iMac for Capture One

[Ish]

Hi, Hoping you might be able to help me make a decision. I've been on a bit of a hiatus from doing much in the way of photography recently but coming out the other side and want to update my 2012 MBP and move from Aperture to Capture One (finally!).

I've chosen to get a 21" iMac. I prefer this size over the 27" as my desk is quite small and when I looked at them in the Apple Store, the 27" is just too big at the distance from which I'll be working. I've thought about the options and have decided on either the 3.0GHz or the 3.4 GHz with i5 processor, 16GB RAM, but don't know whether to get the 1TB Fusion Drive or the 1TB SSD. I don't know how much C1 uses the graphics card as opposed to the drive so don't know whether the SSD is worth the extra. I also don't know how much difference the extra .4 GHz will make.

I don't spend all my time processing photos but within reason it's nice to have the power to do what I want and I keep my Macs for a long time. A group of us at the camera club are going to be mentored to go into bigger competitions, hence the need for a bigger screen than my MBP. I realise that there will probably be a newer model this year with the advantages of extra speed, so I'm also weighing the advantages of this against the fact that the current one has had the bugs worked out of it and should be cheaper.

Your thoughts would be very much appreciated, my head is going round in circles at the moment! Thanks!

 

[Apple fanboy]

Hi, Hoping you might be able to help me make a decision. I've been on a bit of a hiatus from doing much in the way of photography recently but coming out the other side and want to update my 2012 MBP and move from Aperture to Capture One (finally!).

I've chosen to get a 21" iMac. I prefer this size over the 27" as my desk is quite small and when I looked at them in the Apple Store, the 27" is just too big at the distance from which I'll be working. I've thought about the options and have decided on either the 3.0GHz or the 3.4 GHz with i5 processor, 16GB RAM, but don't know whether to get the 1TB Fusion Drive or the 1TB SSD. I don't know how much C1 uses the graphics card as opposed to the drive so don't know whether the SSD is worth the extra. I also don't know how much difference the extra .4 GHz will make.

I don't spend all my time processing photos but within reason it's nice to have the power to do what I want and I keep my Macs for a long time. A group of us at the camera club are going to be mentored to go into bigger competitions, hence the need for a bigger screen than my MBP. I realise that there will probably be a newer model this year with the advantages of extra speed, so I'm also weighing the advantages of this against the fact that the current one has had the bugs worked out of it and should be cheaper.

Your thoughts would be very much appreciated, my head is going round in circles at the moment! Thanks!

Welcome back!
I’ve just retired my 21” iMac in favour of a Mac mini and nice BenQ monitor (well pair!).

I’d suggest go for a small SSD drive than a larger Fusion. You can always add an external drive.

But processors and RAM can’t be changed, so best to max out if you plan to keep awhile.

Any plans to visit TPS this year?

 

[Ish]

Welcome back!
I’ve just retired my 21” iMac in favour of a Mac mini and nice BenQ monitor (well pair!).

I’d suggest go for a small SSD drive than a larger Fusion. You can always add an external drive.

But processors and RAM can’t be changed, so best to max out if you plan to keep awhile.

Any plans to visit TPS this year?

Hi AFB! Thanks! Do you use Capture One? Yes, I have my ticket and will hopefully be there on the Sunday. Look forward to seeing you there, assuming you’ll be there as usual!?

 

[anotherscotsman]

Hi AFB! Thanks! Do you use Capture One? Yes, I have my ticket and will hopefully be there on the Sunday. Look forward to seeing you there, assuming you’ll be there as usual!?

I run C1P v11 very nicely on my 21.5 2011 iMac using an external TB ssd with 12GB ram. Use the ssd to boot, store programs and for work in progress. Once edited, photos transferred to HDD for storage or infrequent access. With Canon 20Mp or 24MP raw files C1P runs very nicely without any graphic card acceleration (not supported on this vintage of machine). C1P doesn’t seem to be as much of a resource hog as say Lightroom. I’m happy with it so I’d guess a more modern iMac would do the job even better.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Hi AFB! Thanks! Do you use Capture One? Yes, I have my ticket and will hopefully be there on the Sunday. Look forward to seeing you there, assuming you’ll be there as usual!?

Yes I’ll be there as usual! No I’ve dabbled with Capture One, but have decided to stick with Adobe.

 

[Ish]

I run C1P v11 very nicely on my 21.5 2011 iMac using an external TB ssd with 12GB ram. Use the ssd to boot, store programs and for work in progress. Once edited, photos transferred to HDD for storage or infrequent access. With Canon 20Mp or 24MP raw files C1P runs very nicely without any graphic card acceleration (not supported on this vintage of machine). C1P doesn’t seem to be as much of a resource hog as say Lightroom. I’m happy with it so I’d guess a more modern iMac would do the job even better.

Thank you, that's very useful to know. I've never used a fusion drive but have heard people say that the Mac directs the SSD portion towards jobs that are done most frequently. My photo editing won't be the most frequent thing I do so wondering if the FD will give me the power I need when I need it.

