Late 2008 MBP good to work with 5D MK II files?

[triste15]

Hi everyone, I've been a lurker here for the longest time, checking out the informative posts that everyone has been.But recently, a chain of events(i.e. my purchase of a 5d mark ii) has compelled me to register and seek advice from the gurus here.


Prior to my camera upgrade, I was working with a 20d and a late powerbook model (1.67Ghz, 1.5 gb ram), of which the powerbook could handle the RAW files relatively okay. I've been using Photoshop CS2 and Capture One Pro to do the work. While not as speedy as I would have liked, at least it was bearable

But with my new camera, I've actually tried working on the RAW files of the 5d mark ii using lightroom, but have found it to be unbearably slow. This has caused me to look for my next upgrade.

What I need to know and seek advice on is basically if the current generation of MBP upgraded to a 2.8ghz processor and faster hard drive (7200rpm) would be good enough to work with the RAW files for the mark ii plus even do some HD video editing with the mark ii having the ability to shoot full 1080p videos.

Or would I be better off building a custom PC?Quite naturally this would be the last alternative that i'll take as I absolutely hate the windows platform. I just need to know if it is worth paying the premium over for to upgrade to a newer generation of Macs.

Thanks for any insights to this!

 

[iBookG4user]

I would suggest that you look into a Mac Pro (would be best to wait until MacWorld to see if they are updated) rather than a MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro is very fast, although I believe that you'd be happier with a Mac Pro in the long run with how much you can increase the RAM and the amount of processing cores. I've used my MacBook Pro (Classic 2.4GHz) with 1Ds Mark II files and found it to be plenty useable, but since you already have a PowerBook it would make more sense to get a much more powerful desktop.

 

[pdechavez]

I've got a
- 2.53Ghz
- 4gigs ram
- 320GB 5400rpm HDD

And it handles my 14-bit raw, uncompressed files from my Nikon D300 very well. I think 2.8Ghz will perform very well with the 7200RPM drive.

 

[iBookG4user]

I've got a
- 2.53Ghz
- 4gigs ram
- 320GB 5400rpm HDD

And it handles my 14-bit raw, uncompressed files from my Nikon D300 very well. I think 2.8Ghz will perform very well with the 7200RPM drive.

There is a bit of a difference between the 12MP D300 files and the 21MP 5D mkII files however.

 

[triste15]

I would suggest that you look into a Mac Pro (would be best to wait until MacWorld to see if they are updated) rather than a MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro is very fast, although I believe that you'd be happier with a Mac Pro in the long run with how much you can increase the RAM and the amount of processing cores. I've used my MacBook Pro (Classic 2.4GHz) with 1Ds Mark II files and found it to be plenty useable, but since you already have a PowerBook it would make more sense to get a much more powerful desktop.

Hi,

Thanks for the advice, i too was thinking of waiting until Macworld to see if anything new may be announced-perhaps a new range of iMacs? While the Mac Pro option does sound nice but it may overstrech my budget a little if I were to go for the works and upgrade the Ram and processor cores.The other alternative-being that I commission a windoze system similiar to a Macpro spec at a much more affordable price.(kast option I will consider though)I have to come out for a compromise which was why I was considering the Macbook Pro. I was thinking if the processing of RAW files was adequately fast enough, it'll be great! And not forgetting the HD editing function too.

 

[triste15]

There is a bit of a difference between the 12MP D300 files and the 21MP 5D mkII files however.

Yup! Which is why i was asking if there is anyone currently using his/her MBP to work with 5d mark ii videos/RAW

 

[peskaa]

My 2.53/4GB/7,200rpm MBP works fine with 1Dsmk3 files, so I don't see how you'd have a problem with 5D2.

 

[Horst]

I have the 'old' MBP 15"/2.5 Ghz , and ocassionally shoot tethered to it with my Leaf Aptus back (33 MP ), no problem.
Processing is slower than on the MacPro, but still ok for small amounts of files.

I'm not familiar with Lightroom, maybe you need to take a look at your settings ?
Then again, an MBP should be significantly faster than your PowerBook.

 

[cohenben]

I just ran a software update and, what d'ya know?

Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update Version 2.4:

This update extends RAW file compatibility for Aperture 2 and iPhoto ’08 for the following cameras:

Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon PowerShot G10
Pentax K2000/K-m
Leaf AFi-II 6
Leaf AFi-II 7
Leaf Aptus-II 6
Leaf Aptus-II 7
Leica M8.2

It also addresses issues related to specific cameras and overall stability.

I know you mentioned Lightroom as being the problem, so this might do nothing...but if you're using the 5d MII, I just thought I'd make sure you knew about it.

 

[jevidon]

I have a 2.4GHz late 2008 MBP with 2GB RAM and have been using a 5D Mark II with this machine exclusively for the last week. Running Bridge and Photoshop CS4 simultaneously will start to slow things down, but I've noticed that my RAM usage is up around 1300-1400MB and I'm not using an external scratch disk (it also doesn't help that my internal HD only has about 20GB free)...

Other than slight speed issues which I know can easily be resolved with a RAM upgrade, freeing up internal HD space and working on an external 1394b/eSATA scratch drive, the performance is very good.

Hope this helps.

P.S.: Most of my work has been with the video footage from the 5D Mark II in FCP and that has been performing quite well - here is a link to the first edited video I made: http://vimeo.com/2598183

 

[nicfargo]

I've got a late 2008 MPB 2.53Ghz, 4gb RAM and it runs lightroom 2.2, Photoshop CS4, Bridge CS4 all at the same time very fast. Processing those large RAW files form the 5D MK II is no biggie. I also run an external scratch disc through FW800, so that helps a bit too! I haven't done video from it yet, but I have done video through my Canon HF10 HD camcorder. It's not bad...a little slow to render in Premiere CS4. I haven't tried Final Cut Pro yet, but I'm going to...maybe it'll be faster. The only problem is it doesn't recognize the .mts files from the camcorder, so that's why I haven't used it yet.

 

[MLO]

Mbp

First of all, do you need to be portable?

If so, I would go with a Macbook Pro.

I spent a few months researching and spoke with video journalist from the washington times, Dallas Morning News and the San Jose Mercury News and one from AP. They all do quite a lot of traveling and edit HD video on the go on Macbook Pros in Final Cut Pro.

My computer, which is 1 year old has this:
17"
2.6 GHZ
4 gigs of ram
200 gig hard drive 7200 rpm.
screen 1920x1200 ( high gloss )
and I am using Final Cut Studio 2 - not much coloring grading in color
photo mechanic
photoshop CS3

I am also a photojournalist and this computer is fast.

I am also using an external hard drive.