Camera Labs

I've decided on a Mac. So don't try to convince me otherwise...
(I'm a linux guy at heart, but use Macs at work and want to go that way at home)
I also want to run Photoshop and haven't found Gimp to be up to snuff.

Anyway....

I've been eying a Mac Mini for some time. Specifically the 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo, with 2GB RAM, 80GB HDD. (Small HDD because I keep my photos on an external USB drive.)

I was patiently waiting for MacWorld 2009 due to the rumors of a 'new' Mac Mini that will offer 4GB of RAM. This didn't come...so.....

My questions:
Is anyone else out there using a Mac Mini with 2GB for photo editing? How does it handle Photoshop CS3/CS4?

Is anyone out there using it for video editing? (software undecided) I plan to buy a 5Dmk2 in a couple months and will want to do some limited editing. Nothing professional, just basic personal editing.

Thanks.

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Canon 7D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon Speedlite 430EX, Canon 7D Battery Grip, Canon 12mm Extension Tube.

PhotoBlog: http://www.ancker.net/photoblog/
Gallery: http://www.ancker.net/gallery/

I find the small internal HD to be slow, and external drives never feel as nippy as an internal one. So it might impact responsiveness a bit for video.

Photo editing wise it'll be good enough as long as you don't do massive stuff needing more ram.

I had an earlier Intel Mac Mini, and I'm not up to date with current OS X and apple hardware support, but if memory serves me correctly it takes standard SODIMMs so you might be able to get some 3rd party modules and fit it yourself. The unit is a bit of a pain to open though and I wouldn't be surprised if it voids the warranty. Do apple allow the factory fitting of more ram? Might not be cheap though...

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I had the same expectations for MacWorld January 2009.... I think we have to wait a bit for the new macmini, this one is weаk indeed... I suppose if they decide to continue mini at all, it will be on the next keynote... hold fingers.

I wanted iMAc but with that awful glossy screens... it's no mine.

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Canon 40D, 17-40/4 L, B+W UV normal; canon-50/1.4

We have about 45 Mac Mini's here at work doing various things and having opened a few...I'd rather not deal with it again, though it is an option.

2GB is the current limit from the factory.

I'm okay with 'not as fast it could be.' I just don't want to grow old waiting for my current 12MP (and 21MP future) RAW files to load in Photoshop.

I'm less worried about Video editing as it'll be much less important than photos.

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Canon 7D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon Speedlite 430EX, Canon 7D Battery Grip, Canon 12mm Extension Tube.

PhotoBlog: http://www.ancker.net/photoblog/
Gallery: http://www.ancker.net/gallery/

Hello Ancker, I currently use the original first generation mac mini with a G4 power processor and 512 megabytes of ram.

I run photoshop CS1 just fine on my mac mini (I cant imagine CS2,3,4 would run much differently)

I'm also into video editing, I'm not sure if you're familiar with iMovie but is included with iLife and it is fantastic software. should do most everything you need it also works seamlessly with iTunes iPhoto and iDVD. iDVD is awesome it burns video DVD's that work in any DVD player!

More info from apple at:

http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/

I also own Final Cut Express which is a more advanced video editing software also made by apple. (its a light duty version of what the pro's use: final cut pro) it however struggles on my mini, so much so that i stopped using it. i only use iMove now. when run FCE a warning message tells me i need at least 2 GB of ram to run the program, but i just click ignore. it tends to drop frames quite frequently.

but to simplify my answer, yes. a mac mini will run photoshop and edit videos flawlessly.

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

Thanks for the replies. They really helped a lot.


Tomis, thanks for your first-hand comment.

I'm basically just really bummed that there isn't a new Mac Mini and don't want to be disappointed by the performance of the current version then kick myself for not waiting for the 'new' one.

It sounds like I'll be happily editing away...

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Canon 7D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon Speedlite 430EX, Canon 7D Battery Grip, Canon 12mm Extension Tube.

PhotoBlog: http://www.ancker.net/photoblog/
Gallery: http://www.ancker.net/gallery/

Wouldnt touch a mac mini.

I wouldnt touch anything but a MacPro.

We have brand new 20 inch iMacs at college - they are far slower than my PC at home, yet they are on paper "faster"

I especially hate photoshop on the Mac. its sooo slow!


£500 and you can get yourself a PC that'll kick any iMac's behind ... minus the screen

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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!

Look at this

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/01/15/int ... -in-march/

As for DD statement about macs, big mistake this is an apple conversation nobody wants to hear about crappy PC's.

I Love my mac mini best 600$ i ever spent. if i could marry it i would.

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

If they do go Atom that would be a serious performance drop compared to the current models... but it could be an idea to add a lower model to the line to get more people in. Mac Nano maybe?

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

The Mac mini should run Photoshop fine as long as you don't plan to use very large images as the 2gb of ram isn't really enough. Is the ram user-replaceable? Video uses even more ram than photo editing so you certainly won't be editing HD on such a computer.

I really hope they don't put an Atom or VIA Nano in the mini. At it's price premium over similar computers it would really be pushing how far people are willing to pay extra for less computer. It may be the cheapest Mac but at its current configuration it's hardly cheap.

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Graham
Flickr

More news on the new Mac mini/ Mac Nano....


http://9to5mac.com/mac-mini-midi-micro-nano

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

Go build yourself a computer, check out OSX86 project - you'll be a happier person.

Keeping photos on an external USB drive = horrid.

Firewire 800 would be a good bet.


Replacing it with an atom - hopefully it will be the dual core atom with the Nvidia ION chipset.

On the bright side maybe they are converging 2 products to create another. The Mac Mini and Apple TV - to Create:

The Mid Range Updrageable Tower Mac - that everyone has been wanting for the past century LOL.

_________________
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!