Moving PostProcessing from PC to MacBookPro and Need Advice
henrytd
Registered Users Posts: 74 Big grins
Even with adjustments using a Huey I've been unhappy with quality of my old 19" LCD monitor, and the color accuracy on my IBM ThinkPad T60 is terrible. Time for a change!
When my wife got a 24" iMac last fall, I was dumbfounded by the quality of my images on her monitor. (First computer she's ever loved, or even liked, for that matter). And even the simple iPhoto app did a remarkably good job when I did some post-processing there.
Plan:
1. MacBook Pro 17", 2.66 Core i7, 8 Gb RAM, 500Gb 7200 HD, etc. (adding Bento 3 and Parallels 5 for $30 additional - B&H kit).
2. NEC MultiSync PA241W-BK 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor. This forum has helped me greatly on this one. Panel is latest "Performance" p-IPS technology from LG Display - 10bit color, wide range of pre-sets. I like the ability to easily stay in sRBG when I need to.
3. :dunnoEITHER Datacolor Spyder3Elite Display Calibration system, OR X-Rite i1Display 2 Colorimeter Monitor Profile Solution. I need help here. Any thoughts? Should I just use my Huey Pro (or whatever it's called)?
4. :confused EITHER Apple Aperture 3 OR Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3, and this is the choice I really need help with. I've been using ACDSee Pro, but it doesn't work on Mac. I've used Photoshop CS3 (Windows) for heavier editing. Actually, I see I can get the Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Mac (Upgrade) and Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software Bundle for $385 (B&H), which is only $105 more than the cost of Lightroom 3 by itself. I do like the faces recognition feature which is only in Aperture I believe, but I can always use the included iPhoto to do that, I guess.
By the way, although I love shopping at the Apple Store near us, putting the Apple part of this order (including Applecare) through B&H saves over $600.
Thanks in advance for helping me with this, and a cheerful hello :wave to my friends on Dgrin who I haven't been in touch with for a while. I recently ordered the 50-picture business card sets from MOO, and a couple of you were in some of the pictures. :smo
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When my wife got a 24" iMac last fall, I was dumbfounded by the quality of my images on her monitor. (First computer she's ever loved, or even liked, for that matter). And even the simple iPhoto app did a remarkably good job when I did some post-processing there.
Plan:
1. MacBook Pro 17", 2.66 Core i7, 8 Gb RAM, 500Gb 7200 HD, etc. (adding Bento 3 and Parallels 5 for $30 additional - B&H kit).
2. NEC MultiSync PA241W-BK 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor. This forum has helped me greatly on this one. Panel is latest "Performance" p-IPS technology from LG Display - 10bit color, wide range of pre-sets. I like the ability to easily stay in sRBG when I need to.
3. :dunnoEITHER Datacolor Spyder3Elite Display Calibration system, OR X-Rite i1Display 2 Colorimeter Monitor Profile Solution. I need help here. Any thoughts? Should I just use my Huey Pro (or whatever it's called)?
4. :confused EITHER Apple Aperture 3 OR Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3, and this is the choice I really need help with. I've been using ACDSee Pro, but it doesn't work on Mac. I've used Photoshop CS3 (Windows) for heavier editing. Actually, I see I can get the Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Mac (Upgrade) and Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software Bundle for $385 (B&H), which is only $105 more than the cost of Lightroom 3 by itself. I do like the faces recognition feature which is only in Aperture I believe, but I can always use the included iPhoto to do that, I guess.
By the way, although I love shopping at the Apple Store near us, putting the Apple part of this order (including Applecare) through B&H saves over $600.
Thanks in advance for helping me with this, and a cheerful hello :wave to my friends on Dgrin who I haven't been in touch with for a while. I recently ordered the 50-picture business card sets from MOO, and a couple of you were in some of the pictures. :smo
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The quality isn't because it is a Mac, it's because you are using a generic 19" monitor and a laptop that's for office work. Also, the fact with LCD tech is that old/generic from 3 or 4 years ago means the technology REALLY will not suit work dependent on color calibration. With newer technology, you can get fantastic looking monitors that will work with the Huey Pro for $200-300. The huey pro only works best in 32-bit color display mode as well. Check in case your output is set to 16 or 24 bit. I've used a now $150 Samsung T220 for a year and a half and I actually have to turn down settings because it was so intense. It looks just as good as any mac monitor (aside being only 1650 x 1080 resolution) and retains a satisfactory field of view. Not as good as IPS, but it sure doesn't shift crazily like truly cheap monitors do.
