The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Mac Mini for IQ3 100 and C1/Photoshop CC

MILESF

Member
Does anyone have any experience of using a Mac Mini with IQ3 100 files in C1 and PS CC?

I have a Mac Pro but now need top spread my processing across two rooms some way apart via a CAT5 network. The second machine would be maily used as a print server and for scanning old negatives but I would like to be able to do some further image processing from time to time.

I have two NEC 27" monitors so don't really an i-Mac. I don't need/want another Mac Pro and I'm OS X only so Windows is not an option.

The Mac Mini is now rather long in the tooth and seems due a refresh one day. 3 Thunderbolt ports would be good but otherwise 16Gb RAM and a decent processor suggest it might be as good as my ageing MBP but with a decent 27" monitor.

Any views ?
 

Frankly

New member
I had a Mac Mini Server i7 set up with dual monitors 2012-2015 but not with IQ3 files or the latest PS CC obviously. I did a lot of 4x5 scanning and worked on 300-500mb files.

It ran fine but wasn't much different than a higher end laptop. It was crippled by the video, I forget but I think I was only able to drive the monitors at 2048 pixels wide (+ or - one step).

The larger files lagged a bit with opens and saves, sometimes with brushes but really not too bad. Digital files from DSLRs were no problem.

I thought I'd be slick and RAID the two drives in the server and wasted days trying to manage this. Never got it to work well so went back to a normal configuration.

It's a shame Apple didn't allow the Mini platform to expand but once they gave up monitors they ignored it.

The latest Tech Crunch mentions that Apple may get back into the professional monitor business along with the new Mac Pro design aimed for 2019. They are also doing pro laptops and a pro iMac so perhaps we'll get more RAM capacity and better screens.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
My newest Mini is a 2009, and I still edit photos on it occasionally. The newest version with i7 3.0 GHz and 16GB RAM should be sufficient for anything you throw at it. I would buy it with a fusion drive or SSD though, to speed up system processing.
 

MILESF

Member
My newest Mini is a 2009, and I still edit photos on it occasionally. The newest version with i7 3.0 GHz and 16GB RAM should be sufficient for anything you throw at it. I would buy it with a fusion drive or SSD though, to speed up system processing.
Thanks Jorgen,

That's the way I am thinking in terms of spec. My main processing will still be on the Mac Pro (at least until the new Mac Pro sees the light of day) but being able to work on the Mini will avoid having to run indoors and up two flights of stairs from time to time.
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Ditto - Mac mini server ended being a decent platform quite a few years ago. Get a Mac iMac or pro these days. My Mac Mini server I7 hasnt been upgraded for many years and if anything it’s been dumbed down significantly.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Thanks Jorgen,

That's the way I am thinking in terms of spec. My main processing will still be on the Mac Pro (at least until the new Mac Pro sees the light of day) but being able to work on the Mini will avoid having to run indoors and up two flights of stairs from time to time.
There's another advantage with the Mini, and that's the option to stuff it in a bag and connect it to a monitor and keyboard/mouse wherever you arrive. One can always argue that this is what MacBooks are made for, but current day MacBooks aren't equipped with a full size HDMI port, 4 USB-3 ports and two Thunderbolt 2 ports. I hardly ever find equipment with USB-C cables and/or port when I visit places, and all my own equipment, including backup disks in different locations, printers, scanners etc., are USB-2 or 3, and projectors and monitors are HDMI.

Coming to think of it, I'd better buy a new Mini before they launch a new, crippled model with USB-C only :ROTFL:
 

camping

Member
You might want to look at the idea of a Hackintosh.
You can use your existing OS and mac programs. A non gaming video would be cheaper than what this fellow used.

All the best,

Paul
 

MILESF

Member
I went for a MacMini with i7 16gb RAM and 1Tb SSD. I works very well and happily drives my twin NEC271 Spectraview monitors at their maximum resolution of 2560x1440. It handles the IQ1-3100 files in C1 with ease too. The only problem is that the monitors take up both thunderbolt ports and ideally I'd like a third to be able to offload sessions to my DAS. So I'm going to have to plug and unplug from time to time.

Thanks for the advice on here.
 

Geoff

Well-known member
Home computer and office computers are both 2012 I7 Mac minis, with SSD for the main systems, and the original hard drive still kept. Both process large C1 files from a Leaf Credo 60 (and anything else) just fine. There are some small glitches probably from an old SSD or the interface between the two drives, so they sometimes need restarting. Also the latest OS (10.13.6) required reformating the SSD, as Apple changed the way they read them. But the Minis work great, and there is no need to think about giving them up.
 
Top