iMac suggestions for photo editing

[Kayakphotos]

I have been using an older model PC laptop for photo editing and since I picked up my new camera (sony a7) I've noticed that it is very slow for editing. I get a bonus in August from work and am thinking about a computer upgrade. I thought I would seek out suggestions from the community.

Things to know:
I have a windows version of Photoshop CS5
I am open to refurbs, but would like the benefit of less reflective screen
I will be getting $1500, so I would like to keep budget around that (2k max)

Questions:
Should I go for SSD?
If I'm using boot camp I don't get a benefit from fusion drive right?

What would be your recommended model and specs?

 

[Booch21]

You might be able to pick up a copy of Photoshop CS6 for Mac. I upgraded through Adobe at the time and they allowed me to switch platforms with no issues.

 

[yjchua95]

I have been using an older model PC laptop for photo editing and since I picked up my new camera (sony a7) I've noticed that it is very slow for editing. I get a bonus in August from work and am thinking about a computer upgrade. I thought I would seek out suggestions from the community.

Things to know:
I have a windows version of Photoshop CS5
I am open to refurbs, but would like the benefit of less reflective screen
I will be getting $1500, so I would like to keep budget around that (2k max)

Questions:
Should I go for SSD?
If I'm using boot camp I don't get a benefit from fusion drive right?

What would be your recommended model and specs?

If you use Boot Camp, a Fusion Drive will not benefit you as Boot Camp will only install to the HDD portion of the Fusion Drive.

I suggest you go for an SSD.

For your work, the baseline iMac 21.5" will do you fine. I'm not sure about CS5, but I know that the Iris Pro in the base 21.5" really shines in CS6 and CC, because CS6 and CC rely on OpenCL, and the Iris Pro really zips along in OpenCL.

As the RAM isn't user-upgradeable, I suggest you go with whatever you can afford

 

[Kayakphotos]

If you use Boot Camp, a Fusion Drive will not benefit you as Boot Camp will only install to the HDD portion of the Fusion Drive.

I suggest you go for an SSD.

For your work, the baseline iMac 21.5" will do you fine. I'm not sure about CS5, but I know that the Iris Pro in the base 21.5" really shines in CS6 and CC, because CS6 and CC rely on OpenCL, and the Iris Pro really zips along in OpenCL.

As the RAM isn't user-upgradeable, I suggest you go with whatever you can afford

I wish my photoshop was the Mac version. It's hard for me to justify creative cloud since I don't shoot professionally. I don't believe that cs5 utilizes OpenCL. Anyone know?

 

[keigo]

Questions:
Should I go for SSD?
If I'm using boot camp I don't get a benefit from fusion drive right?

What would be your recommended model and specs?

For speed, yes SSD will be the way to go. But if budget constraint, HDD won't reduce your speed that much either.

Yup boot camp won't benefit from fusion but you can always use VMware like parallel or fusion6 instead of bootcamp.

27-inch: 3.2GHz
Specifications
3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
8GB (two 4GB) memory
1TB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M with 1GB video memory
$1,799.00

is a good start.

Since photo editing do not require GPU.

 

[yjchua95]

For speed, yes SSD will be the way to go. But if budget constraint, HDD won't reduce your speed that much either.

Umm...the SSD is a huge improvement over a normal HDD.

A 3.5" 7200rpm will perform at around 150MB/s, while a pure SSD will perform at around 700MB/s.

 

[keigo]

Umm...the SSD is a huge improvement over a normal HDD.

A 3.5" 7200rpm will perform at around 150MB/s, while a pure SSD will perform at around 700MB/s.

true when base on paper but real world usage, HDD speed is still alright for day to day use.

Of coz if can afford SSD is better but if can't. HDD is still acceptable.

Unless you are telling me a few sec to min delay is a big impact to you then that is different story.

cause Kayakphotos mention he got budget limit.

 

[Kayakphotos]

I probably could get by with the hd if I needed to.

 

[joema2]

I wish my photoshop was the Mac version. It's hard for me to justify creative cloud since I don't shoot professionally. I don't believe that cs5 utilizes OpenCL. Anyone know?

