IntelMac - what software for digital photography

as I am a mac user mostly (I have a windows box as well... but it collects a lot of dust usually) and am pretty new to the whole DSLR business I was wondering what you use for your Digital WorkFlow on an INTEL Based Mac?

I shoot with a D70s and quite often use RAW (product shots, or more complex shootings where I want the full control later).
so the applications would need to handle NEF files on a high quality level.

• I use photoshop at work a lot ... and on the PowerPC based models it's truly fast (with enough ram)... tried it on my intel mac (trial version) to see whether it would be worth it.... and it's slow, even at 2GB Ram.

• The Nikon tools... well Capture NX (trial) works, but it's S.L.O.W^4

• Lightroom is a tad slow too... but much better... have been trying it since quite some time... but sometimes it just doesn't "cut it".

• I can't get aperture to work on my machine (graphic card is too weak)

(I know there are hacks... but it would obviously get slow if my station doesn't fulfill the min. req.)

• Tools like Lightzone are quite good... but Lightzone has no batch mode (yet).

What are you using?
1. for image management
2. for editing

thanks

Sometimes I think it would be worth it to get a PowerPC based mac... (quad)... but that's too much cash right now...

I've been looking into getting an intel iMac, so I don't have 1st hand experiance, sorry, but have you thought about upgrading your graphics card? It's not so expensive and then (i'm told) Aperture should run well. Sorry to not really give you any answers...

Also, they say that early next year the new version of photoshop (CS3) will be out and will not need to be translated and therefore run much much faster.

All the best

BTW which intel mac do you have? As I'm about to buy one the info in your original post is very useful for me.

Cheers
--
Stan-o-Stan

got one of the "older" intel MacMini things...

I did upgrade the ram to 2GB... as I knew that everything which will run "through" rosetta (the "translation" for powerpc apps) will need more ram than the default 512MB.
got a good deal on it...

for most things it works like a charm however I feel that it is bitterly limited when it comes to digital image processing.

and as much as I would love to upgrade the graphics adapter... I can't. it's "onboard" and there's no real possibility to get another graphics adapter into that thing.

At the moment it looks Like I'll "wait it out" until, hopefully around late autumn, the intel G5-replacement will come out. by then most software should be UB anyways.
right now I don't have the cash for a new mac anyways...

if I however would buy a mac NOW I would:

• go QUAD G5... if I could afford it. it's a damn fast machine.
• go Macbook Pro (the fastest 15" with the better graphics adapter and around 2GB Ram)

the MacBook... if you "stuff" it right (ram, cpu, graphic), is a quite fast machine and as soon as all things important are UniversalBinary that will be a real fast computer.

if you need SPEED NOW for things like Photoshop, and such, go for the G5...
it should last quite a long time...

no text

dg001 said:

got one of the "older" intel MacMini things...
I did upgrade the ram to 2GB... as I knew that everything which
will run "through" rosetta (the "translation" for powerpc apps)
will need more ram than the default 512MB.
got a good deal on it...

Click to expand...

Which mac mini do you have? If it's the core solo then you can't really expect much from it. But if its a core duo then you might be able to do some stuff

IMO, I think a mac mini is not a serious computer for photography. Get at least an iMac. Since the mac mini has a weak processor, laptop hard drive, laptop RAM, you wont get performance like a desktop....

dg001 said:

for most things it works like a charm however I feel that it is
bitterly limited when it comes to digital image processing.

and as much as I would love to upgrade the graphics adapter... I
can't. it's "onboard" and there's no real possibility to get
another graphics adapter into that thing.

At the moment it looks Like I'll "wait it out" until, hopefully
around late autumn, the intel G5-replacement will come out. by
then most software should be UB anyways.
right now I don't have the cash for a new mac anyways...

Click to expand...

The G5 replacement isn't coming "around late autumn" it's coming on August 7th!!! Yeah baby! the 7th!!

dg001 said:

if I however would buy a mac NOW I would:

• go QUAD G5... if I could afford it. it's a damn fast machine.
• go Macbook Pro (the fastest 15" with the better graphics adapter

and around 2GB Ram)

the MacBook... if you "stuff" it right (ram, cpu, graphic), is a
quite fast machine and as soon as all things important are
UniversalBinary that will be a real fast computer.

if you need SPEED NOW for things like Photoshop, and such, go for
the G5...
it should last quite a long time...

Click to expand...

--
Check this out! The coolest keyboard I've ever seen!
http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/optimus/

wackybit said:

Which mac mini do you have? If it's the core solo then you can't
really expect much from it. But if its a core duo then you might be
able to do some stuff

Click to expand...

solo yup... got one of the first ones... while back.
enjoyed it quite a bit...

at work we have a g5 Quad machine with 8GB ram.... but I can't / won't edit my personal photography stuff at work. (I'm happy to get out of the office, as quickly as possible usually).

so I agree, not much to do with my hardware...

