Imac versus MacPro

HughGilbert · October 25, 2009, 02:05:30 AM

Hullo all....

I think it is time to upgrade a machine....

From a first iteration g5 twin processor to...?

I am considering the new iMac with the 27" screen,

Is there any reason to buy a Mac pro these days? All the images are on external drives etc.

All, any thoughts appreciated...

Whippet has gone to bed in disgust at the weather... mild and wet wet wet...

Yesterday I had one of those shoots that make you wonder what you are doing.... a fifteen hour journey, to and fro, with a one and a half hour window to shoot a recently refurbished room. It's going to be on telly, and I got to do my shoot during the one and a half hour lunch break that the telly crew had. Left home at 0600 and returned at 2200...>!

All best fellow snappers

Hugh

Ralf Mueller · October 25, 2009, 02:25:44 AM

Hi Hugh,

I don't know the quality of the new iMac 27" display, we have an Apple 23" cinema display and
a Quato IntelliProof 260 in our household. All I can say, the Quato is so much better for image processing.
Especially when you consider printing your work, the Quato provides an accurate proof in PS, i was never
able to achieve that with the Apple display.

Anyway, just something to consider before buying the iMac.

Not sure you have some mobile computer or the need for one, but a 8GB memory MacBook Pro with some
external display might be worth considering as well, especially when all your images are already on some external drives.

Anyway, just my 2 cents, at the end this is all a fairly personal preference

Best Regards,
Ralf

HughGilbert · October 25, 2009, 02:37:06 AM

Thanks for that Ralf,

It is actually my other half that needs the upgrade. She is also a photographer, (zeschin.com) and her hardware is getting a little long in the tooth. She is coming home tomorrow from a two week journey through the Urals and north India (yes I know they are in different countries) and she'll have a lot of editing and processing to do, and I suggested that perhaps now is the time to make an upgrade on a five year old machine.

So it is either a mac pro, or if the imac is considerably faster than the old G5, then perhaps that is a cost effective way to go...

thoughts still appreciated...

Hugh

sun is emerging and Whippet is lounging against me suggesting it's time for a walk....

jeff.grant@pobox.com · October 25, 2009, 10:37:02 AM

Hi Hugh,

I use an iMac, currently a 24". I just couldn't come at the price of a Mac Pro. It's great but I also have an external Eizo CG monitor. The iMac is completely useless for any serious colour work. The only real problem is the lack of a SATA port. I would love to be able to hang SATA disks off it but the FW800 does a good job as a substitute. All in all, it is a good compromise for me.

Come to think of it, the iMac and Eizo is still probably cheaper than a Pro so it comes down to whether you can live with the limited expandability.

Phil G · October 25, 2009, 09:18:08 PM

Quote from: HughGilbert on October 25, 2009, 02:05:30 AM
Hullo all....

I think it is time to upgrade a machine....

From a first iteration g5 twin processor to...?

I am considering the new iMac with the 27" screen,

Is there any reason to buy a Mac pro these days? All the images are on external drives etc.

All, any thoughts appreciated...

.....

All best fellow snappers

Hugh

Hi Hugh

we appear to have a parallel thread

The New iMac spec' looks great it should have no problem running Phocus, its far more portable than a Mac Pro et al, granted not as portable as a MBP but I know which I would prefer to sit in front of and you can attach a calibrated monitor if you need to

It fits in the Niche between a studio based Mac Pro and a field use MBP

I think the big mistake is having a SD card slot rather than a eSATA connection

Justifying the purchase of one ? suppose its a bit of an indulgence but the season of serious spending is rapidly approaching and well, we were thinking of buying a HD TV and I think this would fit the domestic and aesthetic requirements and enable me to do some work between adverts.

So I've started defrosting the Turkey

Phil

(thats where the Credit cards are stored - gives a thawing out period for reflection

gfkreplin · November 20, 2009, 03:54:48 PM

I wouldn't touch an imac if color is imprtant to you. Apple is using dell monitors with a glossy screen. Best to go with the mac pro and a good graphics monitor like the Laciie 526 or Eizo CG 222w. Both can be purchased for under $1,500.00 and when calibrated are very accurate- I do my own printing production with Epson 9900 and 7800s. Great color accuracy.

I thought about purchasing the I Mac for a backup sytem and when I called Apple and asked what the color space was for the I mac monitor, they replied that it was a secret and they would not reveal that info. Using Hasselblad raw, it would be a mistake to edit with anything other than a wide format profile (Adobe RGB or greater). I doubt that the Imac comes to even a poor srgb.

timolive · November 22, 2009, 06:10:03 PM

Better read this.

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/11/20/more-quad-core-imac-benchmarks-show-substantial-performance-gains/

Photographers who have seen their new screens are using superlatives.

Alastair Bird · November 25, 2009, 07:34:52 AM

I have the new imac 27" with the 512mb video card.

Compared to my Dual 1.8 G5 it absolutely screams. The monitor is surprisingly good, if alarmingly bright. I calibrated it and it was pretty much bang on where it came out of the box.

However, I will say that Phocus 1.2 is disappointingly slow on it. I shoot with a CF-39. I'm used to Flexcolor on the G5 - take the photo, wait 3 seconds, check focus. With the imac and Phocus it's shoot, wait for the low-res preview, wait for the high-res preview, wonder if the computer has finished rendering the high res, chat with the client, take a look at the shot. If Phocus can't run in such a way on a brand-new machine that you can shoot and check focus within a second or two then it will have failed as a useful piece of software. Perhaps I'm asking too much?

I've never shot with Capture 1, nor have I used the Leaf software. But I still think for shooting and focus, Flexcolor is much faster.

Phocus has a much better interface and is a much more powerful piece of software.

..but slow.

kenschuster · December 08, 2009, 01:18:21 PM

Like many here, I'm on the verge of plunging into a new system. In soaking-up all that I could read on the subject before cracking the credit card vault, I came across this rumor/hoax/legitimate info that has throttled my "buy" engine back to idle, for at least the next couple of months. Wuddiyathink?

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/11/29/intels_six_core_gulftown_processor_revealed_possibly_headed_to_mac_pro.html

NickT · December 09, 2009, 08:18:07 AM

I'd wait for sure I think we'll see new MacPros first quarter next year:

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac_Pro

Nick-T

Aileen · December 13, 2009, 01:55:07 AM

Hi all,
To my opinion the iMac is good if you want your customer to see bright flashin colours straight away
if you manage your colours for web images
but
the iMac is less interesting if you want to process your images to be colourproof for prints, magazines/inktjet/quality print

I personally love the MacBookPro Eizo combo, but an anti glare MBP screen is a must
unless you want to adjust your hair while working