Yes I’ll be there as usual! No I’ve dabbled with Capture One, but have decided to stick with Adobe.

Great! Then I'll look forward to seeing you there Anyone else going on the Sunday as far as you know?

 

[Apple fanboy]

Thank you, that's very useful to know. I've never used a fusion drive but have heard people say that the Mac directs the SSD portion towards jobs that are done most frequently. My photo editing won't be the most frequent thing I do so wondering if the FD will give me the power I need when I need it.



Great! Then I'll look forward to seeing you there Anyone else going on the Sunday as far as you know?

No ones committed. But I’d not be surprised if a few didn’t appear.

My old iMac had a Fusion Drive, and it works great. It just does what it needs in the background. But a pure SSD will last longer as well as perform better.

 

[GumaRodak]

avoid 4k-5k for capture one if you don't have a powerful GPU with lot of VRAM...

 

[Ledgem]

I've chosen to get a 21" iMac. I prefer this size over the 27" as my desk is quite small and when I looked at them in the Apple Store, the 27" is just too big at the distance from which I'll be working. I've thought about the options and have decided on either the 3.0GHz or the 3.4 GHz with i5 processor, 16GB RAM, but don't know whether to get the 1TB Fusion Drive or the 1TB SSD. I don't know how much C1 uses the graphics card as opposed to the drive so don't know whether the SSD is worth the extra. I also don't know how much difference the extra .4 GHz will make.

I have a few thoughts to share.

First, if it's just about the screen size, do you need an entirely new computer? It would certainly be a lot cheaper to buy a large monitor and use that with your MacBook Pro. For what it's worth, I use a 27" retina "5K" iMac at home, but I'm away from home for a few months and have been using a MacBook connected to a 24" 4K monitor instead. The dual monitor setup is nice because I can use the MacBook's 12" display as my photo browser, having the images appear on the larger monitor for examining in greater detail (useful when culling photos and performing edits). Capture One is fairly flexible with how you can set up the windows, so it works very nicely. Admittedly, I used a similar setup many years ago with Aperture, and it was quite convenient.

If the MacBook Pro is starting to bog you down and you're looking to upgrade for multiple reasons, then let's talk about the system you're proposing.

The processor is unlikely to make a noticeable difference, with three possible exceptions:
1) If your camera does video, and you do video editing;
2) If your camera is one of those very high-resolution ones (40+ megapixels) and you'll be working with large image files;
3) If you do extremely heavy editing.

If any of those describe you, the added speed on the processor might be worthwhile... but it probably won't. I'm specifically thinking about how my MacBook feels compared with my much more powerful iMac, and it's rather surprising how the difference isn't nearly as perceptible as you'd expect.

Your next question was about the fusion drive versus a pure SSD. This one also depends on your habits. The SSD tends to carry quite a premium over the standard fusion drive. Performance-wise it is usually worth it, because your main system drive tends to be kept busy with other programs and the operating system, which can slow down photo performance. But the question becomes, do you really want to go with that setup?

For me, I chose to upgrade to a SSD, but I went with a smaller size (512 GB). I have terabytes of photos and video footage, and rely heavily on external drives to store and access my data. All of my externals are on standard hard drives (my main one is a collection of hard drives merged into one in the form of a Drobo, but that's a separate discussion). It's more cost-effective, and while it's technically slower, it doesn't really matter: the external drive is dedicated solely to the photo program, and USB 3 is more than fast enough for what the photo program does. (You could go for Thunderbolt for an even faster connection, but that ups the cost and for the majority of home users, it's probably a waste.)

If you dislike the idea of external drives, then the decision to go with a fusion drive over the SSD depends on how heavily you multitask, how many programs you have running in the background, and how the cost looks to you. As a general rule, it's better to have the drive containing your operating system on a pure SSD. It does wonders for making the entire computer feel more responsive. Last I had checked, Apple hasn't adjusted their SSD upgrade prices to reflect the general lowering of prices, and it's such a poor value proposition...

The final consideration that you didn't ask about was the RAM. The 21" iMacs do not have user-upgradable RAM (technically, anyway; it's not soldered in, but there's no access panel), so unless you're really adventurous and don't mind voiding the warranty, you're stuck with what you buy. If you multitask very, very heavily, consider upgrading. However, I've been pleasantly surprised that the 16 GB on my MacBook seems to be just fine (I use 32 GB on my iMac), so it may be a non-issue.

One final note: Capture One seems to run slower than Aperture when loading images. Aperture had a really nice way of handling previews and the main image, whereas Capture One generates previews but doesn't seem to be using them, as best I can tell. There's not a huge difference in speed between my iMac and my MacBook in this regard (although admittedly most of my time with Capture One has been on the MacBook at present), and to be fair, the cameras I was using with Aperture were a lower resolution than what I'm using now. Still, I'd hate for you to buy a new computer and then feel disappointed in the performance specifically for photo-editing, when it may be more of a software than a hardware thing.

