Dave410

<p>Many thanks, everyone!</p>

<p>Thanks, everyone! That was exactly what I needed to know. It sounds like mirrorless is good now and the wave of the future too. Cheers.</p>

<p>Hi Folks,</p> <p>I'm a Canon DSLR shooter and my 7D is getting kinda old so I'm thinking about upgrading and wondering if a jump to mirrorless would be a good idea. I travel a lot and the smaller body and lenses would be very nice. I admit that I haven't been paying attention to advances in the mirrorless world, so how good is the IQ on them now? Has is met or exceeded that of a good DSLR? And how well do they handle low light? It seems I'm always trying to shoot in the dark for some reason.</p> <p>Many thanks.</p> <p>Cheers,<br />Dave</p> <p> </p>

<p>Hi Gang,</p> <p>Anyone been to Brooks Falls and, if so, do you have any advice to share? I'm planning a fly fishing trip to that part of Alaska in late August/early September and the fish camp offers side trips to Brooks Falls for photography. I have a 7D and a 70-200 f/4, but I'm thinking this might be a good excuse to buy that 100-400 that I've been wanting. Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated.</p> <p>Cheers,<br />Dave</p> <p>BTW, I've gone fishing in Alaska many times and even spent a week in a remote cabin on Kodiak Island with a Kodiak grizzly behind every tree, so I'm fairly comfortable around bears. Not too worried about that part.</p>

<blockquote> <p>the importance of the graphics card will certainly not decrease over time</p> </blockquote> <p>One pundit suggested that Apple might remove the discreet graphics card from the MacBook Pro when Skylake arrives. I sure hope that doesn't happen.</p>

<p>Lightroom 6.2 is available for download. Unfortunately, it still won't use the GPU on my old video card.</p>

<blockquote> <p>You can! :) Apple USB keyboard w/keypad. or any other, should work. Anyways, good luck Dave. Keep taking photos.</p> </blockquote> <p>I have a Northgate OmniKey Plus keyboard circa 1990 that's still the best keyboard I've every used. I even have a brand-new spare in the closet in case it breaks. It's a PS2 connection (remember those?) but I already purchased the adaptor so I can dock this keyboard to a MBP if I ever get one. I've also researched Mac key mapping software so I can create a real delete key on the MPB keyboard. There is always a solution. Cheers.</p>

<p>Great advice again, guys. Many thanks. You've probably noticed that I enjoy thinking about and talking about this stuff, so I appreciate your inputs. Hope it's not a chore for you.</p> <p>Here are some observations in no particular order:</p> <p>I probably should have mentioned that I've spent a lot more money on Apple products than I ever have on PCs. In addition to a bunch of iPhones, iPads and iPods, I've purchased two iMacs and three MacBook Pros as gifts for family and friends. My ulterior motive was to avoid having to fix them like I was doing for their PCs and that has worked out well.</p> <p>I've noticed that Mac users, even some of the kids in the Apple store, don't care about and often don't understand specs and performance. That's actually refreshing because it means Mac users can just buy a machine that suits their needs and be assured the performance will be there. Not true in Windows World where you have to be very careful because there are a lot of really crummy machines you can buy if you're not careful.</p> <p>I watch a lot of science shows on TV and, more often than not, the super-geek will have some kind of Mac on the desk behind him. That's telling.</p> <p>Yep, I will probably miss not being able to get under the hood and tweak both the operating system and the hardware, but I've been doing that on PCs for more than 30 years now so maybe it's time to use a computer as just a productivity tool instead of as both a hobby and a tool. I'm saving golf and bridge for the last twenty minutes of my life, but I'm sure there are other fun hobbies out there. Who knows? Maybe I'll take up photography or something.</p> <p>Now, if there was just both a backspace key <em>and</em> a delete key on an Apple keyboard the way keyboards are supposed to be, life would be perfect!</p> <p>Cheers, and thanks again!</p>