On Premiere Pro, CS5 uses only or mostly CUDA, not OpenCL. This only worked with certain nVidia GPUs, although nVidia cards meeting the minimum spec (1GB VRAM) could be hacked to work.

On PP CS6, the Mac version used OpenCL for some things, but the Windows version continued with CUDA. Not until CC was OpenCL widely used on both Mac and Windows versions of PP CS6.

With Photoshop, I believe CS5 used only CUDA, but CS6 used OpenGL. Between Photoshop CS5 and CS6, different features were GPU-accelerated:

GPU features added in Photoshop CS6

- Adaptive Wide Angle Filter (compatible video card required)
- Liquify (accelerated by compatible video card with > 512MB VRAM)
- Oil Paint (compatible video card required)
- Warp and Puppet Warp (accelerated by compatible video card)
- Field Blur, Iris Blur, and Tilt/Shift (accelerated by compatible video
- card supporting OpenCL, GPU mode unavailable on Windows XP)
- Lighting Effects Gallery
- Draggable Shadows
- Ground plane reflections
- Roughness
- On-canvas UI controls
- Ground plane
- Liqht widgets on edge of canvas
- IBL (image based light) controller

GPU features added in previous versions of Photoshop

- Scrubby Zoom. See Zoom continuously
- Heads Up Display (HUD) color picker. See Choose a color while painting
- Color sampling ring. Choose colors with the Eyedropper tool
- Brush dynamic resize and hardness control. See Resize or change hardness of cursors by dragging
- Bristle Brush tip previews. Bristle tip shape options
- Rule of thirds crop grid overlay. Crop images
- Zoom enhancements. Smooth display at all zoom levels and temporary zoom. See Zoom continuouslyTemporarily zoom an image
- Animated transitions for one-stop zoom.
- Flick-panning.
- Rotate the canvas. Use the Rotate View tool
- View nonsquare pixel images. Adjust pixel aspect ratio
- Pixel grid. Hide the pixel grid
- Draw Brush tip cursors. Resize or change hardness of cursors by dragging

 

[Kayakphotos]

Thanks for the info. It sounds like the best option is to go with hard drive or ssd and run bootcamp with my current cs5.

On Premiere Pro, CS5 uses only or mostly CUDA, not OpenCL. This only worked with certain nVidia GPUs, although nVidia cards meeting the minimum spec (1GB VRAM) could be hacked to work.

On PP CS6, the Mac version used OpenCL for some things, but the Windows version continued with CUDA. Not until CC was OpenCL widely used on both Mac and Windows versions of PP CS6.

With Photoshop, I believe CS5 used only CUDA, but CS6 used OpenGL. Between Photoshop CS5 and CS6, different features were GPU-accelerated:

GPU features added in Photoshop CS6

- Adaptive Wide Angle Filter (compatible video card required)
- Liquify (accelerated by compatible video card with > 512MB VRAM)
- Oil Paint (compatible video card required)
- Warp and Puppet Warp (accelerated by compatible video card)
- Field Blur, Iris Blur, and Tilt/Shift (accelerated by compatible video
- card supporting OpenCL, GPU mode unavailable on Windows XP)
- Lighting Effects Gallery
- Draggable Shadows
- Ground plane reflections
- Roughness
- On-canvas UI controls
- Ground plane
- Liqht widgets on edge of canvas
- IBL (image based light) controller

GPU features added in previous versions of Photoshop

- Scrubby Zoom. See Zoom continuously
- Heads Up Display (HUD) color picker. See Choose a color while painting
- Color sampling ring. Choose colors with the Eyedropper tool
- Brush dynamic resize and hardness control. See Resize or change hardness of cursors by dragging
- Bristle Brush tip previews. Bristle tip shape options
- Rule of thirds crop grid overlay. Crop images
- Zoom enhancements. Smooth display at all zoom levels and temporary zoom. See Zoom continuouslyTemporarily zoom an image
- Animated transitions for one-stop zoom.
- Flick-panning.
- Rotate the canvas. Use the Rotate View tool
- View nonsquare pixel images. Adjust pixel aspect ratio
- Pixel grid. Hide the pixel grid
- Draw Brush tip cursors. Resize or change hardness of cursors by dragging

 

[Truthfulie]

Instead of trying to run CS5 under BootCamp, why not invest in Lightroom? You probably need to purchase another Windows license for BootCamp. You should invest in Lightroom and run OS X, after all you are buying a Mac

And if you don't do extensive post-processing (which is probably true knowing you said you don't shoot professionally), Lightroom will do most editing just fine.

