Apple M1 and Phocus

[timezac]

Hi,

Wondering if anyone has experience with the new Apple M1 powered macs and Phocus, as I'm currently looking for my next machine. Machine specs would be most helpful (be them M1 or other).

I work with H5D-50c files and do a fair share of focus stacking.

Thanks!

[mikejmcfarlane]

I've got the M1 air (8 core, 16GB RAM, 521GB SSD) and work with RAW files from the X1D II and the 907X/CFV II.

RAW processing is fast, but that's not surprising, it blows away my i7 32GB RAM Mac mini from 2018. Plenty benchmarks out there to confirm this, but I've attached a screen shot of a Geekbench 5 comparison. In the real world they both feel like fast computers (Phocus, Photoshop etc), and you would probably only notice if you were doing video or batch processing of lots of large image files.

The screen is lovely and with good colour and detail. I've not calibrated my display yet but got some printing to do this weekend so will prob try calibrating then.

What doesn't work with Phocus is tethering right now. I can't find much out there on this issue and I've not spoken to the dealer yet as I don't typically shoot tethered so no urgency to resolve. It does mean I also need to import my RAW files using a card reader, but that's not an issue as I prefer that workflow.

[pss]

M1 air 16ram, 1TB, really wanted the M1 pro with 2TB but it wasn't available, but so far I have not noticed any issues with performance Phocus, PS, LR are all zipping along comparable to a maxed out latest mbp and none of them are optimized for M1, so speed is not an issue at all....not having a fan is actually really nice and FCPX is native and flying, not too concerned about longer (compared to M1 pro) render times, video performance when editing is crazy good....

I shoot X1DII and 907x, I have not problems tethering the X1DII, I haven't tried the 907 but not sure why there would be a problem?

I was in the market to replace my maxed out 2015 15" mbp with a maxed out 2020 mbp, this air cost about as much as I got for selling the 2015 and it blows it away and easily keeps up with my friends 2020 mbp.....costing almost 4x as much.....

I am really excited about the better battery life for location tethering, pretty sure to get through a day with internal battery or at least with the help of my external battery 

[timezac]

Thanks for the insight and replies. Tethering to me is crucial as I'm a product photographer and that's a core function for my workflow. I've read that Apple isn't supporting FireWire with Silicon based M1 chips, which is a deal breaker for me. Unfortunate since the future of the mac is Silicon.

Perhaps its time to switch to the X1Dii from my H5D.....

Zach.

[pss]

there seem to be some firewire to thunderbolt adapters or hubs out there, I have no clue which if any actually work and most importantly for how long until the next update for firmware breaks something...again....
considering that a base M1 mini can do the work of a much older legacy system for so little money and that both the 907 and X1DII are less then an H body alone used to be, I think it makes sense to go that route....but times are rough and who knows what will happen, a used H system won't get any more valuable, the lenses can be used on X....definitely worth considering....

[sonius]

Hi Everone, The MacBook Pro M1 (16 gig and 1 gb memory).
Works super with firewire and 2x extension cables firewire and usb c.
Developing or export in Phocus for a basic file from HD4 60 mp takes less then 2 seconds and this is the same time with CC21 Adobe Raw converter out of the Adobe Bridge.
You have to update direct out of the box the Mac software, this happened now 2 times in 2 weeks!!!!!
So use the latest Phocus and the latest Mac M1 software and you are speed up 25X Times
Regards Wim Sonius

[timezac]

Thanks Wim, great to know. That's how I currently tether with my 2017 MBP.

Zach.