Finally sorted my Lightroom lag issue, what's everyone else using for photo editing?

[kavinreed]

Hey everyone!

I've recently gotten really serious about wildlife and landscape photography and I'm trying to build a proper editing setup at home. I shoot in RAW and I've been struggling with slow export times and lag when editing large batches in Lightroom, it's honestly killing my workflow.

After doing a lot of research, I picked up a new business laptop from Techyest and the difference in performance has been night and day. Exports that used to take 20+ minutes are now done in under 5, and I can finally run Lightroom and Photoshop side by side without everything freezing up.

My question is, what are you guys using for your editing setups? Are most of you on dedicated desktops or do you prefer laptops for the flexibility? I'd love to know what specs people are prioritizing these days for heavy photo editing, especially for those of you shooting high-resolution files!

 

[zombiesniper136 2]

I use a MacBook pro with 32gb of ram. It's 5 years old and still running without issue.
What ever you choose I would choose computer with the most ram that you can.

 

[kavinreed]

I agree with you to choose a computer but portability is important for me, that is why I prefer a business laptops.

I use a MacBook pro with 32gb of ram. It's 5 years old and still running without issue.
What ever you choose I would choose computer with the most ram that you can.

 

[kavinreed]

I agree with you to choose a computer but portability is important for me, that is why I prefer a business laptops.

RAM is definitely important, but for me portability is equally important, that’s why I’m leaning more towards it balancing performance, RAM, and portability

 

[Joe (Hoss)]

Hey everyone!

I've recently gotten really serious about wildlife and landscape photography and I'm trying to build a proper editing setup at home. I shoot in RAW and I've been struggling with slow export times and lag when editing large batches in Lightroom, it's honestly killing my workflow.

After doing a lot of research, I picked up a new business laptop from Techyest and the difference in performance has been night and day. Exports that used to take 20+ minutes are now done in under 5, and I can finally run Lightroom and Photoshop side by side without everything freezing up.

My question is, what are you guys using for your editing setups? Are most of you on dedicated desktops or do you prefer laptops for the flexibility? I'd love to know what specs people are prioritizing these days for heavy photo editing, especially for those of you shooting high-resolution files!

I primarily use a Windows PC with 128 GB of RAM, 3 SSDs, and one older platter drive. For graphics, I have a GeForce RTX 4080. I prefer a widescreen monitor so I can zoom in, and it helps with my aging eyes.

 

[greybeard58 30]

Dell inspiron 16, i7, 32 gig ram. I shoot a d850 45mp and it zips right through everything. My workflow is RAW -> LrC->Topaz->LrC->Ps->LrC -> Jpeg. The only time it has slowed down was when I let the HD get too full. I offloaded much of my files onto a portable HD and it was back to normal.

 

[zombiesniper136 2]

I agree with you to choose a computer but portability is important for me, that is why I prefer a business laptops.

The MacBook is a laptop. Window or Apple really doesn't matter but do get as much ram as you can and a good SSD drive and you'll be good for many years. If you don't you'll be replacing it in a year or two. With the advancement of post processing software ram and faster drive access is almost mandatory.

 

[molested_cow]

Here's mine:

Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 165H (1.40 GHz)
(RAM) 64.0 GB (63.5 GB )
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 (4 GB)
Intel(R) Arc(TM) Graphics (128 MB)

So I just started using the Sony A7CR and been experimenting different size RAWs and various editing softwares.
Originally I was using Nikon D750 with 24MP + Photoshop CS6 with ACR v.9 and everything is fine.
The sony has a max of 60MP RAW which is huge. Obviously the old ACR can't take the new Sony RAW so I tried other editing softwares, namely RawTherapee, Darktable and Luminar. Luminar was the first that I tried and every action was slow. I thought it was purely file size issue. However I don't have such problem with RawTherapee and Darktable. Obviously there will be a difference in time taken to convert different file sizes to jpeg, but at least I don't notice a significant difference while editing.

So I think file size and computer spec matters but apparently in my case, different softwares make much bigger difference.

As for what editing software I use, well, after trying these softwares, I am not really happy with either of them. I just found out that I can convert the files to DNG format that is compatible with ACRv9 and now I can edit the new RAW with my old trusty ps cs6! Problem solved!

 

[kavinreed]

Here's mine:

Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 165H (1.40 GHz)
(RAM) 64.0 GB (63.5 GB )
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 (4 GB)
Intel(R) Arc(TM) Graphics (128 MB)

So I just started using the Sony A7CR and been experimenting different size RAWs and various editing softwares.
Originally I was using Nikon D750 with 24MP + Photoshop CS6 with ACR v.9 and everything is fine.
The sony has a max of 60MP RAW which is huge. Obviously the old ACR can't take the new Sony RAW so I tried other editing softwares, namely RawTherapee, Darktable and Luminar. Luminar was the first that I tried and every action was slow. I thought it was purely file size issue. However I don't have such problem with RawTherapee and Darktable. Obviously there will be a difference in time taken to convert different file sizes to jpeg, but at least I don't notice a significant difference while editing.

So I think file size and computer spec matters but apparently in my case, different softwares make much bigger difference.

As for what editing software I use, well, after trying these softwares, I am not really happy with either of them. I just found out that I can convert the files to DNG format that is compatible with ACRv9 and now I can edit the new RAW with my old trusty ps cs6! Problem solved!

thanks for the details.

 

[Overread34 3]

Desktop for me - you get more for your money (or at least you did; no idea now with how nuts pc components have become); performance wise.
64GB RAM
i7-12700kf
GeForce RTX 4070Super

I shudder to think how much that would cost to even start putting together now and that's before the insane price rises on HDD and SSD that have also happened (heck I just spent £200 just to get 1TB of SSD storage!)

I think if you do a lot of travel/commuting or need on-site processing when taking photos then a laptop is a great choice. However if you're not going to take advantage of the mobility it offers beyond maybe moving around the house and one or two trips a year for a little bit of convenience; then chances are a PC would be better. Esp if you get serious as you can get a nice quality screen, calibrate it with a calibrator and also have all the storage, ram and so forth to do what you want.

 

[Kutavenn14]

I use a laptop since I like the flexibility. I’d look for 32GB RAM, a strong CPU and a dedicated GPU if you’re also doing heavier Photoshop work.

 

[tinytmp]

Hey everyone!

I've recently gotten really serious about wildlife and landscape photography and I'm trying to build a proper editing setup at home. I shoot in RAW and I've been struggling with slow export times and lag when editing large batches in Lightroom, it's honestly killing my workflow.

After doing a lot of research, I picked up a new business laptop from Techyest and the difference in performance has been night and day. Exports that used to take 20+ minutes are now done in under 5, and I can finally run Lightroom and Photoshop side by side without everything freezing up.

My question is, what are you guys using for your editing setups? Are most of you on dedicated desktops, or do you prefer laptops for the flexibility? I’d love to know what specs people are prioritizing these days for heavy photo editing, especially when looking at options like https://www.sfrutah.com/ and working with high resolution files!

I’m definitely in the camp of prioritizing RAM and a fast SSD for photo editing, especially when working with large RAW files. A good CPU makes a huge difference for Lightroom exports, while a decent GPU helps with Photoshop and some of the newer AI features. I prefer a desktop for a permanent editing setup because you generally get better performance for the money and easier upgrades. That said, a powerful laptop is hard to beat if you travel or edit on location. Being able to work without being tied to the desk is a big advantage for photographers.