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Need some hardware advice for photographer...

C

chris78cpr

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 2, 2011
6
0
London, UK
Hey guys,

So i've spent the last few years using a 15" MBP for the majority of my on the road editing and tethered to an external screen at home for the big stuff. It's showing it's age now and i'm also getting to the point of being sick of carrying a 15" laptop around with 3 bodies/6 lenses, it adds up to quite a weight.

Realistically on the road i don't do any extensive or processor heavy editing. It amounts to uploading cards into lightroom, doing a first round of picks and discarding the crap and working on crops. All the colour/exposure work is done back on the calibrated screen at home. I occasionally make on the spot slideshows to show clients but its rare...

I cannot for the life of me decide if i want the power and screen of a 13" rMBP or whether i should just go with the 13" MBA for it's portability...?

Will the 13" Air meet me needs running a large lightroom catalogue from an external drive at home? Will it be ok at doing quick lightroom previews when i'm away? Everything in me says go for the rMBP but i hear things about it's ability to show adobe programs in retina mode a problem and the fact of the matter is i fly a HELL of a lot. So lightness and portability is a big thing for me. (In May it's involved travel from London to... Nairobi, Miami, Singapore, Sydney and there is still room to go to Cape Town before June begins)

Advice and help from anyone is appreciated.... Thank you!!

Chris
 
The retina is amazing for photos. I have the 2.4/8/256 and it works exellent with Lr and Ps.
 
You mention portability. Have you compared the two? In my opinion there isn't much of a difference. Take a good look at an Air up close first prior to deciding. The thing that would put me off is its viewing angles. Shifting your head right and left will produce a greater impact in the look of the image on screen than it will with the rmbp. The difference in weight is around half a pound when comparing 13" to 13". Both are significantly lighter than the 15" cmbp.

For a comparison in weight

15" cmbp 5.6 lbs.
15" rmbp 4.46 lbs.
13" rmbp 3.57 lbs.
13" air 2.96 lbs.
 
The wife and I followed a different path. We were each dragging around 50 pound rolling bags of 35m bodies, lenses, and our 15" rMBPs.

Our solution is we sold off all 35mm equipment and went Micro Four Thirds. We can now have our 15" rMBPs, camera bodies, and 4 lens in a Tenba large messenger bag. The older you get, the more M43 equipment makes sense.
 
MCAsan said:
The wife and I followed a different path. We were each dragging around 50 pound rolling bags of 35m bodies, lenses, and our 15" rMBPs.

Our solution is we sold off all 35mm equipment and went Micro Four Thirds. We can now have our 15" rMBPs, camera bodies, and 4 lens in a Tenba large messenger bag. The older you get, the more M43 equipment makes sense.
Click to expand...

Nice to see logic win out! Kudos
 
thekev said:
You mention portability. Have you compared the two? In my opinion there isn't much of a difference. Take a good look at an Air up close first prior to deciding. The thing that would put me off is its viewing angles. Shifting your head right and left will produce a greater impact in the look of the image on screen than it will with the rmbp. The difference in weight is around half a pound when comparing 13" to 13". Both are significantly lighter than the 15" cmbp.

For a comparison in weight

15" cmbp 5.6 lbs.
15" rmbp 4.46 lbs.
13" rmbp 3.57 lbs.
13" air 2.96 lbs.
Click to expand...

You make a good point there, i didn't realise they were that close in terms of weight! Actual footprint is the same i assume but the thin form factor is also a big draw for me.

----------
MCAsan said:
The wife and I followed a different path. We were each dragging around 50 pound rolling bags of 35m bodies, lenses, and our 15" rMBPs.

Our solution is we sold off all 35mm equipment and went Micro Four Thirds. We can now have our 15" rMBPs, camera bodies, and 4 lens in a Tenba large messenger bag. The older you get, the more M43 equipment makes sense.
Click to expand...

In an ideal world that would be perfect! But i could justify buying the Air and the rMBP and still be quids in before changing up the system like that. I am a fan of the Fuji X System but use that for personal work rather than professional work. I just can't get the results i can from a 5D3/35L/50L/85L from anything else!

Out of curiosity what did you change from/to?
 
chris78cpr said:
You make a good point there, i didn't realise they were that close in terms of weight! Actual footprint is the same i assume but the thin form factor is also a big draw for me.
Click to expand...

They're actually about the same at the thickest point. The Air tapers off where the rmbp is roughly the same thickness at any point. The 13" rmbp is definitely thinner than the non-retina 15". I think it's worth looking at both in person if possible.
 
I think the three bodies and six lenses are the bigger issue in both size and weight. Are you carrying 1 Series or 5D bodies and L's? I would not want to manage and edit images on a 13" display, especially after buying my 27" Apple Display. I'd rather leave a body and lens at home and have a bag that has wheels. Perhaps a Tenba backpack with wheels or a Think Tank bag would be appropriate.
 
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