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iMac 27 and Lightroom 4

flynz4 said:
My reply was not moved over with your post. Here is my reply.

It sounds like a lot of work for very little gain. I personally think it is a mistake to split your database like you are suggesting.

I shoot in RAW+JPEG and import them as a bonded pair into Aperture 3. Of course it takes a lot of space... but storage is so cheap that I just do not worry about it... especially on an iMac. I also use my MBA for photography... but I simply transfer A3 projects back an forth between the two machines.

Personally... I would not recommend iPhoto at all. It is OK for a small photo collection... but I find that it gets clumsy as your library grows. I would do everything inside of Lightroom... or Aperture. They are both spectacular programs. Why try to circumvent what they do best by introducing iPhoto into the mix?

Both LR4 and A3 support keeping your photos on multiple drives. Utilize it.

/Jim
Click to expand...

Hi,

thanks for your reply, i agree with you using iPhoto aswell doesnt make sense but that was the purpose of my post to get away from doing that. Just want to understand best way for me to set that up considering space, backup etc. The situation only came about because I was using iPhoto long before I started using Lightroom, so it was more work to move away from it.

What I want to understand is, when you import your Raw's into lightroom and you edit them, which is non destruction, I assume that the information about your editing is stored in some file read by Lightroom and that actual jpgs in thier final form do not exist yet somewhere? is this correct. and IF so, what is your work flow from this point?
Part of what I want is having the photo library backed up to a NAS and then accessible wherever I am on other devices then just a mac running Lightroom.
If I understood LR's non destruction nature correctly, I would not have access to edited JPGs without a further step in the work flow, just want to understand what that is?

Do you, export and then add to the LR library again? does that mean there would be 2 albums? would you export to a seperate folder and potentially load that as a second library ( one raw and one edited?)

thanks in advance.
 
Exact same issues with LR and ordered top spec 27". Patiently waiting...

Glad it speeds things up, was losing the will to edit!

J
 
Sorry if this has been asked before but I currently have Lightroom 4 and Photoshop/Premiere/After Effects CS6 installed on a Windows 7 64bit PC, it has a first generation i7 overclocked to 3.4GHz with 16GB RAM with the OS and apps running off an SSD and a slightly overclocked 2GB 580GTX installed.

My plan was to get an iMac (27 inch 3.4 i7, 16GB or 32GB RAM, 680MX, Fusion drive) but to bootcamp with Windows 7 and run Adobe applications from Windows making use of the Mercury engine, and using OSX for other tasks, this would replace my current PC for Adobe applciations.

Does anyone know if there is a (significant?) difference in speed between running the Windows or OSX versions of this software, both being 64bit versions?.

Thanks in advance
 
Just another LR+PS user here. I have a maxed out 27" with 3TB Fusion. Working in LR and PS is a total breeze now. Just as the OP wrote, I can hold down the arrow button and the images fly through, the speed is incredible.

My biggest complaint in the editing department was saving and loading files in Photoshop. I'm very happy to report that that I can build up an edit to over 1GB in document size and saving is still very fast.
I shoot a Canon 7D and the flat file is normally around 110MB doc size. Saving this is lightning fast.

I had a shoot this past weekend in my garage studio and shot tethered to the iMac for the first time ever. It was a whole new experience shooting tethered. Will never go back for studio work.

If you'd like to see my work:

http://500px.com/StuartAllen

Take care!
 
Excellent news. I'm a Lightroom 3 user on an old Windows box, and struggling through my 5D Mk II RAW files is an exercise in patience and frustration. I ordered the exact same setup as you, so you've put my mind at ease. Can't wait!

This'll be my first Mac since the Apple II+ I had as a kid. Has much changed? :p
 
Another quick update:

Still running fast as all hell. Love this. Such a huge improvement over the MBP15 2010. Screen obviously so much better.

As for people that post "will it be faster than that???" I have no idea.

Lightroom is a weird application. Just do some google time and you'll see that some people with similar systems have different experiences. I dont know if a windows box with whatever processor and whichever specs will outperform a BTO iMac 27. No idea at all. I just know that I am happy with my upgrade.

As for my workflow -- I used to ingest, cull in Photomechanic (an amazing app for those using LR on a slow computer). But no need anymore. The import and render is nearly instant. I have not even installed PM on this yet.