I will upgrade... however right now I really can't afford any new hardware... bought the D70s, lenses and stuff not long ago... will move to another apartment by the end of the month (which includes some more cash)... so I'm financially a bit "streched".

Question: how much better do the dual-core machines perform, for example with rosetta applications...??

wackybit said:

wackybit said:

At the moment it looks Like I'll "wait it out" until, hopefully
around late autumn, the intel G5-replacement will come out. by
then most software should be UB anyways.
right now I don't have the cash for a new mac anyways...

Click to expand...

The G5 replacement isn't coming "around late autumn" it's coming on
August 7th!!! Yeah baby! the 7th!!

Click to expand...

7th of august????!!!! is that confirmed by APPLE?
whew... damn it I need to get CASH ... FAST .
(darn mac addiction )

wackybit said:

Check this out! The coolest keyboard I've ever seen!
http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/optimus/

Click to expand...

I'm speechless that is truly the coolest keyboard -I- have ever seen!

QPict has a nice image organizer. I beleive their latest version is universal binary, so should run well on an intel based Mac. http://www.qpict.com/
--
Richard B.
http://www.pbase.com/richard_b

I bought a refurb Intel iMac 20" back in April, and have been very, very happy. It replaced a 6-year-old G4 Power Mac.

I use:

• Photoshop 7, pretty speedy compared to the G4. No issues yet. I've read that more recent versions of Photoshop are slower than PS7.

• Nikon Capture 4.4, some issues getting it to install, and still not very fast but noticeably faster than the G4

• PhotoMechanic, which absolutely FLIES on the Intel iMac.

• Lightroom Beta, not fast but not so slow as to be unuseable.

Would you say Nikon capture or Lightroom is better for Raw Conversion?

I'm guessing Nikon Capture or else you wouldn't use it...

also what do you use photomachanic for?

thanks
--
Stan-o-Stan

dg001 said:

dg001 said:

Which mac mini do you have? If it's the core solo then you can't
really expect much from it. But if its a core duo then you might be
able to do some stuff

Click to expand...

solo yup... got one of the first ones... while back.
enjoyed it quite a bit...

Click to expand...

The solo performs even worse than its G4 predecessor on benchmarks! Not Apple's processor benchmarks (which it scored really high), but in real world benchmarks.

dg001 said:

at work we have a g5 Quad machine with 8GB ram.... but I can't /
won't edit my personal photography stuff at work. (I'm happy to get
out of the office, as quickly as possible usually).

so I agree, not much to do with my hardware...

I will upgrade... however right now I really can't afford any new
hardware... bought the D70s, lenses and stuff not long ago...
will move to another apartment by the end of the month (which
includes some more cash)... so I'm financially a bit "streched".

Click to expand...

When did you buy your D70s? Did you see in all the Nikon forums? Nikon is launching a teaser campaign about a new 10.2MP camera likely to replaced the D70 (not 's'). I think the D70s' price will drop right after the mystery camera is released......

I kinda bought my D70 4 months after it was released, and at that time it's considered a hard-to-find item

When I buy things, I normally buy it right after they are announced, same applies for apple

Apple's renewal cycle is about 7-11 months and the Quad was released back in October 2005, so a new version is due very soon.
Nikon's release cycle is about 2-3 years (its sux, really)

So if I've waited more than 3/4 through the renewal cycle, then I'll just wait for the new version

dg001 said:

Question: how much better do the dual-core machines perform, for
example with rosetta applications...??

Click to expand...

Compared to a single core, dual core is basically two times faster (maybe about 1.8x in real life). But in your case your mini is 1.5Ghz, and the dual core version is 1.66Ghz, so it's more than two times faster. People say that the 1.5Ghz solo is really slow, slower than its predecessor

dg001 said:

dg001 said:

dg001 said:

At the moment it looks Like I'll "wait it out" until, hopefully
around late autumn, the intel G5-replacement will come out. by
then most software should be UB anyways.
right now I don't have the cash for a new mac anyways...

Click to expand...

The G5 replacement isn't coming "around late autumn" it's coming on
August 7th!!! Yeah baby! the 7th!!

Click to expand...

7th of august????!!!! is that confirmed by APPLE?
whew... damn it I need to get CASH ... FAST .
(darn mac addiction )

Click to expand...

