Considering buying new 24" iMac

[geogphotos]

58 minutes ago, imageplotter said:

Seconding all things Eizo. My current Eizo ColourEdge is self calibrating and a thing of beauty, now almost 5 years old, the previous Eizo was 10 years old and is still going as a secondary monitor for client shoots, but the older one has to be calibrated quite regularly, which was always a bit tedious. They are not cheap, but are a solid investment and also very solidly built, have the optional surround which limits glare onto the screen, can can be fully adjusted in height, viewing angle etc.

 

 

I went to have a look at Eizo Colour Edge - came across this:

 

Important Notice: macOS models using the Apple M1 chip currently do not support ColorEdge software applications. Support is expected at a later date.

Edited August 4, 2022 by geogphotos

[imageplotter]

23 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

 

 

I went to have a look at Eizo Colour Edge - came across this:

 

Important Notice: macOS models using the Apple M1 chip currently do not support ColorEdge software applications. Support is expected at a later date.

Ah, that's a bummer. Am not a mac user, so was not aware of that. Colour Edge models have been around for quite a few years though, so it's interesting that they've not adapted the software for that chip. Probably worth checking with Eizo when the update is expected.

[MDM]

11 minutes ago, imageplotter said:

Ah, that's a bummer. Am not a mac user, so was not aware of that. Colour Edge models have been around for quite a few years though, so it's interesting that they've not adapted the software for that chip. Probably worth checking with Eizo when the update is expected.

 

Ancient news and long ago sorted out. In other ancient news, England play West Germany in the World Cup Final  (July 1966),  the sky is falling on our heads (Chicken Little, 1867 or thereabouts), global warming is real (MDM, 1989) and we're all going to die (MDM, July 2022). In any case it was only the software applications (Color Navigator) that were not initially supported - working fine on my M1 machine as I write. But you could and can use other display calibration software - Color Navigator is excellent but not compulsory.

Edited August 4, 2022 by MDM

[Ognyan Yosifov]

4 minutes ago, MDM said:

 

Ancient news and long ago sorted out. In other ancient news, England play West Germany in the World Cup Final  (July 1966),  the sky is falling on our heads (Chicken Little, 1867 or thereabouts), we're all going to die (MDM, Aug 2022). In any case it was only the software applications (Color Navigator) that were not initially suppored - working fine on my M1 machine as I write. 

I've been using an Eizo ColorEdge CG277 for the last 6 years and it's just brilliant ...

Edited August 4, 2022 by Ognyan Yosifov

[MDM]

13 minutes ago, Ognyan Yosifov said:

I've been using an Eizo ColorEdge CG277 for the last 6 years and it's just brilliant ...

 

Absolutely. Seeing is believing. 

[geogphotos]

45 minutes ago, imageplotter said:

Ah, that's a bummer. Am not a mac user, so was not aware of that. Colour Edge models have been around for quite a few years though, so it's interesting that they've not adapted the software for that chip. Probably worth checking with Eizo when the update is expected.

 

Don't know anything about it - just what I saw on their website. 

[MDM]

In my opinion, we should all  check our  facts before making statements that are likely to cause misunderstandings and even consternation among those who read their out of date news. Fake news is rife in our world so best to not make it worse. Because of the proliferation of fake news and barefaced lies, many people no longer know what to believe. 

 

This announcement on the Eizo website relates to Big Sur, not long after Apple introduced the new M1 Macs. Clearly all the initial teething troubles with the Color Navigator and other Eizo software were resolved ages ago. 

 

Fact - Eizo make fantastic monitors.

 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by MDM

[geogphotos]

1 hour ago, MDM said:

 

 

Fact - Eizo make fantastic monitors.

 

 

 

 

 

Not so good at keeping their webite updated.

[Allan Bell]

After long and in depth deliberations I visited "SELECT" Apple reseller in Lincoln and ordered a Mac Mini Pro M2 with 32GB memory and 512GB storage. It also has 4 Thunderbolt 4 sockets. All for £1,799.00 on a 6 to 8 week delivery. Yes I could have bought a Mac Studio for just £200 more BUT the Mac Studio only has a M1 chip.

 

Just before it arrives I will get an EIZO ColorEdge  CS2731 27" Wide Gamut IPS Monitor with 2560 x 1440 display to marry it up to.

 

The delivery delay will give me time to sort out my existing 27" iMAC and make sure all unused and unwanted apps/folders and files are deleted and those that are required are moved to my desktop hard drives.

 

Allan

 

[Marianne]

Sounds good Allan! You'll love the new power and beautiful display!

[M.Chapman]

Good choice!

 

Mark

[CAROL SAUNDERS]

Good luck with your new Mac Allan I'm sure you will be happy with it😁

 

Carol

[MDM]

18 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

After long and in depth deliberations I visited "SELECT" Apple reseller in Lincoln and ordered a Mac Mini Pro M2 with 32GB memory and 512GB storage. It also has 4 Thunderbolt 4 sockets. All for £1,799.00 on a 6 to 8 week delivery. Yes I could have bought a Mac Studio for just £200 more BUT the Mac Studio only has a M1 chip.