I have been exporting working folders from my MBP in LR4 and importing them into my new library on my iMac. Going to start clean and fresh. I usually create a new library every year. Its close enough for me now.

I have a probox 4 drive USB 2 enclosure. 2x2TB drives setup as mirrors (thats my primary backup) and 2 other 2TB drives as random storage, movies, music.. all stuff that I could lose and wouldnt be a huge deal. I need to get the USB 3 version of this drive ASAP.

So in summary - VERY HAPPY. Hope this thread helps someone out there decide. I am sure the iMac 21.5 would be great maxed out too. If anyone out there can comment on it that would be very nice to read about.

Bryan
www.bwlphotography.com

----------
kaelell said:
ultimately what I want is
a) Manage my desktop space & not have all my Raw's stored there, only my edited finals
b) Not have a dozen steps in copying back & forth to manage photos
c) Have an automatic process where my photo library is backed up the NAS and is easily accessible via any machine/OS
d) Still have the Raw files somewhere in case I need it

----------
Click to expand...

You seem to be over complicating this. With a slower machine you definitely have to do some work outside of LR (Photomechanic for example) to make you keep your sanity.

I would say with the faster iMac (or any computer that is fast enough to do 100% in LR) just stick with LR. You can EASILY move folders to an externally connected RAID within LR so that you always have it available in your catalog. If the RAID is not connected it will still show the preview, just will say file is missing. Connect the RAID and there you go.

You can also easily find RAW, PSD, TIF, Whatever files using smart catalogs, attributes, etc. VERY simple to organize and find things.

As far as backup, you'd have to do that separately. Should not be a difficult thing. I do all my backups to my 2TB RAID and then do a simple FileSync app to sync my RAID to another 2TB drive so I have the 2 mirror copies and a spare. I also pay 100$ per year for Zenfolio and upload every single one of my final edit images in the highest res JPG that I can. No limit on storage amount, only limit on file size. No issues with super hi res JPG, even RAW will go up if needed.

If you cant use LR 100% you will have to develop your own workflow. It can be a pain in the a$$ for sure.
 
raymond lin said:
As a fellow photographer, very glad to know.

Now, what external enclosure should I get for the working files.

Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 ?
Click to expand...

From what I have read you will apparently not see much difference between USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt assuming you are using a HD...is you were using SSD you would but that would be rather expensive for file storage.

I am going to get USB3.0 for this purpose as they are half the price of Thunderbolt drives (in the UK at at least).
 
Bryan - Thanks for your original post. I upgraded to the Canon 5D MK III this summer and my late 2011 Mac Mini takes sometimes 8 seconds to render the RAW files. Glad to hear it speeds things up considerably.

What are your thoughts on the screen and the age old glare issues?


Thanks!
 
Can anyone comment on how Lightroom or Aperture has been running on the base 27" model with a fusion drive. I'm more of a hobbyist photographer so I didn't spring for the i7 and graphics card, but will be upgrading the ram to 24 or 32 GB when it arrives.

Also always looking for opinions on Aperture vs Lightroom.
 
Just a follow-up bump...any thoughts on the new iMac screen? How is it for photo editing? Thanks!
 
Wow! Love this thread. Fellow photog here as well. Been running LR3 on a Windows XP box for the last 4 years. [Yeah...I know..long story for another day. :eek: ]

Just ordered a fully loaded iMac with all the trimmings (3.4GHz, 680 MX card, 3TB FD, 8GB Ram (Already purchased 32GB Ram from 3rd party source), so I'm ecstatic, to say the least, to hear about the blazing speed of LR4 on this puppy. The RAW files produced from my Nikon D3s are huge, so this is good news.

Will share my experience once I'm all set with LR4 and CS6 in place.

#CantWAIT!! :D
 
Great thread guys. I'm assisting a client with a new rig. 2012 iMac 27 topped out, but only a 1TB Fusion. We'll be using a set of Caldigit AV Pro externals with the nifty new UAS protocol that works with new iMacs over USB3. We looked at upcoming Thunderbolt enclosures, but determined it was a waste of time right now, given her size requirements. Raid is not right for this specific situation & Drobo was never considered (don't like it)

She works with 4-5 large Lightroom catalogs. The images are Mark III and 7D (backup body) so huge. Moving the catalogs and images to external lines up well with a travel routine, where she works a new catalog during the trip and merges with the big stuff back in the home office. Redundant backup is one issue solved with the new enclosures & extra trays. Size requirement was the other. Speed is a bonus.

