Camera Labs

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to hear people's experiences with these MacBooks for a working photographer to take with them to location jobs, Uni (if your a student, which i am), showing your work to possible clients, editing on the move and for general use.

I've been guided down Mac root by my tutors and friends and have enjoyed working with there OS at university, so I have been researching the different views on the Pro and Air. But I can't seem to make a definite decision on which would be better. I really like the design, portability, speed and screen on the Air BUT the Pro has the option of more ports and customization in the future.

Any views, personal experiences and opinions with these 13" MacBooks would be much appreciated!

Thanks!!! Scott

I went 13" MBP last summer for the reason of having more on-board storage and the slightly sturdier build but your mileage may vary when it comes to heft. There are days I wish I had a lighter one, but overall I can't complain.

The screen is higher res on the MBA which when editing photos is a huge help, but the pixel pitch is pretty good on the MBP as well, and I already know that I have a hard time seeing small fonts fairly well on it while still having efficient use of UI space (coming from a Windows environment, OSX text is generally a bit "beefier" than I was used to in terms of horizontal dimensions).

A 500GB internal HDD was important to me at the price point... I wouldn't (for my uses) be able to deal with anything smaller even with external storage. And not having an onboard optical drive would be a large disappointment for me, which was another issue. Not that I use a lot of optical media, but burning DVDs for clients or even watching a movie with my girlfriend on the weekend is often done via the optical drive. I don't want to have to buy an external one and carry it "just in case" with the chance to misplace it or break it... But again, it's all personal preference.

Just some points to ponder

_________________
Canon EOS 5D MkII | Canon EOS 7D | Canon Digital Rebel XSi | EF 35mm f/1.4L | EF 50mm f/1.8 II | EF 85mm f/1.8 | EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM | EF 135mm f/2L | EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS | 580EX II | LumoPro LP-120

My Flickr

I went for the Air for pure portability, but I already find the lack of ports annoying at times. If you can live with the weight of a MBP, I'd go for one of those instead.

But the screen res is a factor, especially if like me, you run apps with lots of big palettes. I needed the high res of the 13in Air or the bigger MBPs. If you can only go for the 13in MBP, you have to decide if you need the extra res.

Is this your only computer? Will it be doing any heavy lifting? Showing photos should work ok on an 11" screen but even the 13" is small for editing.

_________________
Graham
Flickr

Thankyou so much for your imput. Gordon, at the moment it all about portabity so i think the Macbook Air maybe the way to go.

In terms of storage, I have a couple of external hard drives that i use for all my work to memory will not be an issue. The only thing worrying me is that with the air , you can't do much modification with the hardware so Ill need to do some research on what i may need in the future ones i go into more work.

Interestingly, I talked to a guy from apple at college the other day and he recommend me to hold on as they may be some new releases in the coming months. So I may hold off for a month or two and see if anything happens.

Thankyou! Massive help. Keep up the good work Gordon!

Scott.

The screen on MacBook Air isn't as good as the one on MacBook Pro. If you want to do some serious colour work, you need MacBook Pro.

As for me, I live happily with 11-inch MacBook Air, due to its compactness.
I don't mind lacking of ports on MacBook Air, since I hardly use any other ports on it. You use DVD or CD Sharing to access optic media on other Mac or PC.

I used to go out with 15-inch MacBook Pro, way too heavy. These days, I go out with iPad (and 11-inch MacBook Air if needed).

_________________
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...

That's interesting you say your happy with 11", because i really like the idea of have such a small and light machine. How have you found photo editing on such a small computer?

Cheers, Scott

Antony, you say that the MBA's screen is not as good as the MBP's screen. I think that might be oversimplifying it. The MBA's pixel density gives it a visibly sharper image but the MBP's screen has better quality in every other area. Both are pretty good for mainstream laptops but none are going to compete with a proper monitor. So if you plan to "dock" the laptop at home for editing Scott, maybe that's something you want to think about.

I have a 15" MBP. It is light in its class and carrying it to uni isn't the worst but it definitely makes its presence felt. The 13" isn't significantly lighter, if weight is a concern, I think go with the Air. The Air also has a more aggressive turbo boost so real world speeds are close to the MBP on CPU limited tasks and for the most part it is more responsive because of the SSD. Lack of ports would be a deal breaker for me so think about that. Being stuck on USB 2.0 kinda sucks if you're moving photos back and forth across drives and Thunderbolt adoption is pretty slow the and the price of entry for early adopters right now is pretty high.

