Photographer needs advice

[ojfd]

@Azurebird
It just occured to me that beachballing might be the indication of failing mechanical drive. To be sure, try DriveDX (time limited install) to see the SMART report.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

@Azurebird
It just occured to me that beachballing might be the indication of failing mechanical drive. To be sure, try DriveDX (time limited install) to see the SMART report.

Yup. And RAM limitations will exacerbate wear and tear on the old drive. I do not think further diagnosis is as important as is replacing that drive with a new SSD ASAP, before the inevitable crash.

The folks at OWC can help with new boot drive SSD choices.

 

[Fishrrman]

Allen wrote in reply 45 above:
"No one should be using a HDD as a boot drive."

I could be wrong, but I believe that the latest releases of the OS (Ventura and Sonoma, etc.) won't even boot from a platter-based HDD.

Just too slow.

The Mac OS may now REQUIRE the speed of an SSD from which to boot.

I welcome correction from others with hands-on experience.

 

[Abdichoudxyz]

You say "You see? Experience beats theory every time, for me."

My comments are only from experience, doing commercial photography for decades (D2x, D3, D500, D850) using multiple different Macs over those decades.

Based on my experience, buying just 16 Gb RAM in a new 2023 box for any images workflow is flat wrong. 16 GB RAM will be limiting during the life cycle of a new box, perhaps immediately. Due to the good Mac OS memory management the RAM-caused limiting may not be immediately obvious to the user, but that does not mean that it makes sense to intentionally force-limit an expensive box to less than optimum performance at any point in its life cycle.

Sigh. You're talking about YOUR experience and your opinion based on that, whereas some of us are talking about OUR experience using Macs with 'just' 16Gb memory. Ands we're saying that we cope fine. The OP has stated they don't want to spend too much money, yet you seem to be trying to get them to spend more than they perhaps want. This is based on what YOU would do, without considering what OTHERS want. The key here is listening. Yet others are suggesting that the OP upgrade their current Mac with a new SSD etc, this is good advice. That's actually where I'd be starting.

The world is full of upsellers.

Rattling off what equipment you've used, does not prove any credentials. Many of us have used all sorts of kit, we just don't see the need to mention it. And speaking of equipment; as photography is an expensive activity anyway, perhaps saving money on a new computer leaves more for things like lenses. Which are quite important in photography, I find. Not everyone has an unlimited budget for things. Following my iMac purchase, which for me was a very large outlay, I was able to purchase a couple of (not inexepensive) lenses for my cam. I would not have been able to do so had I spent more on a computer with power beyond my needs. So everything's a compromise.

 

[StruckbyLight]

Based on what you have mentioned I assume you have external drives containing LR libraries and RAW files?
Here are a couple of threads you may want to look at before jumping in and burning a few grand..

Sonoma mounting issues
Ventura Slow Drives

I have many 3- 6 TB Hard drives, RAID 1 enclosures and CCC for cloning backups.
Going beyond Monterey was not possible for me due to the issue on the second thread above.

Total time wasted, looking for info, trying out solutions and finally rolling back to Monterey and reconnecting catalogs, was about two weeks.
(BTW, some of my drives are brand new SSDs in APFS format. They all, irrespective of age and file format, mount instantaneously on Monterey and versions before Monterey)

When its time to buy a new mac, I'm gonna grab one of my larger libraries, go to the apple store, and ask a genius to connect it to the exact same model I'm gonna buy and see how it mounts!
Current versions of LR and PS run on Monterey, don't know how long Adobe will do that though!

Just thought of letting you know ....

 

[ovbacon]

How can a human manage 10.000 layers in Photoshop escapes me. What kind of job is it? (Sorry for the OT drift).

I make and/or recreate family crests, coat of arms etc etc. I agree that having around 10k layers sounds unimaginable or even idiotic. But I think like all art there is a reason within the madness and I find it very comforting. Yes, I probably am on the spectrum but at the same time that might be what is allowing me to do it....

I think what is important to me is that there is no reason to upsell people on something when they probably do not need it... It is way too easy to overspend on hardware that you do not need but you might need the funds. MR is filled with people saying "buy more RAM, Buy more memory, Get a faster processor, Get the PRO etc etc" but much of the advice given is based on opinions and not on real usage... I don't care what people buy but what I do know is that the older you get the least you care about how things look to others and the more you care about using it and if it will do what I want it and what am I replacing...

This image is of some of the work I do somewhere in the middle of the PS file and no... I do not name every layer as that is too much work..

 

[picpicmac]

Having watched the last art is fine video I think 32 is going to be mandatory for me in the future as I tend to keep my equipment a long time.

Do you mean the Art is Right Youtube channel? He produces a lot of use cases showing indeed that more memory is better.

And while he does recommend 32GB of RAM for photo professionals, he also notes that there is an alternative ownership strategy that some use: flip machines at each new generation, buying the base model of each new generation. This may allow for one not to hit some sort of performance ceiling with an old computer.

I like you have a very old Intel iMac. I like to use things for as long as possible (in this case 15 years). I'm not a flipper.

But I too am shopping for a new Mac, and have considered the exact same models as you. I don't do photography currently, though in the past I have done so as an avocation, and sometimes selling images.

So I am considering buying a base-level Mac Mini with M2, then when the M3 comes out to flip it for an M3 Mac Mini, and so forth.

Nice thing about Macs is that they are desired as used computers, though with platform changes (such as from Intel to Apple Silicon) one needs to be aware that old architectures present a problem.

I figure I can sell a used Mac Mini for more than half of what I paid for it. So if I buy a 16GB M2 Mac Mini for $679 (Edu pricing), I should be able to sell it for at least $350, probably $400, a year later. I can probably do this for a few generations, until I am not interested in computers anymore.

The other alternative is to lease the machine (which one can do through Best Buy.) If one has a business (you mentioned you occasionally sell images) the lease cost is of course a business expense.

 

[ojfd]

Do you mean the Art is Right Youtube channel? He produces a lot of use cases showing indeed that more memory is better.

Are we supposed to blindly trust any insurance seller that comes to our door? Just check "About" him:

* BenQ first Global Ambassador
* X-Rite Coloratti & Calibrite Ambassador
* Partner and Influence with Adobe System Incorporated

See where the money comes from..
Any more questions? 😆😆😆

 

[picpicmac]

Just check "About" him:

He openly advertises himself as the ambassador for BenQ and Calibrate. So I don't know why you are trying to smear him. He's not hiding his association with either BenQ or Calibrate.

He is not an ambassador for Apple.

See where the money comes from..
Any more questions?

Yes, I have one more question: why do you think someone who works for a living is lying to you?

 

[ojfd]

Don't put words in my mouth, I didn't I say lying.
I also didn't try to smear him - that's your interpretation.
But, I've been in similar kind of trade for several decades and I know the methods