 

[Ish]

I have a few thoughts to share.

First, if it's just about the screen size, do you need an entirely new computer? It would certainly be a lot cheaper to buy a large monitor and use that with your MacBook Pro. For what it's worth, I use a 27" retina "5K" iMac at home, but I'm away from home for a few months and have been using a MacBook connected to a 24" 4K monitor instead. The dual monitor setup is nice because I can use the MacBook's 12" display as my photo browser, having the images appear on the larger monitor for examining in greater detail (useful when culling photos and performing edits). Capture One is fairly flexible with how you can set up the windows, so it works very nicely. Admittedly, I used a similar setup many years ago with Aperture, and it was quite convenient.

If the MacBook Pro is starting to bog you down and you're looking to upgrade for multiple reasons, then let's talk about the system you're proposing.

The processor is unlikely to make a noticeable difference, with three possible exceptions:
1) If your camera does video, and you do video editing;
2) If your camera is one of those very high-resolution ones (40+ megapixels) and you'll be working with large image files;
3) If you do extremely heavy editing.

If any of those describe you, the added speed on the processor might be worthwhile... but it probably won't. I'm specifically thinking about how my MacBook feels compared with my much more powerful iMac, and it's rather surprising how the difference isn't nearly as perceptible as you'd expect.

Your next question was about the fusion drive versus a pure SSD. This one also depends on your habits. The SSD tends to carry quite a premium over the standard fusion drive. Performance-wise it is usually worth it, because your main system drive tends to be kept busy with other programs and the operating system, which can slow down photo performance. But the question becomes, do you really want to go with that setup?

For me, I chose to upgrade to a SSD, but I went with a smaller size (512 GB). I have terabytes of photos and video footage, and rely heavily on external drives to store and access my data. All of my externals are on standard hard drives (my main one is a collection of hard drives merged into one in the form of a Drobo, but that's a separate discussion). It's more cost-effective, and while it's technically slower, it doesn't really matter: the external drive is dedicated solely to the photo program, and USB 3 is more than fast enough for what the photo program does. (You could go for Thunderbolt for an even faster connection, but that ups the cost and for the majority of home users, it's probably a waste.)

If you dislike the idea of external drives, then the decision to go with a fusion drive over the SSD depends on how heavily you multitask, how many programs you have running in the background, and how the cost looks to you. As a general rule, it's better to have the drive containing your operating system on a pure SSD. It does wonders for making the entire computer feel more responsive. Last I had checked, Apple hasn't adjusted their SSD upgrade prices to reflect the general lowering of prices, and it's such a poor value proposition...

The final consideration that you didn't ask about was the RAM. The 21" iMacs do not have user-upgradable RAM (technically, anyway; it's not soldered in, but there's no access panel), so unless you're really adventurous and don't mind voiding the warranty, you're stuck with what you buy. If you multitask very, very heavily, consider upgrading. However, I've been pleasantly surprised that the 16 GB on my MacBook seems to be just fine (I use 32 GB on my iMac), so it may be a non-issue.

One final note: Capture One seems to run slower than Aperture when loading images. Aperture had a really nice way of handling previews and the main image, whereas Capture One generates previews but doesn't seem to be using them, as best I can tell. There's not a huge difference in speed between my iMac and my MacBook in this regard (although admittedly most of my time with Capture One has been on the MacBook at present), and to be fair, the cameras I was using with Aperture were a lower resolution than what I'm using now. Still, I'd hate for you to buy a new computer and then feel disappointed in the performance specifically for photo-editing, when it may be more of a software than a hardware thing.

This is an amazing response and I very much appreciate your taking the time to advise on so many aspects. Thank you.

I definitely think I need to upgrade the MBP. If I keep it I'll need to add more memory and have the battery replaced. Then there's the fact that when I open it the white items on the screen are pink and I have to partly close it and open it again. I'm afraid that if I upgraded the memory and battery the screen could give out at any time and I'd be left with a monitor (good suggestion though) and the need to get a new MBP, which is serious money. I have a 2011 11" MBA which I use when I'm away taking photos and that has an SSD. The MBP has a 1TB hard drive. It also has a 2.7GHz i7 processor. I was surprised to see it's an i7, I thought I'd bought an i5!

I'm not in either of the three categories you mention. I don't enjoy video and work almost exclusively with stills. Any video I possibly did would be so rare it's not worth upgrading for. I have two Fujis, an X100F and an X-T3, 24MP and 26MP respectively, and the processing I do is comparatively light, tweaking, layers etc. I used to do a fair amount of graphic design but not any more.

I had thought about going with 16GB RAM but would upgrade if it made a reasonable difference. When I'm photo editing I'll typically have a few apps open, Safari, Mail, Pages etc. I have some Adobe stuff but think I'll leave it behind, it's very old.

Once again, Ledgem, thanks for all your help. You're a star!