<p>Well said, Barry. I wasn't disparaging Macs when I said they are self-limiting. I waste way too much time making Windows work and I'm looking forward to being much more productive when I'm using my new Mac. Like you said, it's a different way of thinking. Cheers.</p>

<p>To answer the question, I have a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and I’ve been using PCs since 1984. My first computer was a PC Junior and I’ve been on the PC path ever since. I build and overclock my desktop machines and I used to spend most of my free time fixing computers for friends, which I still do on occasion. Knock on wood, I’ve never had a computer problem I couldn’t solve. In addition, I have an iPhone, an iPad, and I use a Surface tablet at work.</p> <p><em>Of course </em> I should stay in Windows World. I can build a new desktop with twice the performance for half the price and then upgrade parts as I go along. Been doing it for years. That’s the primary reason I haven’t bit the bullet and switched to the Dark Side already. But switching to Mac might be <em>fun</em>. It would be fun to learn a new operating system and the Mac ecosystem. Besides, nobody ever switches to Mac, says “This sucks,” and goes back to Windows. On the contrary, Mac switchers are usually as annoying as reformed sinners preaching the Gospel. And, finally, I consider switching to Mac an exercise in self-limitation. I spend an awful lot of time sitting in front of my Windows machine tweaking settings, customizing, installing and reinstalling, upgrading and updating, figuring things out, and, yes, fixing things that aren’t working or have stopped working for no apparent reason. You can’t do that on a Mac because Apple won’t let you and therefore I may lose interest in my Mac and go find other things to do. Apparently, there is a real world out there to explore. Or not. As they say, “Real life is just another window.”</p> <p>Cheers.</p>

<p>Sounds good. The important point to me is that you and others have been using a MacBook Pro as your one-and-only computer and are happy with the performance. That's exactly what I needed to know. Many thanks.</p>

<p>We may be miscommunicating here. The top-of-the-line 15" retina MacBook Pro has a dedicated graphics card with 2 GB of GDDR5 RAM whereas the lesser 15" MBP and all the 13" MBPs use an onboard graphics controller which provides lesser performance for some graphics tasks. Hence my question. </p> <p>Just to complicate things, the 13" MPB uses the newer Broadwell CPU while the 15" MBP uses the older Haswell CPU because Intel could not provide enough Broadwells for the latest refresh. Skylake will be out soon, probably next spring in Apple products, and at least one pundit has suggested Apple will discontinue all dedicated graphics cards in laptops since Skylake will have improved graphics performance. Furthermore, the new MacBook uses NVMe to access the SSD, which I figure is about 25% faster than the PCIe architecture used in all other Macs, and I suspect it will reach the MBP line soon. What to do, what to do?</p>

<p>So what about the need for a dedicated graphics card? Is that why you guys have the 15" MBP or is it just for the larger screen?</p>

<p>Many thanks, Andrew. That was exactly the information I needed and you are a voice I trust. And I agree that synching files between a laptop and desktop, which is what I'm doing now, is a real nuisance. It would be very nice to just undock a laptop and take it out on the deck to toast the sunset while I finish whatever I was doing.</p> <p>So which MBP do you have? The kid in the Apple store suggested a 15" MBP with a dedicated graphics card, but the 13" model would be much more convenient for travel, although I would willingly sacrifice some convenience for performance.</p> <p>Cheers and thanks again.</p>

