Leica Q2 / Imac /Lightroom

[Skyerocket]

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I have recently bought a Leica Q2 and to compliment it purchased  a 128 GB  SDXC  UHS-ll Card. I appreciate i have a lot to learn still. My Mac is a late 2013 model and has an SDXC card slot however it does not support UHS-ll cards. I have managed to upload some images from the UHS-II ( Lexar ) card in the past but it has not always been a smooth process requiring a few restarts of the import process.

This morning I could only upload the first 2 images of the 35 images taken yesterday. i tested with the older SDHC cards and upload went fine.

Any thoughts on this would be gratefully appreciated ........... new computer ?? Stick with older Sd cards ....... I don't shoot video and tend to use since shot mostly. Faulty card may be ??

I will be appreciative of any responses here. The Mac has 8gb Ram and I suspect the size of the Leica DNG"s and the many updates to Lightroom are probably pushing my Mac to the limit.

 

 

 

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[Stuart Richardson]

Why not buy a card reader? They can be had very cheaply at B&H.

That said, a 2013 iMac is getting long in the tooth, and you would see huge speed gains with an M1 mac. Do you struggle with the speed or reliability of the workflow beyond just the image uploads? Because if so, it may be worth looking at a new computer. But if it is only the SD cards you struggle with, then getting a decent card reader should fix you up.

[jaapv]

There is just one answer here: Mac Mini M1, 16 GB RAM (no need for a M1 Pro, Max or Ultra, save your money) 500 GB SSD and a 4 TB external disk or SSD, and a USB-C card reader

[Le Chef]

I would go with Jaap’s recommendation but double the RAM to 32GB as programs like LightRoom, Photoshop, and the EfExPro suite are all power-hungry programs, and the next generation of sensors will likely be nudging 90MP as the norm.

[jaapv]

Not on an M1 chip 16 GB is more than ample - equivalent to 64 GB on an Intel Mac.  - it is not even possible to do so on a M1 computer.

[T25UFO]

I have a 2017 iMac with 32 GB of Ram and the SD card slot won't read UHS-II cards, in fact, it won't read fast UHS-I cards either.  I bought a Sandisk card reader that plugs into the USB-C port and it works fine.  The next best thing is to update your computer.  A 2013 iMac is past its sell by date.  

The Mac Mini is good, but you'll need to buy a screen as well so perhaps look at a MacBook Air.  You'll be amazed at the difference in speed for all programs, not just photography.

[ejg1890]

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I agree with several replies. Get a card reader to transfer your files. It will plug into a USB port on the side. However, the Q2 files will be 85gb-90gb in size and your computer will have an issue pulling those up in LR. The files are most likely at least 2x the file sizes that would have been the standard in 2013. That 2013 computer just wont have the horse power to handle that file size. There may be an option to upgrade RAM to 16gb but again there maybe a compatibility issue with what's currently available.

[Alan Friedman]

If you've been thinking of a new Mac, a new 16" MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip is worth a look. It's an excellent platform for mobile image processing - a big bright screen, plenty of speed and connectivity - and a dedicated card slot is back. It's heavy for a laptop but really a joy to work on. I've been buying Mac computers exclusively since the mid 1980s... this one is my favorite laptop yet.

New desktop machines targeted towards graphics have just been released and also worth considering if you prefer a stationary workstation. They will be quite a bit more expensive when paired with a good monitor. 

 

Edited March 22, 2022 by Alan Friedman

[charlesphoto99]

3 hours ago, jaapv said:

Not on an M1 chip 16 GB is more than ample - equivalent to 64 GB on an Intel Mac.  - it is not even possible to do so on a M1 computer.

The Mini M1 w 16GB RAM was a Lightroom dog for me, esp if one wants to have other programs open at the same time. Lots of memory pressure/swap and beach balls just trying to see images at 100%. Not much better (and in some ways worse) than the 2013 Mac Pro (64GB RAM) I was using before. Have since moved on to a MacBook Pro M1 Max with 64GB RAM and it's night and day from the Mini M1. If I would do it again I would go for the new Mac Studio w/64GB RAM at minimum. If one is serious about moving images around now that they are mostly 40MP and up, don't bother with the basic M1 Mini. 

[jaapv]

I have never seen a beachball - and I run  AI programs. Both LR and PS is lightning fast, as is a notoriously slow program like Topaz AI. There must have been something wrong with your configuration - or an antiquated version of Lightroom.

[Marc B-C]

Up until very recently I was running a late 2021 iMac with 32gb of ram for my Q2, albeit I am using Capture One Pro and shooting stills only. It managed  my (Sandisk) 64gb UHS-ll cards with no problem. I was on Catalina. Before spending on a new machine, I would look at buying some more RAM, but not from an Apple source - very easy to install and very cheap.

I have replaced that now with a 14” MacBook M1 Max and Eizo CS2740 screen, and that is a beast but not cheap,

Edited March 22, 2022 by Marc B-C

[humerc]

I am on an M1 Macbook Air and never had a problem with Lightroom or Photoshop. Its a great machine for photographers. (Came from a 2013 MBP, and it is night and day)

[jaapv]

8 minutes ago, Marc B-C said:

very easy to install and very cheap.

Not on a present-day Mac M1 - it is soldered in and non-extendable.

[Marc B-C]

10 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Not on a present-day Mac M1 - it is soldered in and non-extendable.

the op is not on an M1, they are on a 2013 imac.

[jaapv]

Exactly - and the general advice is to upgrade the system.

[charlesphoto99]

1 hour ago, jaapv said:

I have never seen a beachball - and I run  AI programs. Both LR and PS is lightning fast, as is a notoriously slow program like Topaz AI. There must have been something wrong with your configuration - or an antiquated version of Lightroom.

Everything was the same as the MacBook Pro Max I have now, program etc wise. I was pretty disappointed with the Mini M1 - if it had 32GB of RAM I probably wouldn't have been, I think that's its main drawback imo. Maybe we  just have different ways of working, file sizes, etc. I don't know. 

[jaapv]

Have a look at the benchmarks: 

https://cpu-benchmark.org/cpu/apple-m1-pro-10-core/

[charlesphoto99]

Don't get me wrong - for many if not most weekenders and basic users the M1 Mini will run rings around an older Mac. But if you're like me with 250,000 images in their LR library and regularly working with 1GB plus images for printing, with Bridge, a couple of browsers, Pages, etc open at the same time the Pro or Max version (MacBook or Studio) with more RAM will be beneficial and more future proof, albeit much more expensive (but this is a Leica forum after all, so who cares?). 

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[jaapv]

I don't have the impression that that is quite the use that the OP envisaged...

[jaapv]

May I inquire what you need 1 GB files for?  A 20 MB file will print one meter wide @ 300 DPI. As for my use - about 4 TB in image files and full use of Photoshop (including the processing-power hungry AI bits and plenty of layers), a couple of browsers. Not Pages, that will be open on a laptop, together with Mail, Whatsapp and Silio. 
On my setup, M1 Mini 16 GB. and two 6 TB external SSDs, twin 24" Eizos, all runs like a clockwork with no memory issues.

What I did find, however, was that Adobe had great problems getting their software to run properly on M1-Big Sur. I had to open PS in Rosetta for a few months, before they got their act together. It may be that that was the period that you tried to get things up and running. Also Clean My Mac had a habit of producing fake out-of-RAM warnings. Took them months to sort that one out.