Mac Book Pro or iMac?

Daymouse

Daymouse

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Simon
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Hey,

Ok so heres my story, I did a degree in photography but have never used it so been stuck in IT for the last 6 years. I was made redundant and got a decent payout and so want to use some of the money too start up as a wedding photographer and need some help with what equipment to start out with?

I want to get a Mac for photoediting but unsure what to get either a Mac Book or an iMac.

Also what size would you recommend etc?

Any advice would be great :)

Also got a thread open about what camera i should be getting

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=14
 
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Do you want a laptop or do you want a desktop? I happily use a 15" macbook pro for everything, but then Im not taking pictures for a living.
 
Danny_Two said:
You'll always get more bang for your buck with an imac, and you won't have to buy a screen.
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Good point but I think the portability of a MacBook will come in extremely handy especially for doing courses in photoshop and macs etc. Argh I don't know haha
 
I've heard it's not ideal to post-process on a laptop as your screen angle varies so much. I attended a Mac course which had a colour calibration specialist speaker who was also a photographer, and he advised that desktop computers are far better for photography as it's really hard to properly calibrate a laptop screen, and the colours change with movement.

That said, I do love my MBP for the portability, although I miss my iMac. (I do have one at work to make up for it though)
 
May I be the first to suggest that you find another job in IT. It'll probably earn more money and be less stressful than being a wedding tog.

Anyway if you are going to make a business out of photography then I suggest you have both a laptop and a desktop. The desktop as your main editing station and the laptop as a backup machine and a portable. Why? Well I've seen too many people with their entire business on a single computer panic at the idea that a computer is going to take 3 to 5 working days to repair. Basically a weeks lost work.

Hell, I wouldn't feel comfortable without a backup machine myself, and I'm not a business user - I have 3 recent macs, and can repurpose any of them if one fails.
 
Daymouse said:
I want to get a Mac for photoediting but unsure what to get either a Mac Book or an iMac.
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Any reason? PCs are just as capable (they run the same s/w unless you are tied to Aperture) and lower cost...
 
27'' i7 iMac + a network storeage driver with at least 8TB. Pro's choice :D
 
Slaphead said:
Anyway if you are going to make a business out of photography then I suggest you have both a laptop and a desktop. The desktop as your main editing station and the laptop as a backup machine and a portable. Why? Well I've seen too many people with their entire business on a single computer panic at the idea that a computer is going to take 3 to 5 working days to repair. Basically a weeks lost work.
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:plusone:
 
Be aware that all iMac screens are glossy. You can order you mac book with a matt screen but it will have to be shipped from China as a special order.

This may be an issue because I understand that glossy screens can be a bit difficult to calibrate. I am having similar decisions and am thinking to avoid a glossy screen. I may opt for a mac pro and a third party screen.

I currently use a macbook pro 15" with an HP screen.
I think Treeman's advice is worth considering, or possibly a macbook, and an iPad for showing client your portfolio(s), which would be a noticeably cheaper alternative.
 
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I'd say that an imac would be FAR better than a macbook pro as the macbooks have TN panel screens vs the imac 21.5/27 screens which are IPS panel screens.

The only downside of an imac is the glossy screen, but a lot of people don't seem to mind glossy screens. I notice that there is a "mac mini" where you can use your own screen if you want to run a mac but with a matte IPS screen.
 
You can also just connect a nice 30" IPS screen to your MBP, that is what I have been doing for years. Although now my MBP is finally dead I've gone for a Mac Pro in the office and a MBA for the road. But a MBP with external 30" screen would be my choice over an iMac :)
 
I didn't even think to suggest hooking up a separate screen, which is weird as I have one myself!! Doh!

I don't use it that much to be honest as it's in the garden office, but that would be ideal for you. Just make sure you get a couple of external drives to back up with. You could try a drive caddy and buy the drives on their own, as it's much cheaper that way.

With regards to glossy screen, I get on fine with mine at work (for graphics), and I do find the colour much richer, and as it faces away from the window the reflection issue doesn't affect much. Home screen is a matte 23" studio display. I'm happy to use either.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys, giving me some stuff to think about here! :)


Slaphead said:
May I be the first to suggest that you find another job in IT. It'll probably earn more money and be less stressful than being a wedding tog.

Anyway if you are going to make a business out of photography then I suggest you have both a laptop and a desktop. The desktop as your main editing station and the laptop as a backup machine and a portable. Why? Well I've seen too many people with their entire business on a single computer panic at the idea that a computer is going to take 3 to 5 working days to repair. Basically a weeks lost work.

Hell, I wouldn't feel comfortable without a backup machine myself, and I'm not a business user - I have 3 recent macs, and can repurpose any of them if one fails.
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I will be finding another job in the meatime to pay the bills etc wheter that be in IT or not. But my long term dream/plan is to become a sucessful photographer and no one is going to take that away from me. I was stuck in my last job in IT for over 6 years and hated it. To the point it was draining me of all my confidence, inspiration and imagination. Thats why im currently in Italy doing some travelling to try and get some of that back then hopefully off to Vietnam in Nov/Dec. Theres no way im getting stuck behind a desk for the rest of my life!

arad85 said:
Any reason? PCs are just as capable (they run the same s/w unless you are tied to Aperture) and lower cost...
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Suppose to be better for photo editing arent they, plus much nicer to work with, plus ive never owned one and fancy learning how to use one :D
 
Daymouse said:
Suppose to be better for photo editing arent they, plus much nicer to work with
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let me guess a mac user told you that ;) but no. as long as you have the software available and a nice calibrated screen either platform will do the same job.

plus ive never owned one and fancy learning how to use one :D
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thats fair enough then but the previous quote is tosh :)
 
Daymouse said:
Suppose to be better for photo editing arent they, plus much nicer to work with, plus ive never owned one and fancy learning how to use one :D
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A few years ago perhaps, but these days there's not much in it. I use macs because it's what I know, although lately I've thinking of moving over to the windows side to take advantage of cheaper more powerful hardware.