<blockquote> <p>Dave, are you ever going to buy a Mac? You asked nearly the identical question a year ago.<br> And since, have made several "switching to the dark side" posts/comments as well about a "Custom Mac or Off-The-Shelf", or "AHCI or NVMe" laptop or iMac...So just do it Dave, you'll love it. Any modern i7 laptop is fast enough for a hobbyist. Get on with it man!</p> </blockquote> <p>Hey, the only thing I ever rushed into was getting married and that was a disaster. I've learned my lesson! (grin) Besides, I used to be an electrical engineer and I kinda enjoy futzing over specs and performance and trying to figure out how to "maximize efficiency," which means getting the most bang for my buck. It's enjoyable in some twisted way.</p> <p>Anyway, thanks for all the good advice, guys. Basically, I travel about half the month for work and I'm trying to decide whether I need a desktop for home and a laptop for travel or if I can get by with just a hot retina MacBook Pro that I can plug in to a decent monitor and keyboard when I'm home. The latter option would be the most convenient, but I worry about performance from the MacBook Pro. I want Lightroom and my add-ons to fly and the MacBook Pro may not have the horsepower for that. In any case, I'll be waiting to see what Skylake and NVMe will do for the Macs, perhaps in October but more likely next spring.</p> <p>Cheers and thanks again.</p> <p> </p>

<p>What do you folks think of the monitor on the 27" retina iMac? It looks pretty amazing in the Apple store, but how does it stack up to other monitors for photography? Many thanks.</p>

<p>Many thanks, Barry. I look at MacRumors occasionally but haven't been there in awhile. I'll check it out. Cheers.</p>

<p>Questions and comments:</p> <p>Barry, are you using that MacBook Pro and are you happy with the performance for Lightroom and Photoshop? Does it have the dedicated graphics card? Have you connected your laptop to a large monitor and additional keyboard and mouse and has is worked satisfactorily? And, finally, how old is your MacBook Pro? I ask because the kid in the Apple store recommended that machine for me, as opposed to the 13-inch MacBook Pro that does not have the dedicated graphics card. </p> <p>If you are looking at that computer (like I am), you may want to wait until later this fall or, most likely, next spring to purchase it because two very cool new technologies should make their way into the 15-inch MBP by then. At least, I hope so. The first is NVMe, which is already in the new MacBook, and should allow data transfer from the SSD about 30% faster than the current PCIe protocol. The second is Skylake, the hot, new chip from Intel that will improve overall performance by about 20% and graphics performance by about 30%, and also improve battery life. Be aware that the current Intel chip is the Broadwell and it's in the 13-inch MacBook Pro, but the 15-inch MacBook Pro has the older Haswell chip. Skylake will be hitting the streets soon so, if you buy a 15-inch MacBook Pro now, you'll be buying a CPU that's two generations old. It might be worth waiting.</p> <p>Cheers.</p>

<p>Lightroom, some Lightroom add ons, and some other photo applications can now use the really fast processor and memory in the graphics card to improve performance. Make sure the card you get is supported -- not all cards will work.</p>

<p>I'm the one who keeps mentioning "The Dark Side," because I think it's hilarious, and I'm also planning to switch from PC to Mac sometime this fall or early next year. One thing I've noticed as I've done my comparison shopping is that most Mac users don't understand and don't care about computer specs and performance. They just assume the performance will be there for them and don't worry about it. That's a refreshing contrast to the PC universe where there are a lot of really crummy machines you can buy if you're not careful. So, I would agree with Kerry. Check out a Mac and see if it fits your budget with the understanding that there will be additional costs to buy the Mac version of software you use and also that there is no decent financial software for the Mac for managing your household finances. Good luck.</p>

<p>Are full-frame sensors less sensitive to light? It kinda sounds like you're saying that to get a correct exposure with the same lighting, same ISO, and same focal length, you would need to open a full frame up one more stop than a crop sensor. </p>

<blockquote> <p>Dave, thanks. They're called Gacharic Spin, they're terrific to watch.</p> </blockquote> <p>Hot Asian chicks are always terrific to watch! Cheers.</p>

<p>Good luck, Jan!</p>

<p>The streets are lined with food stands and small outdoor cafes, and the cafes have to wash the dishes somewhere, so this one used the cold water spigot in front of the Family Mart convenience store. Whatever works, I guess.</p><div></div>

<p>Who can resist meat on a stick? Not me, that's for sure! Unfortunately, the girl working there couldn't tell me what was what and I made a poor choice. Whatever it was, it was all fat and gristle. I tossed it out and found a better place down the street that was actually quite tasty.</p><div></div>