I expect Photoshop CS6 to run much better when we edit on top of Lightroom. It loves Ram.
Really looking forward to watching these puppies perform in the next few days with the new iMac.

My old 2009 27 with pokey firewire is Green with Envy ;)
 
It's still absolutely great. Very little lag from picture to picture coming off an 8TB Thunderbolt RAID.
 
Just bought a fully loaded 27" as well. I will be moving to Lightroom from iPhoto. Is there a quick way to get 15,000 photos into Lightroom. Thanks guys....
 
thedeske said:
We'll be using a set of Caldigit AV Pro externals with the nifty new UAS protocol that works with new iMacs over USB3.
Click to expand...
@thedeske: In researching my options for external storage these last few weeks, I decided to go with the Caldigit AV as well. Will be buying the 4TB HDD model.
 
Skyjamma said:
@thedeske: In researching my options for external storage these last few weeks, I decided to go with the Caldigit AV as well. Will be buying the 4TB HDD model.
Click to expand...

Did a quick test on 2 units and 4 trays before installing (all 4TB). Really fine hardware. First boot will show an assistant to determine Mac or PC formats (it will do a quick format) and then allow you to load Caldig manager, or save the software if you plan on a deeper format (Zero)
You don't need the driver unless you have one of their cards in a portable or Pro. There's a register button in the dialog as well.

The power button has a safe/off feature. Hold the button until it turns off. I didn't realize this at first, and wondered why it wouldn't turn off ;)

Have Fun
 
thedeske said:
Did a quick test on 2 units and 4 trays before installing (all 4TB). Really fine hardware. First boot will show an assistant to determine Mac or PC formats (it will do a quick format) and then allow you to load Caldig manager, or save the software if you plan on a deeper format (Zero)
You don't need the driver unless you have one of their cards in a portable or Pro. There's a register button in the dialog as well.

The power button has a safe/off feature. Hold the button until it turns off. I didn't realize this at first, and wondered why it wouldn't turn off ;)

Have Fun
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips. Will do. Out of curiousity, what hard drives did you install in your pair of AV Pro's?
 
Fusion 3TB or SSD???

Great thread guys. I am about to place an order on a decked out 27" myself and cant wait.

It seems like everyone getting the 3TB fusion vs the SSD. Looking at other forums, test results etc, it is obvious the SSD is a faster drive.

Is it crazy to get the SSD and keep the LR catalogs and images on a TB external drive?

I want to make sure I ordered the right config since can not be upgraded later...

Thanks
 
mkilci said:
Great thread guys. I am about to place an order on a decked out 27" myself and cant wait.

It seems like everyone getting the 3TB fusion vs the SSD. Looking at other forums, test results etc, it is obvious the SSD is a faster drive.

Is it crazy to get the SSD and keep the LR catalogs and images on a TB external drive?

I want to make sure I ordered the right config since can not be upgraded later...

Thanks
Click to expand...

I hear you. I could be wrong, but I think that generally speaking, it's a personal judgment call. Do you want uber-blazing speed (a la the SSD), or do you want a system that is adequately fast as is, and removes the need to worry about storage for a while (a la the 3TB Fusion drive). I picked the 3TB for that storage reason, and coupled with an external drive (USB 3 or ThunderB), I'll get by.
 
Thanks for the quick reply

If I go the SSD Route, is the ThunderB fast enough (Compared to Fusion) to keep the LR and the images?
 
mkilci said:
If I go the SSD Route, is the ThunderB fast enough (Compared to Fusion) to keep the LR and the images?
Click to expand...
From Barefeats:
CONSIDER EXTERNAL STORAGE OPTIONS
During our benchmarking of the 27-inch iMac, we used the newest LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt (with dual 256G SSDs in RAID 0 set). At 700+MB/s READ and 500+MB/s WRITE it's faster than the internal Fusion Drive. In other words, you don't have to crack open your iMac to go faster -- unless you have your heart set on having an uncluttered desk. Otherwise, there are several excellent Thunderbolt enclosures you can buy which provide extra storage speed and space for your new iMac. Don't forget you have USB 3.0 ports now. We will be testing and reporting on two new, fast USB 3.0 enclosures.
http://barefeats.com/imac12d1.html

Yes, they were running two external SSDs in Raid 0, but it shows that an external setup can be blazingly fast. I plan on getting a Fusion drive and add external SSDs rather than the big internal SSD.
 
