iMac for professional photography editing

[photographyjunkie]

I am a mac user and I am looking to upgrade my imac.  I wanted to post where I can get honest reviews from people who actually do the editing.  Should I get 5K retina Display or new M1 with 4.5k Retina Display?  I would appreciate your suggestions.  Thank you.

[photographyjunkie]

I use Photshop for all my editing.

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

HI @photographyjunkie personally I have an M1 with a 4k display and NOT an iMac.

I love my M1 but look at Mac Minis or Studio with an external monitor instead of an iMac.

The all-in-one may seem convenient until you need to upgrade something or the monitor fries, etc.

[photographyjunkie]

Thank you.  

[D Fosse]

In addition, the iMac displays aren't particularly good. Panel uniformity (color/brightness across the screen) is hit or miss.

A good external display is always preferable, and it can also be easily upgraded if you want something better.

[photographyjunkie]

What do you recommend?  I need something with true colors for editing.

[photographyjunkie]

I meant to add that I shoot portraits and family photos

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

Hi @photographyjunkie monitors are like Ice Cream flavors - everyone has their favorites. @D Fosse can give you more of a technical need/requirement but I use the BenQ series both at work and home:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Benq%204k%20Monitor&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&ap=Y&gclid=CjwKC...

[D Fosse]

The thing about monitors is that the really important things aren't found in the spec sheet. You really can't compare specifications and decide based on that, like you can with most other things, because the specifications only tell a very small part of the story.

The most important things in a monitor are panel uniformity, highlight and shadow separation, and an even tone response curve. None of that is in the specs.

I got thrown into this many years ago, when I bought a fairly expensive wide gamut monitor that looked like this:

The biggest shock was to discover that they wouldn't even replace it. It was "within specification"! So I started doing some research, and discovered that this was quite common. It was simply a way to cut corners and save cost, and precisely because this didn't show in the specs, they could get away with it.

Eizo and NEC are the two brands where you will never encounter this. Both are renowned for their tight quality control. They both have a reputation for being expensive, but that's incorrect. You just get what you pay for. Part of what you pay for is their dedicated and brilliant calibration software, which takes these units up a notch in usability and flexibility in almost any practical situation.

By all accounts, BenQ has raised their standards and are making good monitors now. But their software still has serious problems: https://community.adobe.com/t5/color-management-discussions/hardware-calibrated-monitor/td-p/1359696... 

The rest, Dell, Asus, Apple, Samsung and LG may or may not be worth the price tag.

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

I never rely on hardware calibrated monitors - I have an i1 display calibrator suite that I use to match a custom profile for our proofing monitors.

[NB, colourmanagement]

@Kevin Stohlmeyer "I never rely on hardware calibrated monitors"

wow, that’s quite a statement, in my experience and that of many pros I work with, Hardware display calibration has some pretty significant advantages [I'm talking Eizo Coloredge, mainly], sadly, though, those advantages are not apparent in BenQ displays, in my experience. 

No displays are perfect of course.

Icecream? I'll take an affegato anyday please 

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

The price point alone discourages me from considering - Explain the value of a $2,000 - 5,8000 Eizo ColorEdge monitor compared to a non-hardware managed unit for less than half and a $240 i1 Display calibrator?

[NB, colourmanagement]

@D Fosse "By all accounts, BenQ has raised their standards and are making good monitors now. But their software still has serious problems: https://community.adobe.com/t5/color-management-discussions/hardware-calibrated-monitor/td-p/1359696... "

yep, seen such issues

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management

[NB, colourmanagement]

I agree with @Kevin Stohlmeyer  - a Mac Mini (or mac Studio) is a great idea - used with a decent screen like the Eizo Coloredge range.

Many do not like the glossy iMac for image editing, me included.

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management 

[Lumigraphics]

I have an M1 mini and would lean toward a Mac Studio or upgraded M2 mini, or an M2 MacBook Pro with external display. At least 32GB of RAM and as much internal storage as you can afford.

Stay away from Intel Macs, Apple is moving away from them pretty quickly.

[photographyjunkie]

Thank you all for this valuable information.