well, both at home and travel.

[bvanant 189]

Steve:

That is what we travel with. It run LR and Photoshop just fine and Nannette edits trip videos on it in FCPX and that is much more processor hungry than any still photo use. Don't worry about the 8GB ram but 16 will be a tad faster (not terribly noticeable in LR or PS but it makes rendering video way nicer). You have to buy the ram upgrade up front; I think adding ram is not terribly easy after purchase on the Retina display version (RAM is soldered in, not socketed). Don't worry about the 256GB drive either, just get some external 2 TB drives and even you can shoot away.

 

Cheers and Happy New Year

Bill

[Steve Williams 0]

Thnaks for all the advice guys, I'm amazed by the availability of amazing computing power and inexpensive memory.

 

We live in interesting times!

 

Cheers,

Steve

[Scuba_SI 39]

New Mac Air rumours surfacing. Not looking good for photography.

[thetrickster 328]

Why that's you reckon?

 

Edit:

 

I've just had a look at the 9to5mac website and I'm not sure I believe all of it.

 

The 12" has been rumoured for a while. But things I can't believe.

 

Only 1 USB Type-C. Can't see it. Unless they ship you a free dongle/adaptor to use your iPhone with it.

No Thunderbolt? No way would they ditch that. I would to be honest think they would put the new faster Thunderbolt2 on it.

 

No SD card reader, yeah I can still being missing. Like on the 11"

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited January 7, 2015 by thetrickster

[Scuba_SI 39]

Think 12" ipad with keyboard I guess. Most people don't use an air for photography. And the new iPhone all sync over wifi and bluetooth. As do a lot of cameras. Thunderbolt 2 would require a more robust architecture and strong processor.. I doubt they could fit the battery in.

 

Perfect for a bit of work on the train home though. Or sat on the couch.

[Walt Stearns 51]

One of the first things I do when setting up a new notebook, in my case a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a 500 GB SSD, is partition the hard drive. A 110 GB allocated space for the operating system and all the apps like Photoshop I am going use in the first partition, leaving the second half the drive exclusively for file storage - images, video, documents. It makes it easy to find everything, not to mention keeping the system running smoother.

[Steve Williams 0]

Thanks Walt! My new machine is supposed to arrive this week so your timing is perfect. I'm still reading up and watching videos on how the Finder works.

 

Cheers,

Steve

[Walt Stearns 51]

Steve, you find Finder is really simple to use, and readily identifies Abobe Bridge. A lot of times when I am sorting organized image or doc files I can have both a Finder window and Bridge open at the same time, dragging and dropping or copying and pasting from files between the two.

[Plyschmannen 1]

Walt, regarding your previous commend about partitioning the drive. As an old PC user, when people still had to reinstall the operating system once in a while to speed up your comuter, your suggestion was a valid one. However, nowdays with SSD drives and without the option to change just one harddrive if it fails, the suggestion just adds shortcomings. You run into the risk of running out of space for your pictures/movies on your secondary drive and still have room on the primary, or the other way round. Finding files (with spotlight) will not be quicker with your way, since most of the system-files (/Library for instance) is excluded in the search, and most other are hidden from finder.

 

SSDs (that face it, most laptops run on these days) servers up data just as quickly from the first block as from the last, and its actually better for the SSD to be able to use the whole drive to even out the writes on the HD (SSDs have a finite numbers of writes per block) then to force it into specific partitions. So while your suggestion was valid say 5 years ago (at least use an SSH drive for the OS and another for storing your data) the same usage on a modern laptop with just one SSD is not somthing I would suggest do.

 

/Best regards, Björn

[katy-kid 5]

Hey Steve, I bought one last year and it's the only computer I've ever had that didn't crash two hours into photoshop retouching If I may make a suggestion, definitely up the ram, it's solid state so they can't add more later on, and also if you'd planning on doing any color work on a laptop I would suggest investing the $189 bucks for the spyder5 pro calibrator, I just got mine this week and it's BADASS. Completely worth the money and makes my life sooooo much easier. I hope this helps!