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photographers recommendation?

B

bluebird3

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 29, 2013
233
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I have been in market for buying rMBP for some time. I'm planning on studying photography and Photoshop program in the near future. I can not afford the full CS software, but can afford "Photoshop element" I saw at the best buy for under $99.00.

I am debating which model to buy and I'd like a recommendation. What I am thinking is...
rMbp 13"
2.4ghz i5 dual
8gb memory
256gb flash memory.
Then buy an external 1tb HD for storage (around $100?)

Or
Should I go with...
rMbp 15"
2.0 GHz i7 quad core
8 GB memory
256 GB flash
(Really pushing it with the price tag).

Will 13" be fully workable ? What's your recommendation/experience ?
 
Meister said:
If you are ok with the 13" screen, than the 13" is just fine.
Click to expand...

That's what I was wondering also if 13" is comfortable enough to work on. I have been told two sides of the story, get the largest screen you can afford vs go portable and you can always attach it to a large screen. I don't have a large screen but 15" certainly looked nicer. It's just you pay so much more. Also, does it make real difference between i7 quad vs i5 dual when operating ?
 
I would suggest you NOT get Photoshop. It is a general purpose graphics package that can be used for editing photos....but it is not purpose built for photographers.

Instead look at Adobe's Lightroom product. Adobe it specifically for photographers It is a digital asset manager (DAM) with non-destructive editing of photos. LR lets you easily link into a 3rd party plugs to extend you editing capabilities as you learn to do more. Get Lightroom, not PS or PSE.

As a photographer I would advise you want the largest screen possible/practical to edit photos. If you can swing a 15" rMBP i7 quad core then do it.

Be sure to check the Apple Insider price list for some of the best deals going.

http://prices.appleinsider.com
 
Best spec 13", you'll want an external monitor anyway, even 15" is too small.

Get the Creative Cloud Photographer bundle, $10 a month I think, Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CC. I use both day in day out. LR is a general edit and organisation, and PS for more complex and deep editing.

I've just finished a Photography Degree and there is no way you could get through it without Photoshop. The level of post production skill you need far surpasses LR.
 
I have a 13inch rmbp connected to a 24" monitor. Much easier to use Lightroom. I don't mind the 13 screen.
 
The adobe photographer suite bundle is $9.99/month and includes full access to lightroom and photoshop and a bit more. A much better investment than photoshop elements if you are into photography at any level.
 
Personally, I found the 13" screen too limiting with Lightroom/Photoshop and I recommend the 15" laptop.

Just my $.02
 
I am also a photographer and decided to go with the 15 inch model mainly because of its quadcore cpu which is great when it comes to HDR or panoramas with large file size. When working tehthered in a photo studio the 15 monitor is an advantage, too.

However, the 13 inch is a great choice, too, depending on how you work and what you want to do.
 
I am an amateur photographer and I use Lightroom & Aperture.
Previously I had the 13" Late 2011 Macbook Pro and 13" was a pain for me so this year I bought the base 15" Retina, the same one that you listed.
It's a dream computer. Perhaps a little overkill for my needs but I'm planning to keep it 'till 2016/7.

Also I'm planning to buy the Lightning to SDCard adapter so I can quickly edit my photos on my iPad with the new editing features in iOS 8 and share them on the internet in a matter of minutes after I took the photo.
 
I think that the 15" rMBP is the standard for photographers, AD's and creatives I have worked with. The 15" is a great combination of size and portability and is a great way to add a 27" display when shooting tethered. Did you know that Adobe offers both Photoshop and Lightroom for $9.99 a month? You will have updates when they are released automatically. I have friends that use Elements and seem to be happy but I was already into Photoshop for about twenty years.
 
I suggest getting the 13" MacBook and use the savings to buy a good external display.

BOTH the 13" and 15" MacBook displays are going to be "limiting" in terms of viewing and editing photos. You're going to want more "screen real estate".

Here's a comprehensive list of currently-available IPS displays that might provide a good starting point in a search for an external monitor:
http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/s-ips-lcd-list.php
 
I'd try going with a 15" screen. 13" is barely useable. However, if you can get a decent large external screen with the money you save by getting the 13" then you'd be better off. Both computers should be fast enough for most photographer's need, IE not having to treat very large amounts of HDR batches, regularly dealing with very large panorama shots, very heavy photo manipulations (like high end fashion retouching).

If you want a 15" model, look into the refurbished models, even an older model should be fast enough for you and you could save a few bucks. I'd recommend getting the photographer's creative cloud bundle of Lightroom with Photoshop at 10$ a month. Depending on your shooting style, most of your work will probably happen in Lightroom but Photoshop is still an invaluable tool (I personally learned Photoshop before Lightroom so I find it restrictive and not very precise but it can give you a good starting point in a few minutes on top of managing your image library).
 
The large external monitor is fine when you are home/office. It does not help one bit when you are in the field. There you have to use the rMBP screen. So much depends on the percentage of time you will use the rMBP screen vs an external monitor at home/office.
 
You'll not be doing any serious editing in the field. Or any serious work at all when just starting out.

I currently don't even have a laptop, and know many other photographers who are the same.

You NEED an external monitor. My 23" Monitor feels small. I'll be getting a 15" rMBP but not for the display size.
 
I'll stick a spoke in the works:

How about a 11" Macbook air? Not the fastest but small enough to take anywhere. Bump up the SSD and you have a perfect device to offload tons of images and preview them. Then when back home, connect up a 27"+ monitor and see everything in it's full glory. The one benefit of the 13" would be a SD slot if your camera uses them.

Then, when you are a super famous protog you can get an awesome desktop and the MBA is still useful in the field.

David
 
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