Figured a central thread for people to share Photoshop / Lightroom feedback would be good. Here are some of my thoughts:
1) I have the base model 1.1 / 256 SG. I often take my Mindshift Panoramo with me for weekend trips and the MBR fits pretty nicely in the top pouch along with my lenses. It sticks out about 1 - 1.5" over the top, but the case zips fine. Needless to say I'll always have the MBR in the field with me - likely in a leather sleeve inside my Mindshift.
2) I spend a lot of time post processing. I am not a pro by any stretch, but I also think I have enough nice images to be deemed credible. I started playing with some RAW files today in Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop and I would never describe any of the process as slow or sluggish. Re-applications of Camera RAW Filter on new layers, merge into new layer, etc. is either instant or takes seconds on a 20MP image.
3) More destructive techniques (i.e. 50% gray dodge and burning) is instant as I expected. I don't have my Wacom plugged in, but I would have absolutely no problem running through this part of my workflow on this device.
4) Auto-align of 4 stacked 20MP images (i.e. for focal stacking) was maybe a 5 second process. I will do some more complex tests with 10 + image auto aligns later.
So fairly quick impression to me is the whole "not good for Photoshop" comment in a lot of these reviews was more of reviewers sticking to the narrative of "mobile CPUs cannot be good for this" than anything. This is the part of my workflow I was most interested in because if I can make this work then I knew I could rely on this in the field instead of the MBPR, which doesn't fit in my small Mindshift bag.
A few disclaimers/next steps:
1. Clearly Lightroom is going to tax the system more if you start getting heavy with the tools on an image. I just use Lightroom for the initial publish (essentially the equivalent of Adobe Camera RAW) and then take it into PS from there so I'm less sensitive to this. I will still do more LR edits to see limitations.
2. I didn't buy a USB adapter so haven't tested my Wacom, but I doubt it's going to be much of a negative surprise from what I'm seeing.
3. Most importantly, I did not buy this laptop with the purpose of being my only device for photo editing. It is something small and light I can take with me in the field and on weekend trips when I am short on room so I can avoid checking luggage / keep my camera bag with me at all times. Even with a MBPR today, I always work the final image on my iMac 27".
4. I also ordered a 1.3/256 just in case, but my gut feel right now is I'll be canceling that order. I am not seeing a lot that leads me to think the 1.1 won't be a perfectly capable field machine for photography. I have 14 days to determine...
I'll add more later as I try and find the limitations. Hopefully others do too.
1) I have the base model 1.1 / 256 SG. I often take my Mindshift Panoramo with me for weekend trips and the MBR fits pretty nicely in the top pouch along with my lenses. It sticks out about 1 - 1.5" over the top, but the case zips fine. Needless to say I'll always have the MBR in the field with me - likely in a leather sleeve inside my Mindshift.
2) I spend a lot of time post processing. I am not a pro by any stretch, but I also think I have enough nice images to be deemed credible. I started playing with some RAW files today in Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop and I would never describe any of the process as slow or sluggish. Re-applications of Camera RAW Filter on new layers, merge into new layer, etc. is either instant or takes seconds on a 20MP image.
3) More destructive techniques (i.e. 50% gray dodge and burning) is instant as I expected. I don't have my Wacom plugged in, but I would have absolutely no problem running through this part of my workflow on this device.
4) Auto-align of 4 stacked 20MP images (i.e. for focal stacking) was maybe a 5 second process. I will do some more complex tests with 10 + image auto aligns later.
So fairly quick impression to me is the whole "not good for Photoshop" comment in a lot of these reviews was more of reviewers sticking to the narrative of "mobile CPUs cannot be good for this" than anything. This is the part of my workflow I was most interested in because if I can make this work then I knew I could rely on this in the field instead of the MBPR, which doesn't fit in my small Mindshift bag.
A few disclaimers/next steps:
1. Clearly Lightroom is going to tax the system more if you start getting heavy with the tools on an image. I just use Lightroom for the initial publish (essentially the equivalent of Adobe Camera RAW) and then take it into PS from there so I'm less sensitive to this. I will still do more LR edits to see limitations.
2. I didn't buy a USB adapter so haven't tested my Wacom, but I doubt it's going to be much of a negative surprise from what I'm seeing.
3. Most importantly, I did not buy this laptop with the purpose of being my only device for photo editing. It is something small and light I can take with me in the field and on weekend trips when I am short on room so I can avoid checking luggage / keep my camera bag with me at all times. Even with a MBPR today, I always work the final image on my iMac 27".
4. I also ordered a 1.3/256 just in case, but my gut feel right now is I'll be canceling that order. I am not seeing a lot that leads me to think the 1.1 won't be a perfectly capable field machine for photography. I have 14 days to determine...
I'll add more later as I try and find the limitations. Hopefully others do too.
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