Overfocused: Thanks for your input. Here's where I am:
I've ordered the Macbook Pro described, and also the NEC PA241W-BK 24" monitor. Huge upgrade over present equipment.
And I've decided NOT to rely on the Huey Pro, based on what I've read. If I'm going to move to a wide gamut monitor, calibration is very important.
My challenge is to decide on a monitor calibration solution, which means a hardware device, and compatible software.
Here are five possible solutions:
1. Add the NEC SpectraviewII Calibration h/w+ s/w solution packaged with the monitor for about $250 more;
2. Get just the Spectraview software (made for NEC monitors) for just less than $100, and separately add a colorimeter device.
Get a hardware plus software package such as the two mentioned in the original post:
3. Datacolor Spyder3Elite Display Calibration system ($200), or
4. X-Rite Eye One Display 2 Colorimeter Monitor Profile Solution ($200), or
or a cheaper one:
5. The Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System, which appears to be the same hardware component and a different software component (for $150 total)
I just don't know enough about this to choose with confidence.
I'm leaning toward either 1. or 4.
Skip
http://skip-dechert.smugmug.com
I've looked at much of what has been said on these forums on the Aperture 3 vs. CS5 plus Lightroom 3, but I'm still confused.
I've been a PC guy since 1981, and am just getting going with Mac way of doing things. I'm way behind on my post processing, and need to be much more efficient and effective. I usually take raw plus jpg (5D & G11), but haven't worked editing the raw into my process yet.
Skip
http://skip-dechert.smugmug.com
As far as digital management software - they're all available as a 30 day free trial...
but the most important thing is to learn how to use that software really well.
Sit down with a piece of paper and a pencil and come up with a logical workflow, it will feel odd at first and you will have to fight the urge to do things the "old way" but after a few run throughs you'll be so happy with the time saved that you'll start doing it the new way. You shoot Canon? Check out DPP - I was playing with it the other day to see what it could do and was pleasantly surprised. I think it should be on your shortlist of contenders.
I sprung for Lightroom because I got a discount with CS5 - and while it's great for churning though a ton of raw captures with similar settings I don't like that it only has sliders (in bridge you can type in an exact value).
HTH - Nancy
I don't know where you get that from...in Lightroom if you click on any number, you get to type in whatever you want.
I hate sliders too, so the way I use the sliders is hover the mouse over the number (don't even click) and press the up/down arrow keys to increment it up and down. For example, for Brightness, pressing up arrow increases by 5, Option/Alt plus up arrow increases by 1, Shift plus up arrow increases by 20.
X-rite makes some of the best color calibration systems on the market. I'd go with their line if you have the money for it, and it won't be limited to just NEC
Overfocused, Colourbox, AAABluestocking:
Thanks for your replies.
Regarding the Aperture 3 vs. Lightroom 3 plus CS5 question, it really belongs on the Finishing School forum, so I'm starting a new thread there (I'll carry over a quick summary of observations on that subject made here).
http://skip-dechert.smugmug.com
JFYI, this is the same hardware that comes with the NEC display (at least it was for me one year ago) with software that is specific to the NEC monitor. Can't go wrong either way!
I'd go with the NEC OEM solution and this is why.
Until a week ago I'd always thought the sensor in the puck of the i1 Display2 was perfectly suitable for use on wide gamut monitors (where the monitor has a gamut covering about 100% of sRGB and 100% adobeRGB). But a series of posts over in a DPReview forum have me doubting this. In essence, these posts stated that for wide gamut the i1D2 requires specialized software with a compensation mask to deal with wide gamuts accurately. As I understand it, NEC uses the i1D2 puck but their software is enhanced over the standard Xrite iMatch software and it offers this "mask".
As a result, for a stand alone solution for wide gamut monitors, I would have to lean to the Colorvision Spyder3 Elite.
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