Thoughts on my new rMBP for photography (welcome other input)

[Shacklebolt]

Psyched to have finally got the thing (2.6/16/512) but man, after a month of waiting, now I have to play a whole new waiting game.

If you're excited about the photography possibilities for the rMBP, it definitely, definitely has a lot of potential. At super-high resolution, photos look amazing.

However... the most frustrating thing about the "retina" part is that it's compatible with pretty much no 3rd party photography apps (that I'm aware of) so you're stuck with Aperture and iPhoto for the time being if you want to use the super high-res part. Yeah, I know Retina Photoshop is in the pipeline, but I'd feel a lot more comfortable if I knew a release date. Weird that there is not.

I know I'm not saying anything anyone doesn't know, and normally, not being able to take advantage of the high-resolution wouldn't really bug me that much. However, the real catch is that (to me at least) "pixel-doubled" images look GOD AWFUL (namely, fuzzy) -- at 1440x900, way worse than an actual 1440x900 (which is what I'm coming from) would make them look. So I'm uncomfortable working with CS6 for now. Or not uncomfortable. Just annoyed. Maybe it's my eyes playing tricks on me, but I don't think so.

Don't get me wrong: the RMBP is a beast of a machine. But if you want it because you need to stay on the cutting edge of photography/graphics/etc, there's no rush that I can see. <sigh>

Anyone else who already has an RMBP, I'd love to hear your thoughts as well, and perhaps ways to improve the experience so far.

EDIT: just to clarify, for those who don't know, the Retina setting leaves the screen at an effective resolution of 1440x900.

 

[Ruahrc]

Why don't you download the utility that lets you set the res to native 2880x1800? That'll fix your problems.

 

[Shultzy]

Interesting points you bring up. Quick question - I'm a photographer/graphic designer and have a new rMBP on the way. I do a fair majority of my work in Photoshop and I made the assumption that although the buttons etc would be fuzzy, the actual working canvas would be 'retina' quality. Is this correct? Or does the canvas itself appear fuzzy as well?

Thanks!

 

[daktar1]

I got the same model a couple of weeks ago. I'm an Aperture user anyway and found the speed increase dramatic (coming from a 2008 MBP); and the new screen incredible. The fact that third party apps are non-retina (so far) is not an issue for me. My secondary display is non-retina, so I just use that for non-retina apps and the MBP display for anything retina enabled. When shooting tethered on location I have the retina display to review images with the stylist (+ it's noticeably lighter and fits better in my bag, & the battery lasts much longer), when editing at home I have Aperture opened on both displays; the retina one I use for detail work, the non-retina one for a macro view (set normally to 'alternate' in the view options). Was it worth the extra money? Not sure, I was in the pipeline for an upgrade anyway; but it is definitely much faster in all respects and the display is unreal.

TL;DR - I like the new rMPB, ideal for my work but at £2500 maybe too expensive.

 

[Shacklebolt]

I got the same model a couple of weeks ago. I'm an Aperture user anyway and found the speed increase dramatic (coming from a 2008 MBP); and the new screen incredible. The fact that third party apps are non-retina (so far) is not an issue for me. My secondary display is non-retina, so I just use that for non-retina apps and the MBP display for anything retina enabled. When shooting tethered on location I have the retina display to review images with the stylist (+ it's noticeably lighter and fits better in my bag, & the battery lasts much longer), when editing at home I have Aperture opened on both displays; the retina one I use for detail work, the non-retina one for a macro view (set normally to 'alternate' in the view options). Was it worth the extra money? Not sure, I was in the pipeline for an upgrade anyway; but it is definitely much faster in all respects and the display is unreal.

TL;DR - I like the new rMPB, ideal for my work but at £2500 maybe too expensive.

Yeah, I was in the pipeline for an upgrade too, so no complaints on that one. The Creative Suite, however, is a valuable enough tool to me that the lack of compatibility, coupled with the (again, to my eyes) worse image quality of pixel-doubled images leaves me a little annoyed for the moment.

 

[wolfpuppies3]

Not for me

I use CS5 and Lightroom and do not care for either Aperture or iPhoto. Besides, I use my 27" Apple monitor for photographic work and really am unconcerned with the small screen. I simply updated my 13" MB Air with one that has 512 SSD and 8 GB of memory. Much easier to handle on the road and I use my MB Pro with the monitor stationary back home.

 

[agenda893]

Interesting points you bring up. Quick question - I'm a photographer/graphic designer and have a new rMBP on the way. I do a fair majority of my work in Photoshop and I made the assumption that although the buttons etc would be fuzzy, the actual working canvas would be 'retina' quality. Is this correct? Or does the canvas itself appear fuzzy as well?

Sadly the canvas is just as blurry as the tool bar. The same goes for all of the adobe suite of products and also for microsoft office. I've regretted buying the rMBP since the day I took it out of the box. Waiting for the software to catch up to the hardware sucks.

 

[mackmgg]

Why don't you download the utility that lets you set the res to native 2880x1800? That'll fix your problems.

I'd have to second this. The 2880x1800 option is way too small for normal usage to him, but I do use that option every time I use Photoshop, Lightroom, or After Effects.