It's not confirmed, but woodcrest (the chip that's very likely to be used in the Mac Pro) is released at the end of June by Intel. And in January when Intel released Yonah (core duo), Apple announced availability of its products within one week. And since Intel is going to released Conroe and Merom (Core 2 Duo) at the end of July, we might as well see new MacBook Pros at WWDC too!!!

dg001 said:

dg001 said:

Check this out! The coolest keyboard I've ever seen!
http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/optimus/

Click to expand...

I'm speechless that is truly the coolest keyboard -I- have ever
seen!

Click to expand...

Too bad it's going to be released at the end of this year ;-).....it's cost a lot though!!

--
Check this out! The coolest keyboard I've ever seen!
http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/optimus/

wackybit said:

When did you buy your D70s? Did you see in all the Nikon forums?
Nikon is launching a teaser campaign about a new 10.2MP camera
likely to replaced the D70 (not 's'). I think the D70s' price will
drop right after the mystery camera is released......

I kinda bought my D70 4 months after it was released, and at that
time it's considered a hard-to-find item
When I buy things, I normally buy it right after they are
announced, same applies for apple

Click to expand...

I bought it approx. one month ago and am very happy with the d70s.

if nikon in 20days releases a 10.2mp cam "replacing" the D70s that's fine for me.
right now, the d70s does absolutely everything I need it to do.

I'm not saying I will never upgrade, but for the next two years (or more) I believe to own what I need.

sure 10.2mp is a slight difference... but I've seen prints done wwith 6mp, at quite a large scale... and if done properly, it looks stunning. 10.2 is an improvement, but not a huge one.

I hope however that nikon keeps it's 1/500 flash sync... the high and precise shutter speeds (not that I need 1/8000 often ... but at least it's there and I'm sure 1/4000 is quite precise).

I guess you might be right about the price drop... and that be the only thing I might "regret"...

however that way one easily is prone to end up in that "waiting loop"... been there, done that... got a lousy t-shirt

wackybit said:

Apple's renewal cycle is about 7-11 months and the Quad was
released back in October 2005, so a new version is due very soon.
Nikon's release cycle is about 2-3 years (its sux, really)

So if I've waited more than 3/4 through the renewal cycle, then
I'll just wait for the new version

wackybit said:

Question: how much better do the dual-core machines perform, for
example with rosetta applications...??

Click to expand...

Compared to a single core, dual core is basically two times faster
(maybe about 1.8x in real life). But in your case your mini is
1.5Ghz, and the dual core version is 1.66Ghz, so it's more than two
times faster. People say that the 1.5Ghz solo is really slow,
slower than its predecessor

Click to expand...

thanks... this assures me, that it's worth the wait to upgrade to the quad... or maybe a new mac-book pro... once the price drops a bit.
(that way I could hook up some nice 21" screen or so)

wackybit said:

It's not confirmed, but woodcrest (the chip that's very likely to
be used in the Mac Pro) is released at the end of June by Intel.
And in January when Intel released Yonah (core duo), Apple
announced availability of its products within one week. And since
Intel is going to released Conroe and Merom (Core 2 Duo) at the end
of July, we might as well see new MacBook Pros at WWDC too!!!

Click to expand...

I'm looking forward to it.... your "theory" makes sense... and I guess apple is in some kind of "need" to replace the G5 soon... it has been quite some time (in computer terms) that they didn't upgrade their top of the line machines.

wackybit said:

wackybit said:

wackybit said:

Check this out! The coolest keyboard I've ever seen!
http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/optimus/

Click to expand...

I'm speechless that is truly the coolest keyboard -I- have ever
seen!

Click to expand...

Too bad it's going to be released at the end of this year
;-).....it's cost a lot though!!

Click to expand...

yeah... well I guess it'll cost a fortune... but still.

I might be in for that one at the end of the year ... it would solve a few of my daily computer problems... and do so with a lot of style .

daniel

Stan-o-Stan said:

Would you say Nikon capture or Lightroom is better for Raw Conversion?

I'm guessing Nikon Capture or else you wouldn't use it...

Click to expand...

Honestly, I've only tinkered around with Lightroom so far, so I'm probably not the best one to offer a detailed comparison. I've been very happy with Capture's handling of RAW files, but it's not exactly the best-written piece of software I've used. It does the job, but I'm still a bit ticked that I had to pay an extra $100 for it on top of the $1200 I had to pay for my camera. But, so it goes... them's the breaks.

Stan-o-Stan said:

also what do you use photomachanic for?

Click to expand...

I started using PhotoMechanic as a browser and gradually increased my use of it. Now I use it to automatically ingest the images off my cards (it'll also simultaneously dump them onto my backup drive), sort through them, tag them for printing, etc. My wife also likes it, as the interface is very straightforward. But, it's kind of expensive at $150.