Welcome to the first article in the series of “Which Mac For Me”. This first part we will focus on which setup suits a photographer best, both on a budget, and with cash to splash. Upcoming article in this series also include Which Mac For: video editors, web designers, and writers/bloggers.
What Display?
Photographers who shoot for a living all have expensive cameras which produce files with huge resolution. The first step is purchasing a display which will show the true colour of your images at top quality. Apple’s Cinema Displays are very popular with photographers because of the exquisite quality of the panels and the rich colours they display on them.
The Cinema Display is available in 20, 23, and 30” size forms. If you are shooting 8MP images and on a budget a 23” display should be more than enough real estate to edit your images, but if your shooting anything higher than 8MP images, or you have some cash to burn, the 30” display is a great investment. It will allow you to view images much larger, work on many more at once, and also will be great for multitasking.
The Mac Pro will power up to 2 30″ Cinema Displays, while the MacBook Pro will power one 30″. If you have seen a 30″ display running before, you will know how huge and amazing they are to use. Now imagine having two of these, running Aperture full screen. Can’t you just picture all the work you’d get done in half the time..? If you want the option of powering two displays in the future, the Mac Pro is hands down the machine you need.
The recent price drop of the 30” Cinema Displays looks pretty attractive for photographers, in my opinion, shell out for the largest display you can possible afford, you won’t regret it.
Optimal Display Advice: 30” Apple Cinema Display
Budget Display Advice: 23” Apple Cinema Display
What Mac?
Now, you have your display, you can’t do anything yet without a Mac. The first thing you need to ask yourself is “Will I be editing in the field or away from home often?” If the answer is no, the Mac Pro is your answer, if your answer is yes, the MacBook Pro is your answer. Don’t worry, both machines will power the 30” Cinema Display flawlessly.
If you answered No.
Mac Pro
The Mac Pro is Apple’s latest desktop computer for professionals. It features an Intel Quad Xeon processor up to 3Ghz in speed.
For your work, the 2.66Ghz model is a sweet spot. Stack it with 3GB of RAM for optimal performance with Aperture and Photoshop, and 1TB of mirrored RAID hard-drive space. This way you will have 500GB of storage space for you images, which will automatically be backed up to the second 500GB drive for safe keeping in case of a disaster.
If you are on a tight budget but still want the best, the 2Ghz option should still do the things you want it to do fine, and will save you a few hundred dollars.
I would also recommend adding Bluetooth + Airport to these machines as it might pay off at a later stage when Bluetooth technology begins to be added to digital cameras.
Optimal Desktop: Mac Pro, 2.66Ghz, 1TB HDD, 3GB RAM, Bluetooth + Airport
If you answered yes:
MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro is the machine you are after. With the power of a 2.16Ghz Intel Core Duo processor, you will have the ability to run Aperture in the field at blazing speeds, but not as fast as the Mac Pro. In my opinion this is a very nice setup choice for a photographer, a MacBook Pro + Cinema Display. It gives you the freedom to work away from home, and still have a large canvas to work on when you are in the office.
The 17” MBP, with a 2.16Ghz processor, 100GB 7200RPM HDD, and maxed out 2GB of RAM will do the job with no pauses whatsoever.
If you dont exactly want to spend that much on your machine, the 15″ MBP model with a 2.16Ghz processor and 2GB of RAM will do the job all the same, minus the extra screen real estate which can be handy at times. With the 15” option you become even more portable, but you need to decide if thats worth losing the extra pixels for.
Optimal Portable: MacBook Pro 17”, 2.16Ghz, 2GB RAM, 100GB 7200RPM HDD
What Software?
Every photographer should have Photoshop in their armory no matter if it’s a serious hobby, or a full time job.
Apart from Photoshop you will need an application to store, and catalog your images. Apple’s Aperture is perfect for this job. It will even fulfill some functions you need Photoshop to do, speeding up your workflow.
If you want a free alternative, Adobe’s LightRoom is still free as it’s in beta stage.
Optimal Software Advice: Apple Aperture
Budget Software Advice: Adobe Lightroom
Desktop Setup (On Budget) Mac Pro 2Ghz, 3GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 23” Display
Desktop Setup (Optimal) Mac Pro 2.66Ghz, 3GB RAM, 1TB HDD, 30” Display
Portable Setup (On Budget) MacBook Pro 15”, 2GB RAM, 100GB 7200RPM HDD
Portable Setup (Optimal) MacBook Pro 17”, 2GB RAM, 100GB 7200RPM HDD