 

Just before it arrives I will get an EIZO ColorEdge  CS2731 27" Wide Gamut IPS Monitor with 2560 x 1440 display to marry it up to.

 

The delivery delay will give me time to sort out my existing 27" iMAC and make sure all unused and unwanted apps/folders and files are deleted and those that are required are moved to my desktop hard drives.

 

Allan

 

 

 Great Allan and exactly what I recommended in the other thread. Best of luck.

[Jansos]

On 26/04/2023 at 18:41, Allan Bell said:

Just before it arrives I will get an EIZO ColorEdge  CS2731 27" Wide Gamut IPS Monitor with 2560 x 1440 display to marry it up to.

Hi Alan, Can I ask what you paid for the Eizo and whether or not you also purchased a monitor hood? Amazon seem to be selling it for less that £1k! Which seems incredibly good. 

The Eizo website is helpful but first hand experience is always so much better. Happy with your set-up? 

[Allan Bell]

11 hours ago, Jansos said:

Hi Alan, Can I ask what you paid for the Eizo and whether or not you also purchased a monitor hood? Amazon seem to be selling it for less that £1k! Which seems incredibly good. 

The Eizo website is helpful but first hand experience is always so much better. Happy with your set-up? 

 

Hi, I bought my EIZO from WEX for £929 delivered free and they still have them in stock.

I did not get the hood and after using the setup for a while I do not have need of one.

 

Yes, happy with set-up.

 

Allan

 

[MDM]

Maybe of no interest but my 27" Eizo CG277 wide gamut, beautiful matte screen, in-built calibrator and hood, is looking for a new home and will listen to sensible offers. It is coming up to 9 years old but has been very well looked after as is my way with all my gear. It was top of the Eizo range when I bought it new in October 2014 for abot £1,550 or so. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by MDM

[Jansos]

2 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

Hi, I bought my EIZO from WEX for £929 delivered free and they still have them in stock.

I did not get the hood and after using the setup for a while I do not have need of one.

 

Yes, happy with set-up.

 

Allan

 

Cheers Alan, thanks for the info & update 🙂

[wiskerke]

I don't have hoods on my Eizos. But sometimes I do get too much flare where I am sitting right now. (My main workstation is on wheels.) My solution is to use some of the styrofoam (expanded polystyrene - EPS) panels from the studio which are matte black on one side and white on the other. Because they're so light they easily balance on top of the two monitors that sit at a slight angle. They interfere somewhat with the speakers though. And they obstruct the little Ikea spotlight that's currently directed at the keyboard from above.

 

wim

[geogphotos]

I have this:

 

 

Apologies for not understanding much of the technical descriptions in the thread above.

 

Given my sort of relatively straightforward ( in terms of Photoshop) secondary editorial pics how could the system Allan describes benefit my workflow and quality of images?

 

Clearly my 2017 version ( new machine in 2019 when the original malfunctioned) will need to be replaced and Alan's set-up seems ideal to me.

 

If I have the cash at the end of the tax year would you suggest upgrading now to the:

 

Mac Mini Pro M2 with 32GB memory and 512GB storage.

EIZO ColorEdge  CS2731 27" Wide Gamut IPS Monitor with 2560 x 1440 display

 

As an additional potential consideration would printing be more accurate, easier to calibrate, better, whatever

 

Thanks

 

Ian

[Allan Bell]

On 24/08/2023 at 07:24, geogphotos said:

If I have the cash at the end of the tax year would you suggest upgrading now to the:

 

Mac Mini Pro M2 with 32GB memory and 512GB storage.

EIZO ColorEdge  CS2731 27" Wide Gamut IPS Monitor with 2560 x 1440 display

 

As an additional potential consideration would printing be more accurate, easier to calibrate, better, whatever

 

 

YES!

But can't answer your printing question as I do not do much and it is only small amounts of personal stuff, mainly B and W.

 

Allan

[geogphotos]

2 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

 

YES!

But can't answer your printing question as I do not do much and it is only small amounts of personal stuff, mainly B and W.

 

Allan

 

 

Thanks Allan. I think you had a similar set-up to me before moving to this one. I'd really like to know what improvements you have found in processing images for stock. The printing side of things is just hypothetical. 

 

I see your clear YES and would love to know more about how you are finding the new computer system and monitor.

[Allan Bell]

41 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

 

 

Thanks Allan. I think you had a similar set-up to me before moving to this one. I'd really like to know what improvements you have found in processing images for stock. The printing side of things is just hypothetical. 

 

I see your clear YES and would love to know more about how you are finding the new computer system and monitor.

 

I am still learning new things about my new system but it is very similar to the old system and I got into it quickly. I had to change my system because Apple would not update the OS (operating system) for it, it being a late 2013 model, and with out that I was not able to upgrade Adobe LrC when new iterations were issued. Yes I am on subscription with Adobe LrC. So it was a necessary change.

