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A Photo and Video Editing Workstation...

A

arasekhi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 15, 2004
1
0
San Francisco
Hi,

I am an enthusiastic amateur photographer and I am finally looking for a dedicated machine for editing, printing, and storing photographs (both digital and 35mm) as wells as editing videos (both digital and analog). But, I need help with what equipment I would need to make the experience of photo/video editing pleasant for a few years to come.

I am very tempted my the new 20" iMac because of their asthetics and pricing. I'm trying to convince myself that with 1GB of memory and 160GB of storage, the iMac G4 might do the job. What about the monitor? Is it good enough for photo printing? Can it be calibrated? Is 1GB or memory enough? Is the bus speed fast enough? etc., etc., etc. which bring me to...

...the Mac G5s (dual 1.8Ghz). Part of me thinks that the iMac may not do the job and may run out of steam quickly. But, the G5 costs more than the iMac and I would also have to buy a monitor for it. I've been looking at the 20" Cinema Display. I just want to make sure this isn't overkill! By the way, does the dual CPU thing really matter for photo/video editing?

In any case, I would really appreciate any feedback that other photo/video enthusiasts may have for me since I will be making my decision soon.

Thanks in advance,
A. Rasekhi
 
blackfox

blackfox

macrumors 65816
Feb 18, 2003
1,210
4,574
PDX
Editing workstation...

Well, I will do my best to help here, but as budget constraints have left me with less than top of the line equipment I will leave some advice to those who know more about modern equipment...also I do not do much photo work(mostly DV) so can't really help there. Here are my opinions, though(not to be taken as gospel) :
HD space-160 is pretty good, an hour of video takes up around 14G of space...not sure about photos...you can add extra space via FW later...
20" Imac screen-supposed to be gorgeous(I believe the stand-alone screen is spec'd the same). Personally favor CRTs for color correction, but in fairness, I couldn't afford the large LCD screens(I have 2 of the last generation apple studio pro CRTs @ 21", great but huge). If you went for the G5, Formac makes beautiful screens that go well with macs, or DELL makes screens that don't but are very affordable for LCDs
G4 vs G5(dual)-obviously, G5 clear winner here, but as someone who gets along with a G4 733, the Imac would obviously do ok-you will just spend alot more time waiting for renders...many people consider the saved time of a faster machine worth the initial expense...G5 will remain viable alot longer, performance-wise, and...
RAM-1G should be fine for almost anything you throw at it, but the G5 has ALOT of room for expansion, Imac does not.
You didn't mention what applications you would be using, but I believe Photoshop and FCP have MP support and will soon be optimised for G5s. If so, you will notice a difference w/ the G5.

In short, I would get the G5, a very respectable CRT monitor for the short-run and a LCD(or 2) later to save cash...I just feel the 20" Imac is overpriced for what it is...buy the ram you need...I will leave it to others to fill in more technical recommendations and/or why I am wrong...(especially about monitors)...if you do decide to get an Imac, look for the monitor-spanning hack(used to be @ osxhints.com) so you can add another monitor also. Hope this was helpful...(BTW, you might look at the DPG4 PM also...)
 
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