To be honest I'd stick with what you know - you're an IT professional therefore you probably know Windows inside and out from a technical level, so you'd be able to solve any problems that might arise on your own.
 
neil_g said:
indeed, plus get an i7-2600k and clock it to 4.4Ghz with about 5 mins work :D
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That is what I am running my Mac Pro on but at a water cooled 4.9Ghz as a hackintosh. But only until they upgrade the proper Pro range.
 
neil_g said:
depends on budget as to size but the dell ultrasharp IPS panels are worth a look
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:agree:

I run 2 24" Dell IPS panels. Lovely :) I'd run 2 x 27" Dell IPS if I had the desk space to put them (and wanted to spend lots)....
 
Yes mine is 30" dell ips.
 
I paid £995 for it at the time. Think I got it from overclockers as it was cheaper than direct from dell. Doesn't look as nice as the 30" apple cinema display but can't fault the image quality and connectivity.
 
Ultimately I would have to agree that a desktop and laptop would be the best choice for some degree of backup as a machine to use should one fail.

However, if initially that is too much, then I would go for a desktop and perhaps an iPad. The reason I suggest an iPad is that will provide a neat way to show pictures to clients.

I think just a laptop as your main machine will be a struggle as when using Lightroom/Aperture you end up needing a lot of screen space I find which can get difficult on a laptop screen IMO.

Then if business takes off, you can get the laptop, if indeed you feel you need it. If not the iPad will be easy to sell on, and you can carry on using the desktop anyway.
 
zerodeluxe said:
I've heard it's not ideal to post-process on a laptop as your screen angle varies so much. I attended a Mac course which had a colour calibration specialist speaker who was also a photographer, and he advised that desktop computers are far better for photography as it's really hard to properly calibrate a laptop screen, and the colours change with movement.
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Firstly, a good laptop screen doesn't change much according to angle, especially if you avoid the (shudder) glossy screens that come standard with Macs. Always opt for the matte screen. Secondly, while it may be a bit harder to calibrate a laptop screen, it's not so difficult that it's not possible.

I work in the film industry where screen calibration is taken very seriously, so I'm not pulling these facts out of my rear end either.

Regarding the choice between an iMac and a MBP, I'd say the MBP is more versatile and convenient, but ultimately this is a very personal choice.
 
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I started with the MacBook Pro and loved it. Only problem is that it got a bit slower with time. Also, more expensive to upgrade than a tower. I wouldn't recommend an IMac as I've heard the monitor is tougher to calibrate and you can't do too much upgrading in time.

The laptop is nice cause you can take it everywhere with you!
 
onona said:
Firstly, a good laptop screen doesn't change much according to angle, especially if you avoid the (shudder) glossy screens that come standard with Macs. Always opt for the matte screen. Secondly, while it may be a bit harder to calibrate a laptop screen, it's not so difficult that it's not possible.

I work in the film industry where screen calibration is taken very seriously, so I'm not pulling these facts out of my rear end either.
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That's interesting you say that as I have the matte screen MBP, and the brightness/colours vary at almost angle, but not on my dads glossy screen! :)

I guess maybe photography and film may differ then? This guy who spoke to us was drafted in as a calibration specialist, but maybe there's different schools of thinking on it. He demonstrated on a MBP for convenience but advised against it for processing as you may not alway have the exact same angle of light/screen angle etc when using a laptop - which in theory does make a lot of sense.
 
zerodeluxe said:
That's interesting you say that as I have the matte screen MBP, and the brightness/colours vary at almost angle, but not on my dads glossy screen! :)

I guess maybe photography and film may differ then? This guy who spoke to us was drafted in as a calibration specialist, but maybe there's different schools of thinking on it. He demonstrated on a MBP for convenience but advised against it for processing as you may not alway have the exact same angle of light/screen angle etc when using a laptop - which in theory does make a lot of sense.
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The mbp aren't ips though are they? So they will vary at different angles.
 
zerodeluxe said:
That's interesting you say that as I have the matte screen MBP, and the brightness/colours vary at almost angle, but not on my dads glossy screen! :)

I guess maybe photography and film may differ then? This guy who spoke to us was drafted in as a calibration specialist, but maybe there's different schools of thinking on it. He demonstrated on a MBP for convenience but advised against it for processing as you may not alway have the exact same angle of light/screen angle etc when using a laptop - which in theory does make a lot of sense.
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Oh I should have clarified that I don't do film work on my laptop, as my laptop is my own personal property. I only use it for photography. My point in mentioning my line of work is to show that I'm familiar with calibration since we use calibrated hardware at work, and my eyes are very tuned to colour and colour variations, as that's basically what my job entails (I work in CGI). I'm not saying that laptop screens don't change at all according to angle, but a good one doesn't change much.
 
Right i think i will prob go down the 27" iMac and ipad option which the iman will be kept for work, then i also have my HTPS which i will keep for downloading crap too etc. Then sell my Acer aspire one 753 when i get back from Italy. Just need to find an ipad and iMac in the classifieds now! :D
 
You could try the Apple Refurb section on their store site - my iMac was a refurb, and was a new machine as far as I could tell, and you get the same warranty while saving a nice wedge.

They may have iPads to thinking about it....
 
zerodeluxe said:
You could try the Apple Refurb section on their store site - my iMac was a refurb, and was a new machine as far as I could tell, and you get the same warranty while saving a nice wedge.

They may have iPads to thinking about it....
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Yeah spotted that thanks, that maybe the way to go if nothing comes up on here or avforums.
 
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