Reader Comment: Viewing Images on iMac 5K
Related: 2017 iMac 5K, 4K and 5K display, computer display, iMac, iMac 5K, iMac Pro, Mac Pro, Other World Computing, reader comment
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Kenneth Voigt writes:
I just recd. a late 2015 27” iMac 5K after being prodded by you for over a year (my first Apple computer)
I am blown away. To think that I never really had seen my pictures before. Thank you.
DIGLLOYD: I think Ken means late 2017 iMac 5K since the 2015 model was mid-year. The 2015 model is very good, but the 2017 is faster with a slightly better display gamut. The iMac Pro is another consideration with its value to be proven very soon with testing.
See my posts on the iMac 5K, such as What’s the Best Way to Enjoy Images at their Finest?.
I think most people do dismiss my claimseven though I’ve harped on it many a time—seeing is believing and you have to see my full-res actual pixels images on the iMac 5K (or yours), properly display at 1:1 and you will be blown away if you are used to a conventional display: detail, contrast, and color saturation are all stunning
The iMac 5K is a 5K display with a free computer and there is no better viewing experience available at any price (well, maybe on some custom $20K 8K setup). Even better: 8K and 10K are coming and within a few years (HDML 2.1 spec now enables 8K and 10K and a lot more). Shoot your images now for 10K displays later—time passes quickly. It’s why learning focus stacking is a mandatory skill for any photographer where depth of field is an aspect.
As a bonus, the iMac 5K (or iMac Pro) are highly portable in the Gator Cases Carry Tote.
See also: Switched to 2017 iMac 5K as Primary Machine: Details on Gear I’m Using and Ordered a 2017 iMac 5K: Why Now and what about iMac Pro?.
The iMac 5K or iMac Pro are both absolutely stunning for black and white images, particularly when viewed at full screen resolutoin.
Suggestions below the image on which iMac 5K to get.
NIKON D850 + Zeiss Milvus 35mm f/1.4
[low-res image for bot]
Which one
This is the 2017 iMac 5K I recommend: 2017 iMac 5K 4.2 GHz / 8GB / 2 TB. Upgrade it with 64GB OWC memory and add a 4-bay Thunderbay 4 plus backup drives for offsite storage.
The model with the 1TB SSD is fine, just think ahead for high-speed needs and capacity vs external storage—it is critical to keep Lightroom catalogs on the SSD, raw files can go on external HDD no issue.
Note: a Thunderbolt 3 version of the OWC Thunderbay 4 is due out any day now; wait for that instead of the Thunderbolt 2 version. It won’t make any performance difference, but there will be no need for a TB3 to TB2 adapter.