 

I have not done any speed checks but it does seem to be faster at processing images than the old 27" iMac.

 

The monitor came with a set up that I did not have to change and put it straight to use. It is, to all intents and purposes, the same as the old screen on the iMac.

Except for one little niggle and that is, instead of turning the system on by pressing one button, as on the iMac, I now have to press TWO buttons. One on the Mac Mini Pro and the other on the EIZO monitor.

 

I am not right up on the serious techie stuff. I simply set things up and use them.

 

Allan

 

[Jansos]

Indulge me folks... I've been looking at monitors to go with the Mac Mini Pro M2 (incidentally, is 32Gb memory worth it given that the new M2 chips are much more capable?).

I would love the expensive Eizo ColorEdge C22731 27 inch that has been recommended but it is nearly twice the price of these other models. Given that I have been using an old iMac 21.5 inch screen (1920 x 1080 resolution) for the last 7 years am I really going to see much difference when using the Eizo ColorEdge CS2731 27 inch as opposed to the BenQ or Eizo 24 inch monitors?

 

BenQ SW240 Pro 24in IPS LCD Monitor

£499

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/benq-sw240-pro-24in-ips-lcd-monitor-1663366/

 

EIZO ColorEdge CS2410 24 Inch IPS Monitor

£479

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/eizo-coloredge-cs2410-24-inch-ips-monitor-1722840/

 

EIZO ColorEdge CS2731 27 Inch Monitor

£929

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/eizo-coloredge-cs2731-27-inch-monitor-1734947/?cpgnid=17869409247&adext=&account=853-353-2386&campaign=&group=&mkwid=_dc&pcrid=&kword=&match=&plid=&pgrid=&ptaid=&si=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsL6BqOus-QIVSKjVCh25-gWvEAYYASABEgLw3PD_BwE

 

Your thoughts would be much appreciated. 🙂

[MDM]

1 hour ago, Jansos said:

Indulge me folks... I've been looking at monitors to go with the Mac Mini Pro M2 (incidentally, is 32Gb memory worth it given that the new M2 chips are much more capable?).

I would love the expensive Eizo ColorEdge C22731 27 inch that has been recommended but it is nearly twice the price of these other models. Given that I have been using an old iMac 21.5 inch screen (1920 x 1080 resolution) for the last 7 years am I really going to see much difference when using the Eizo ColorEdge CS2731 27 inch as opposed to the BenQ or Eizo 24 inch monitors?

 

Your thoughts would be much appreciated. 🙂

 

32GB may not be necessary at this point in time but it may be down the line depending on how many years you want to get out of the computer. As I've said numerous times on the forum, but it is worth repeating, these Macs cannot be upgraded and it could be false economy to skimp at purchase time. It really depends on what you do obviously. If you are just using LR for processing 24MP images and not doing a lot else, then 24GB should future proof you for some years. With 24GB you could go for the middle Mac Mini model and save quite a lot of money.

 

As I've also said several times, you don't need loads of internal storage as this can be very expensive. So I think it's better to go for 512GB and use external drives as the ITB drive is £200 more than the 512GB which is expensive. External SSDs are a lot cheaper and just as good as working drives as the extremely fast but extremely expensive internal drives.

 

As far as the monitor is concerned, you would notice a massive difference going for the 27", particularly a beautiful Eizo. In fact it is potentially dangerous as you will never be satisified with anything less in the future. It always amazes me when people buy top quality camera gear and skimp on the monitor which, for most people nowadays, is the only way one is ever going to see one's images. But be careful - it is very hard to go back.😎

Edited September 1, 2023 by MDM

[Jansos]

9 hours ago, MDM said:

 

32GB may not be necessary at this point in time but it may be down the line depending on how many years you want to get out of the computer. As I've said numerous times on the forum, but it is worth repeating, these Macs cannot be upgraded and it could be false economy to skimp at purchase time. It really depends on what you do obviously. If you are just using LR for processing 24MP images and not doing a lot else, then 24GB should future proof you for some years. With 24GB you could go for the middle Mac Mini model and save quite a lot of money.

 

As I've also said several times, you don't need loads of internal storage as this can be very expensive. So I think it's better to go for 512GB and use external drives as the ITB drive is £200 more than the 512GB which is expensive. External SSDs are a lot cheaper and just as good as working drives as the extremely fast but extremely expensive internal drives.

 

As far as the monitor is concerned, you would notice a massive difference going for the 27", particularly a beautiful Eizo. In fact it is potentially dangerous as you will never be satisified with anything less in the future. It always amazes me when people buy top quality camera gear and skimp on the monitor which, for most people nowadays, is the only way one is ever going to see one's images. But be careful - it is very hard to go back.😎

Many thanks for such a thorough and considered response - very much appreciated. I agree with you about RAM, future proofing is a really good idea if affordable. Also, the external SSD drive makes a lot of sense. Still not sure as to whether to splash out on 27 inch as opposed to 24 inch. Decisions, decisions.... :-)