Hi-
I've completed transitioning my 250 GB photo and video content to iCloud Photo Library. I started the upload from my 27" iMac. It took about 4 or 5 days at an upload speed I would estimate at an average of 8 Mbps. I chose the option to "Download Originals to this Mac" for my iMac because of its larger storage capacity of 1 TB. For those who may be concerned with the content taking up too much space on their smaller capacity devices like MacBook Pros & MacBook Airs, here's my experience with my 256 GB Retina MBP (13").
Before uploading - 209 GB available (per Disk Utility)
After uploading - 125 GB available (per Disk Utility)
I chose the "Optimize Mac Storage" option for my Retina MBP (which has a capacity of 256 GB as noted above.) So, as you can see, the Photos app has left quite a bit of storage available for other applications and documents. For a 250 GB library, Photos only used 84 GB on my rMBP (selecting option "Optimize Mac Storage").
Overall, everything seems to be working well - I would recommend it. I did need to increase my iCloud storage space to 500 GB. If, by chance, you have an internet service like Google Fiber or Verizon FIOS where the upload and download speeds are equivalent (and fast), that's further reason to consider the new iCloud Photo Library.
Hope this helps some others - sorry for all the detail but I thought it's pertinent.
Dave
I've completed transitioning my 250 GB photo and video content to iCloud Photo Library. I started the upload from my 27" iMac. It took about 4 or 5 days at an upload speed I would estimate at an average of 8 Mbps. I chose the option to "Download Originals to this Mac" for my iMac because of its larger storage capacity of 1 TB. For those who may be concerned with the content taking up too much space on their smaller capacity devices like MacBook Pros & MacBook Airs, here's my experience with my 256 GB Retina MBP (13").
Before uploading - 209 GB available (per Disk Utility)
After uploading - 125 GB available (per Disk Utility)
I chose the "Optimize Mac Storage" option for my Retina MBP (which has a capacity of 256 GB as noted above.) So, as you can see, the Photos app has left quite a bit of storage available for other applications and documents. For a 250 GB library, Photos only used 84 GB on my rMBP (selecting option "Optimize Mac Storage").
Overall, everything seems to be working well - I would recommend it. I did need to increase my iCloud storage space to 500 GB. If, by chance, you have an internet service like Google Fiber or Verizon FIOS where the upload and download speeds are equivalent (and fast), that's further reason to consider the new iCloud Photo Library.
Hope this helps some others - sorry for all the detail but I thought it's pertinent.
Dave