If you can live without Photoshop, it's 149.99 USD one time purchase for the current version. If you must have Photoshop, Creative Cloud Photoshop Photography Program is 9.99 USD/month for Photoshop CC, Lightroom, Bridge CC and 20GB cloud storage which isn't bad at all.

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom/buying-guide.html

 

[Kayakphotos]

Instead of trying to run CS5 under BootCamp, why not invest in Lightroom? You probably need to purchase another Windows license for BootCamp. You should invest in Lightroom and run OS X, after all you are buying a Mac

And if you don't do extensive post-processing (which is probably true knowing you said you don't shoot professionally), Lightroom will do most editing just fine.

If you can live without Photoshop, it's 149.99 USD one time purchase for the current version. If you must have Photoshop, Creative Cloud Photoshop Photography Program is 9.99 USD/month for Photoshop CC, Lightroom, Bridge CC and 20GB cloud storage which isn't bad at all.

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom/buying-guide.html

This is a valid suggestion as well. I would still be able to have full photoshop for when I really need it (which isn't really that often in general). I've never had Lightroom and would have to adjust to the workflow though.

 

[keigo]

This is a valid suggestion as well. I would still be able to have full photoshop for when I really need it (which isn't really that often in general). I've never had Lightroom and would have to adjust to the workflow though.

Lightroom is way easier to work with and it is design for photographer in mind.

 

[Truthfulie]

This is a valid suggestion as well. I would still be able to have full photoshop for when I really need it (which isn't really that often in general). I've never had Lightroom and would have to adjust to the workflow though.

Just like Keigo pointed out above, Lightroom's workflow is much better suited for photographers than Photoshop is. I rarely use Photoshop when I edit my shots since I've gotten used to Lightroom. As for the SSD, definitely go for it.

 

[slo-climber]

Hello to everyone.

I'm looking to purchase a new 27'' iMac in the near future. In addition to normal use, I will use it mainly for photo editing in Photoshop and Lightroom. My main doubt is how "good" is 27'' screen with its resolution for photo editing. Could someone who has 27'' iMac for photo editing comment this? 4K iMac will not be out for a long time, so I can't wait for it.

And also what is the recommended distance to work with that 27'' screen?

Thanks a lot

 

[robgendreau]

I think the 27" iMac screen (or another IPS 2560x1440) is the bomb for photos. Best thing this side of retina or 4k, and those actually have drawbacks (like cost). The 27" iMac is, I think, the best value in the Mac line right now.

And in switching to Mac you have to consider that you're stuck with the hardware for a while; you don't have the option of switching around video cards and what not like you do on many PC desktops. So choose carefully.

And I'd definitely get a SSD. It make a huge difference. Not necessarily in applying a filter or even opening a photo in say LR, but in all sorts of day to day uses.

See if Adobe will do a swap to the Mac CS5; they do that on some products but not others (I think they don't on the CS packages, but not sure).

And take a look at what's available as alternatives. Lightroom can do more and more, especially with all the plugins available, especially if you're mostly developing RAW and or retouching, not doing full on manipulations. Even then, there are some other applications that might fit the bill, like Pixelmator, Acorn, etc.

 

[slo-climber]

Thanks for your reply.

Actually I was looking for 3.5 GHz configuration, with 512 GB SSD. I think it's enough. For the rest I could use external drives. What do you think?

About RAM I thought to take 16 GB, because it can be upgraded to 32 subsequently.

I'm not sure aboute video card. Which one of these would be sufficient for PS - 775M (2GB) or 780M (4GB) ?

