Still worth getting a 5k iMac for photo editing?

[jamisonbaines]

I have a thunderbolt display (2560x1440) and mostly doing 24MP stills and 4k video.
Do you think it's still worth buying a refurb 5k iMac specifically for photo editing? I can edit video via proxy / 1080 on my laptop paired with the thunderbolt display and just use the 5k iMac for playback so I'm not too concerned about processing power.
Currently I have a 7700k desktop and it handles photo editing fine but I think a higher resolution screen would be an upgrade and high end monitors aren't far off from a 5k iMac in price.
Anyone have experiences or opinions? Thanks in advance.

 

[bunnspecial]

I use a 2019 i9 5K iMac paired with a TB display as a second display as my main editing machine(and also for general office work since the screen real estate is valuable to me). I did upgrade it to an NVMe drive(I went for the 2019 specifically because it was not T2 and I could upgrade the storage myself) and also have an RX580 eGPU that Lightroom leverages pretty heavily. I have a bunch of RAM in it. Yes I know "a bunch" is very technical but I'm pretty sure it came with 16gb and I added 64gb, but don't hold me to those numbers and maybe it's just 32+16. It's enough that I don't have to worry about it, and actually beats my M1 MBP in speed and useability for Lightroom. I should mention also I bought this in August 2022.

It's a very workable set-up for me. Even though I don't want to go back to Intel for a laptop as I love the battery life of AS, the later Intel computers especially with higher end i9 CPUs and desktop-level cooling are quite capable still. At the time I bought it I'd really only have been able to get a somewhat comparable AS set-up if I'd gone with a Studio+Studio display, and getting the RAM and storage up where I wanted it would have made that maybe about 4x what I paid for the iMac.

BTW, I'm mostly editing 45mp files from a D850 along with some 36mp from my D810 or D800. I don't do video so can't comment on that.

With that said, if you really need processing power a higher spec iMac Pro still offers some advantage over the 2019 and 2020 5K iMacs. I did cross shop those, but ultimately decided not to as the base model second hand was still more expensive than either of the late non-pro iMacs, and the performance of a base spec iMac Pro is similar to a top end 2019 or 2020 configuration. The higher spec Pros do still hold some advantage, though, but when I was shopping they were still holding strong prices and if I were going to spend that much unless I absolutely needed Intel I'd probably rather just do an appropriately specced Mac Studio+Studio Display. If I'm not mistaken the Studio display is the same panel as is in the 5K iMacs, which is a great display even if it is a bit dated now.

 

[jamisonbaines]

How would you compare working on the 5k display to working on the Thunderbolt display? Worth upgrading just for the higher resolution panel?

I’m looking mostly at 6 core models and I primarily use RawTherapee which doesn’t leverage GPU and some Affinity suite so not too worried w.r.t. processing power.

 

[bunnspecial]

The difference between the displays is noticeable but not as dramatic as I thought it might be. The TB display holds its own.

I scale the 5K display to 2560x1440(which is its default”best for retina”) so at least they “match” in that sense. That’s unusual for me as I tend to run laptop retina displays at the highest “more space” setting(1680x1050 on a 13”.) It would drive me crazy if they didn’t match apparent pixel pitches, but they do. The way my desk is set up, the 5K is closer to me. The Retina screen also gets the more demanding stuff like my main Lightroom window with the TB more as overflow. The TB display does look “fuzzier” but it’s far enough away that it’s not as noticeable for me in actual normal use as up close it appears(if that makes sense). The biggest place I notice it is using a proper Retina desktop background.

Funny enough too, when I was setting up the iMac for use initially I had it set for “more space.” When I plugged the TB in it jumped to 2560x1440…

The biggest annoyance for me is something that’s fortunately easily solved-the iMac display sits about 2” higher. A book under the TB fixes that.

 

[gilby101]

I use 5K 2019 iMac with Lightroom, Photos, Affinity, Pixelmator. I could never go back to my Dell 2560x1440 27" display - it is just so horrible in comparison. Of course, I thought it great when I bought it in 2014.

As well as the resolution, the 5K 2019 iMac supports 30-bit colour (10-bit per colour). Of course, not every photo app makes use of it and I don't know about Raw Therapee.

8 core or 6 core will not make a lot of difference. Many apps (current versions) do make use of the GPU, so I am pleased I went for the 8GB 580X.

 

[bunnspecial]

Here's my absolute disaster of a desk with my current set-up on it. I also have the iMac taped together since I need an HDD temp sensor for it(I have an 8tb spinner in it not currently hooked up since it causes the fans to race) and the regular seal kit is one-time-use.

The height disparity is more like an inch-still annoying but not as bad as I remembered when I wrote this last night.

 

[jamisonbaines]

Thanks for the image. My desk is sometimes in a similar state tbh. I have dual 21.5" monitors side by side with my PC/hackintosh but still not sure about dual 27's. I do have the VESA mount adaptor for the TBD in box, ordered one long ago thinking they might be hard to find in the future, so I could definitely sort the leveling issue. For me it's mostly just a matter of deciding if the 5k panel is good enough to justify buying the Intel iMac.

I have also considered a 3440x1440 ultrawide but I think that's more a replacement for my PC than for my Mac setup.

 

[MiamiBeach]

I have been eyeing a few used 2017 5k iMacs for a while now specifically to view/edit images taken with my Canon mirrorless. I much prefer the vibrant image quality of a glass monitor than the matte finish of my current monitor that makes colors look somewhat dull. Would the iMac 5k accomplish this for me? Or are there any stand-alone monitors out there with this glass front that I should be looking for?

 

[sam_dean]

My 2012 iMac 27" 2.5K display edits 2015 Canon EOS 5Ds R 51 megapixel RAW images just fine.

If you do not mind a 24" display you may be better off with a 2021 iMac 24" 4.5K display as it would be relevant until 2031.

 

[bunnspecial]

Thanks for the image. My desk is sometimes in a similar state tbh. I have dual 21.5" monitors side by side with my PC/hackintosh but still not sure about dual 27's. I do have the VESA mount adaptor for the TBD in box, ordered one long ago thinking they might be hard to find in the future, so I could definitely sort the leveling issue. For me it's mostly just a matter of deciding if the 5k panel is good enough to justify buying the Intel iMac.

I have also considered a 3440x1440 ultrawide but I think that's more a replacement for my PC than for my Mac setup.

I seem to recall when the 5Ks first came out that they were considered a great display at a great price that just happened to have a computer stuck to the back of them.

A lot of people will tell you that they are showing their age as they lack the local dimming and some of the other features of more up to date displays. If I were using a 14 or 16" notchbook Pro I might notice, but since I'm using a 2020 M1 I really don't have any complaints about display quality.

Even now, the used 2019 prices are good enough that I'd not worry too much about cost/value for the computer. I'm pretty sure the current Studio display is essentially the same panel just as a stand-alone display.