Camera Labs

Hello people. Today, after 2 or 3 months of owning a 17" Macbook pro, I exchanged it for a 2.8ghz model, 15" mbp because the 17 gets way too hot and its size is a problem when it comes to transporting the laptop. Anyways, I asked for a glossy screen and when I got home and opened it I discovered they had given me a matte screen. Should I keep this matte screen or should I go back and get the glossy? What are the benefits and consequences of each, and how does each do when it comes to photo editing? Also should I keep the 2.8 or get a lower model, if battery life is a concern? One last thing is that I have never photo edited on a mac, so does anyone have any recommendations of photo editing software for the mac? Thanks in advance.

can't really advise you on the mac subject, but personally I prefer a matte screen on a laptop. The glossy ones will act like a mirror sometimes. The "advantage" of a glossy screen is usually slightly better contrast and more vivid colors.

_________________
Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM | Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM | Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM
...and a lot of lighting stuff. -> complete list of equipment

Website
Blog

I would recommend try the matte screen for a few days. It is quite easy to find someone with glossy screens (MacBook users, some MacBook Pro users).

Personally, I would go for matte if I were you.

_________________
AntBlog701 | SillyDog701
Apple: MacBook Air (11-in, 1.8GHz i7), Mac Pro (12-core 2.66GHz), MacBook Pro (15-in), iMac (21.5-in, Core i5), Mac mini Server (2.66GHz), iMac (24-in, C2D), PowerBook G4 (12-in, 1.33GHz), iMac G4 (1.25GHz)x2, PowerMac G4 (dual 1.44GHz), iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, 4, 3G, iPad 4, iPad 3, iPad 2, iPad, iPad mini (all 64GB, LTE/3G), iPod touch (4th gen & 1st gen), 3 x AirPort Extreme, Time Capsule...

There is no downside.

Matt is ALWAYS the better choice.


Aperture or Lightroom are your 2 choices there. I'd personally say go for Lightroom since it ties in with all the Adobe products and works on windows on mac so if you ever change or need to work with your stuff on windows, you can export your catalog etc. to migrate to another computer.

Battery life shouldnt be a big issue on macs they tend to have half decent batteries. Granted dont expect 6 hours of photo editing out of it though, 3 if your lucky and its one of the newest ones with the new type of battery.

_________________
Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

Hello Antony, and welcome to the friendly Camera Labs forum!
To enjoy your stay here please have a look at the house-rules!
----
Macolites prefer Apple Aperture 2 (Mac only).
But the very nice Adobe application "Lightroom 2" can also run on a Mac. And if you grow you can integrate Photoshop CS 4 with Lightroom 2 also and use the world professional standard in photo editing software.

_________________
Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Go matte for editing. I much prefer Lightroom to Aperture actually. Apple seems to change their mind about having Aperture as a trial, see if you can find one to try. Adobe definitely has a trial for LR available so you don't have to buy blind.

_________________
Graham
Flickr

we use macs i guess that makes us macolites lol but we prefer to use lightroom 2.5 over aperture, we tried aperture a few times but found the interface clunky in comparison with lightroom

_________________
Nikon D700+Nikon D-80 + Nikon SB 900 Flashgun+Lumiquest Ultrasoft softbox + Nikon 50mm F 1.8 + Tamron 28-75mm F 2.8 + Sigma 12-24mm F 4.5-5.6 + Sigma 70-200mm F 2.8 + Sigma 150-500 F 5-6.3 Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod+Manfrotto 3265 Joystick Head+Gorillapod SLR-Zoom+Crumpler 7 million dollar home bag+ Crumpler Karachi Outpost Backpack
http://www.kristymacleodphotography.com/

Dang I wanted a matt screen but when i bought mine there was only a glossy choice. I'll trade you a late 2009 glossy screen 15" MBP 4GB ram 500 GB HD and the 9600M GT card for your 15".

_________________
Canon 40D + 70-200mm f/2.8L IS + 50mm f/1.8
Manfrotto 055CX3 + 496RC2
www.thomaslowe.com

Thank you.
I read the 'house-rule' before posting anything. Did I break any rules? If so, would you please point out directly.

_________________
AntBlog701 | SillyDog701
Apple: MacBook Air (11-in, 1.8GHz i7), Mac Pro (12-core 2.66GHz), MacBook Pro (15-in), iMac (21.5-in, Core i5), Mac mini Server (2.66GHz), iMac (24-in, C2D), PowerBook G4 (12-in, 1.33GHz), iMac G4 (1.25GHz)x2, PowerMac G4 (dual 1.44GHz), iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, 4, 3G, iPad 4, iPad 3, iPad 2, iPad, iPad mini (all 64GB, LTE/3G), iPod touch (4th gen & 1st gen), 3 x AirPort Extreme, Time Capsule...

No problem, Antony! No rules broken so far
This is just my way to point starters to the guidelines that make this the friendliest photographic forum on the web

_________________
Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Ive been an avid mac laptop user for sometime and to be honest i wish i went for glossy version of the screen. Matts just makes your images flat and unsharp when in fact they are sharp. Yes you might get a bit of reflection etc but its a laptop it can be moved.

Im seriously thinking of buying a glossy screen from the bay to replace my matt.


Thread i started about matte screen here:

http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17831

_________________
Mark Osborne
My life through an iPhone

If you're in a dark room, nothing can beat gloss. If you have any sort of light at all, matte is the best. I'd go with matte every single time. That small loss in sharpness is much better than watching the lamp or window behind me.

_________________

I agree with Shagrath. I get eye-strain very easily from glossy screens.

Higher pixel density matte screen would solve the problem of apparent sharpness ?

1920x1200 on a 15" screen would look insanely sharp

_________________
Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

Do 15" laptops usually run at that high of a resolution?

_________________