d3/d300 file size/computer upgrade

notelliot · Dec 13, 2007

hey guys, i have a couple questions.
first is regarding the d300 raw image file size at 14 and 12bit - how large?
i own a mac g4 now, and i know it won't be able to handle the files from this camera, so i'm thinking about upgrading to a 20" imac. 2.4 ghz with 2gb ddr2 ram and 500gb serial ata should be nice move.. i'm just wondering if i should maybe go with 4gb of ram and wondering if i could afford that.

anyone with any info would be a big help.

jstuedle · Dec 13, 2007

Ram is cheap now. I would go for 4 or more.

jstuedle · Dec 13, 2007

The biggest improvement you could make though is much bigger hard drives, and maybe an external RAID array.

Garbz · Dec 13, 2007

File sizes aren't much bigger than for the D200. Ultimately the RAWs are but the second you import into photoshop they cease being 8bit and go up to 16bit regardless of actual bitdepth. The only difference then is a piddly little 2mpx increase.

If you can edit now with a SLR of significant megapixel then there's no reason you can't edit just as well with a D300 or D3. With that in mind I have 2gb of ram and have yet to run out of headroom to the extent where HDDs start bottlenecking my image editing. What really bites though is saving 600mb+ multilayered PSDs while I am still working on them. Even with 2 SATA drives in a RAID0 array they take ages to load and save.

jstuedle · Dec 13, 2007

I run 4 meg. now and run short while stitching 6X6 scans for pano's. If you are not into that, 4 will do you well for a while.

RyanLilly · Dec 13, 2007

Buy the ram and put it in yourself, apple charges and extra arm and a leg for it.

notelliot · Dec 13, 2007

RyanLilly said:
Buy the ram and put it in yourself, apple charges and extra arm and a leg for it.

no kidding. 800 bucks for 4gb over 2gb ram, 650 for a tb harddrive.
but then again, i could always start midway with 2gb ram and a smaller harddrive and install more ram and gb's later..
either way it's a drastic leap from what i'm using: 1.5ghz G4/512ram/80gb hd (which doesn't handle d70s raw files very efficiently)
the only thing is, i'd get the thing apart, install the memory/harddrive and forget how it goes back together. what a good learning experience it would be.