_________________
Graham
Flickr

Well, when I work on screen screen, I have to use as much as screen-estate as possible, including hiding the Dock, and changing the toolbar icons to smaller version (if available).

Editing? I don't do much editing on MacBook Air, more or less for tagging and other works (organising, browsing, email etc) on the go. Most of my editing are done on Mac Pro (back home).

You got the pictures.
MBA's screen is a bit pale compared to MBP's, as well as more limited visible angle, hence I wouldn't recommend using MBA's screen for serious colour work. Saying that, MBA's screen is still very good for many other work. I don't think the higher pixel density will do much benefit when the overall space is not that big to start with.

Speaking about pixel density, the new iPad (3rd gen) has even higher. In fact, I am still very impressed with the screen quality of iPad (3rd gen) especially when I put the iPad 2 right next to it. It is pretty good for checking photos, and the iPhoto (app) does a reasonable good job on lighter tasks (and great for fun). Perhaps I shall give Photoshop Touch (app) a try.

Oh, I found the iPad (3rd gen)'s display better than MacBook Air's.

_________________
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...

Thanks Anthony for you input, Huge help!
I'm really considering the Macbook Pro, as I went into the apple store the other day and both side by side, and i noticed the colours on the pro were much deeper and richer, although not as sharp the display i thought looked better. I think sharpness with the more pixels would be a big help but I think colours and contrast it more import for editing.

As well as this, I think I may invest in the future an external monitor and dock the macbook pro, so then the pixels won't be a problem as most external displays have a very high pixel count.

The the issue i found was that I do use Cds (As i love music and film), But do any of you photographer still use them for you work? i ask this as I've heard the new Pro will not include a SuperDrive.

Cheers! Scott

That's a good decision, if that's the case, you can go for 13-inch to save yourself some energy on carrying it and making it more portable. If you carry it often, extra portability would be greatly appreciated after a while.

Saying that, if you tend to work with a few windows open (while outside), you might consider the benefit of the extra space and more powerful graphic processor. Also with 15-inch (or 17-inch), you can customise to antiglare version instead of glossy display, and the option of choosing hi-resolution.
For your reference, in current models (Late 2011),
MBA 11-inch: 1366x768 glossy only (135 PPI);
MBA 13-inch: 1440x900 glossy only (128 PPI);

MBP 13-inch: 1280 by 800 glossy only (113 PPI);
MBP 15-inch: 1440 by 900 glossy (stock model) (110 PPI), 1680 by 1050 glossy or 1680 by 1050 antiglare (128 PPI);
MBP 17-inch: 1920 by 1200 glossy (stock model) or 1920 by 1200 antiglare (132 PPI).
Glossy vs antiglare is another debate, I would only point out that colour is more saturated in glossy, and glossy screen is easier to read under the sun.

That's what rumour says. One thing very important... don't treat rumours like bible.

If that's the case, you can either use Remote Disc feature or get an Apple MacBook Air SuperDrive, USB connected. Remote Disc allows you to use the optical drive on nearby Mac or PC as its own.
As for music, all my songs are ripped into iTunes (first thing I do after I bought the CD).

The MacBook Air SuperDrive works for MacBook Air and Mac mini. Most of the time it leaves inside its box since I transfer most files via 802.11n or gigabit ethernet.

_________________
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...

So, The Pro is definitely the way forward for me and most photographers. But what can we expect from the new 2012 model?

Personally, im ordering the current model asap as I need one soon for jobs and uni, And as I still want a cd drive

Scott

Personally, I would suggest you wait until the announcement of 2012 models before deciding, that is, if you can wait.

If you can't wait for the new models, learn not to regret what you just bought. (In other words, you can live without the latest of whatsoever.)

Based on your writing, it sounds like this will be your first Mac. Don't forget to budget for software.

_________________
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...

Thanks so much for you input Anthony.
I had a talk to my college , and I was able to get a huge discount on the Macbook Pro. So I took a step back and thought, It does everything I need it to do and more. I could rally do with one asap and like you said, not to regret it and enjoy the product.
So i went to the Apple store yesterday and had a play and talk with them and bought one. I got the basic 13" model, but for £850! With AppleCare £40! So I couldn't resist.

I'm currently typing on it and its stunning. Don't regret it one bit!

Thanks so much for all your help! Scott.

I hope you enjoy your MacBook Pro.

_________________
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...