To split or not to split

Thanks for this thread.

But I'm thinking about how best to use my iMac once I pull the trigger on ordering it. My intention is to split the 3TB fusion. My rationale:

I want the OS and apps (CS6 suite, LR4) on the SSD, along with the LR catalogs and previews, and my most recently ingested photos (Nikon D800). As I work through the latest shots to cull, build panos, merge and HDRs and apply filters/treatment, I want that stuff on the SSD, and only that.

But once that initial work is completed, I want to move it to the HD, where I will access it somewhat irregularly as I look for shots to post to my photoblog, etc. I don't want the US to keep those (huge) images on the SSD, as speed isn't critical. Accessing photos on an ad-hoc basis from the HD seems like it will be plenty fast enough for me. That lets me use 3TB for internal storage, along with two 3TB external USB-connected drives that I use for backup (one off-site).

I wish there was a way that I could select a particular directory, for example, and tell the OS, essentially, "Don't bother putting this on the SSD." But I don't think there is.

What do photographers think of this plan?

I realize it's a hassle to set up initially, but as happy as I am with Macs, I don't like their track record of deciding what's best for my usage and workflow. Ideally, I would be able to buy a distinct 128GB SSD and a 3TB drive as a BTO configuration, or even just a 128GB SSD, but Apple has decided to nix that.
 
elektrik said:
Thanks for this thread.

But I'm thinking about how best to use my iMac once I pull the trigger on ordering it. My intention is to split the 3TB fusion. My rationale:

I want the OS and apps (CS6 suite, LR4) on the SSD, along with the LR catalogs and previews, and my most recently ingested photos (Nikon D800). As I work through the latest shots to cull, build panos, merge and HDRs and apply filters/treatment, I want that stuff on the SSD, and only that.

But once that initial work is completed, I want to move it to the HD, where I will access it somewhat irregularly as I look for shots to post to my photoblog, etc.
Click to expand...


That is largely what Fusion is going to do for you anyway.

Fusion always writes to the SSD first. Then it spills to the HDD. If in order to write it needs to have to spill ( the SSD is filled to the brim so needs to kick less used stuff off ) then you get HDD speeds, but if just start working with the new subset those are either already there or will be brought in during the next modest break in the read/write action.

As long as there is 10's of GB of files you really do stop looking at for an extended period they'll be pushed off in favor of the files with high current activity.

The only place this breaks down if CoreStorage starts to get confused or overly conservative about what is old and what is still dynamic and needs to stay. As long not concurrently copying new files while working on the previous load at the same time and moving/copying old ones off (e.g., Time machine ) . Or if dumping 32GB cards onto the Fusion drive in a single session. (however, those aren't going to fit all that well onto a single 128GB SSD either. )



I wish there was a way that I could select a particular directory, for example, and tell the OS, essentially, "Don't bother putting this on the SSD." But I don't think there is.
Click to expand...

That isn't necessarily the best thing to do. It may be that one or two files from the subfolder are useful. For example has a tagged photo that is useful later. The mundane tracking of everything that is used, or not, when, for how long , etc. is exactly what computers are better at than people one the collection start to number in the dozens left alone more.

Folks will invent lots of corner cases where hand optimization does a better job, but over time and most workloads the pattern is discernible by the software.

Remember when manually pushing/pulling the files out of or into storage that too will impact time. It is really a matter of when.
 
iMac 27" late 2012

I ordered a new iMac 27" i7, fastest processor, 32gb RAM and 3TB Fusion Drive to replace my 2007 MacPro 8-core with 32GB RAM.

I currently use a 24" Eizo ColorEdge CE240W display calibrated with a ColorMunki. I'm hoping that the iMac display will work as well for Photoshop and Lightroom applications.

Have you calibrated your iMac display? How does it work for critical color?

Regards,
Bud
 
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