Actually, now I have one old PC computer and when I do some more extensive processing it is desperately slow.

 

[thekev]

If you use Boot Camp, a Fusion Drive will not benefit you as Boot Camp will only install to the HDD portion of the Fusion Drive.

I suggest you go for an SSD.

For your work, the baseline iMac 21.5" will do you fine. I'm not sure about CS5, but I know that the Iris Pro in the base 21.5" really shines in CS6 and CC, because CS6 and CC rely on OpenCL, and the Iris Pro really zips along in OpenCL.

As the RAM isn't user-upgradeable, I suggest you go with whatever you can afford

It is with the 27", and a refurb should be within his budget. I haven't looked at recent ones, but on the 2011s the 27" display was a nicer overall display.

I wish my photoshop was the Mac version. It's hard for me to justify creative cloud since I don't shoot professionally. I don't believe that cs5 utilizes OpenCL. Anyone know?

It uses the gpu for a minor number of things. Don't worry about gpus. They all work for photoshop. Perhaps if you did nothing but liquify and iris blur all day it might make a real difference. CPUs do things at a tolerable speed for the most part, as most of the OpenCL functions used to be completely cpu bound functions. They're just faster on gpus, and I mean any gpu. Does it really matter if something you occasionally hit appears instant vs 1-2 seconds at most? It doesn't open up any interesting possibilities.

This is a valid suggestion as well. I would still be able to have full photoshop for when I really need it (which isn't really that often in general). I've never had Lightroom and would have to adjust to the workflow though.

You can also transfer your photoshop license to OSX. Contact Adobe and they'll do it. I personally prefer the 27" screen, but that's me. I just don't like the 21.5" very much going by past models. Typically you don't want full brightness for photo editing, and the 21.5" loses too much contrast when turned down. I suggest looking at refurb models. They're quite popular on here due to being mostly returns that have been inspected a second time.

 

[7enderbender]

I have been using an older model PC laptop for photo editing and since I picked up my new camera (sony a7) I've noticed that it is very slow for editing. I get a bonus in August from work and am thinking about a computer upgrade. I thought I would seek out suggestions from the community.

Things to know:
I have a windows version of Photoshop CS5
I am open to refurbs, but would like the benefit of less reflective screen
I will be getting $1500, so I would like to keep budget around that (2k max)

Questions:
Should I go for SSD?
If I'm using boot camp I don't get a benefit from fusion drive right?

What would be your recommended model and specs?

I was in the same situation and here is what I did:

- Decided against the iMacs because of the screens not suited for photo editing (shiny, too bright, no wide gamut option)
-Went with a custom Mac Mini i7 instead. The investment in a 256g SSD plus additional external drives was well worth it.
- Bought a NEC 27" wide gamut screen. Dell seems to be the alternative.
- Crossgraded to CS6 for Mac. It's not obvious on the Adobe website but you can still do it.

All this for under 2K even with the nice screen. I already had a screen calibration tool.

I also would second what some people said about Lightroom. Unless you do a lot of heavy editing at the pixel level LR is much more usable for 95% of what photographers do. And I was highly skeptical. I have LR5 (which works on both Mac and Windows by the way) and CS6 for Mac. I shoot mostly for fun but do the occasional pro shoot. For both LR is a huge time saver. CS6 is only for the occasional specialty case.

So you could go with a Mac of your liking and start out with LR5 under OS X and try things out. You can always buy CS6 for Mac a little later (if still around and not replaced by their hideous cloud services...) or switch back to Windows then.

 

[Kayakphotos]

See if Adobe will do a swap to the Mac CS5; they do that on some products but not others (I think they don't on the CS packages, but not sure).

And take a look at what's available as alternatives. Lightroom can do more and more, especially with all the plugins available, especially if you're mostly developing RAW and or retouching, not doing full on manipulations. Even then, there are some other applications that might fit the bill, like Pixelmator, Acorn, etc.

Adobe won't switch out my CS5. I'll probably try the lightroom route to start out with. I think it will provide a much quicker workflow than I'm used to.