PREVIEW: Sony a9 Kit with Real World Shots

SEE MY FULL REVIEW HERE

Sony a9 at B&H

I've been heads down working and not paying too much to the new gear coming out recently. I guess that's a testimony to how much I've loved my Canon 1D X Mark II, but wild claims about the Sony a9 caught my attention so I just started testing it last night.

Ok Sony, you now have my attention.

I'll do a real review later, but I thought I'd toss a couple images up taken from my first and  only 20 minutes using this camera with the 24-70mm kit lens which you know I don't care for much if you've read part II of my Sony a6500 review.  This copy seems to suffer from the same things I saw with other copies, so I've reached out to B&H for another lens to test for my review.

In the meantime, here are a few 100% unedited in-camera jpeg's:

f/3.5 @ 70mm for 1/800 sec at ISO 160
Even without the Eye AF turned on, the AF defaults just got this shot right

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/1000 sec at ISO 3200
This was part of a huge burst with Kai being silly, but it illustrated a new use for this camera to me - it's incredible burst mode is great for capturing emotions when interacting with people

f/3.5 @ 70mm for 1/800 sec at ISO 1000
This was just one frame from an astonishing burst of over 150 frames at RAW+JPEG where the electronic shutter was quiet and smoking fast. Every frame within the minimum focus distance was in focus enough to use (a few were slightly off, but not enough to be problematic)

f/3.2 @ 70mm for 1/1000 sec at ISO 5000
I desperately need a better lens, but even at 70mm with this one I was able to get a decent lock on to a bee

Conclusion

Check out my full review (Part I of II) and my final thoughts in part II.

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy today.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• a9 Review - Part I
• Sony a6500 & 24-70 f/2.8 GM (Part I of II)
• Sony a3000
• Sony a6000 (includes 16-70mm lens)
• Sony a6300 - 4k video
• Sony a7 (includes Samyang lens)
• Sony a7R Mark II with 24-70mm
• Sony DSC-RX1 (Full Frame Compact Camera)
• Sony DSC-RX10
• Sony RX100 IV (Sony RX100 III)
• Sony NEX-7
• SIGMA 85mm f/1.4 Art Series - the best art series I've tested
• Ron's Recommendations

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

ColorByte ImagePrint adds support for the Canon PRO-2000 & PRO-4000

ImagePrint 10.0.30 with support of multiple paper brands with more on the way

My original review of ColorByte ImagePrint 10 featured support for my Canon PRO-1000, but it wasn’t until this week that they are now officially supporting the large format PRO-2000 and PRO-4000 printers.

This is a big deal for those users who want to use paper from third parties like Epson where getting Canon ICC profiles' can be tough to come by. What’s more, ImagePrint has always been highly regarded as one of the best RIP’s in the business so if you have been wanting to get more tonal range out of your new PRO series printer then this is a big deal.

Check out my original review of ColorByte ImagePrint 10 for more details about this product and why it’s profile valet and hot folders make it an invaluable part of your print workflow if you make a living off of your prints.

Where to Buy?

Purchasing this product is a little unconventional because it requires a USB dongle to be plugged into your computer when you use this software. While you can purchase direct (please tell them you came from ronmartblog.com), I've arranged a special discount that I'd recommend you take advantage of instead. Here's details:

Get 10% OFF ImagePrint

I have worked a special arrangement with ColorByte to offer you the first ever discount that was made available for a blog several years back. ColorByte is offering a 10% off discount to readers of this article when you contact JVH Technical, LLC by phone or email. You can not get this discount through the web or ColorByte directly, so you must contact JVH and you MUST mention this blog in order to get the discount.

If you have any questions or concerns about this discount program, please don’t hesitate to  contact me directly.

NOTE: This product does offer a 30 day money back guarantee as well as a free demo that will watermark your prints.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• GUEST BLOG: AutoPrint – ImagePrint’s best kept secret? (aka Hot Folders)
• REVIEW: ColorByte ImagePrint 10
• Canon PRO-1000 Review
• Canon PRO-2000 Review
• Epson P800 Review
• Epson Legacy Papers Reviews & Video Tutorials with individual articles on Baryta, Etching, Platine and Fibre
• Printing Series
• QImage Review & Discount - an alternative layout product that I like but it leverages your OS drivers so I often export the image from QImage and print in ImagePrint

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

REVIEW: Red River Paper Palo Duro Etching Fine Art Paper

If you've followed along in my printing series, you know that I'm a fan of Red River Paper as a suitable alternative to more expensive papers. In fact, my article entitled Red River Paper vs Epson Papers has been one of my more popular articles because I offer my honest opinion on similarities and trade offs for going with Red River over various Epson papers. In fact, my last review entitled Red River Paper - San Gabriel Baryta Semi Gloss 2.0 I declared it just as good as the more expensive Baryta's.

It's no wonder that when Red River came out with their Palo Duro Etching paper a few months ago that they immediately reached out to me to get my thoughts on it. I printed with it and liked it right away, but I've been so crazy busy I haven't found time to write about it. Lucky for you and some insomnia after the baby waking me up in the middle of the night means that you'll finally get to hear my thoughts on this hearty fine art paper.

No Epson Comparison

While I've got a lot of Epson papers, for this review I only had 13x19 and 5x7 versions of this Red River paper. I have no other 5x7 papers to compare against and I can't scan 13x19 sheets, so this review will simply judge it on its own merit.

I will say that the closest thing I've used to this paper is the Hahnemühle German Etching, but that is still a very different paper that has no equal that I've seen (yet). I reference that paper because it's one that has a heavy texture, and that is something this paper definitely has - loads of visible texture. If that is something that bothers you, then stop reading as this isn't the right paper for you. However, if you can look at a canvas print and ignore the texture then read on.

Now the feel of this paper reminds me of the gritty feel of Epson Velvet or Epson Ultrasmooth  paper.

Tech Specs

Media: 100% cotton rag
Weight: 315gsm
Thickness: 21mil
Coated: Microporous coated one side
Color: Natural warm white tone
Surface: Heavy textured matte

Pigment Ink Users: This media is designed for Matte Black ink 

Archival Characteristics: Acid free, lignin free, OBA free, museum grade

Color Quality

Click here To get an ICC profile.

Color gamut of Palo Duro Etching (larger) vs Epson Cold Press Natural (smaller)

Matte black ink on fine art matte papers are always going to have a smaller color gamut than photo black on resin coated papers, but the color gamut of the Red River ICC color profile for the Epson SureColor P600 completely consumes that of the excellent Epson Cold Press Natural as shown in the graph above. What this means is that you'll get better color across the entire color spectrum using Red River's profile with this paper than you will with Epson's.

Color gamut of the Canon PRO-1000 (larger) vs Epson P600 (smaller) using the RR ICC profiles

The Canon PRO-1000 had a wide color gamut in the ICC profile that I used for my testing

Now before the hate mail comes in, for the record here's the Epson P800 profile compared to the PRO-1000 and it's smaller too:

and to counteract more conspiracy theories - here's the settings I used for the above graph where the PRO-1000 shows a larger color gamut than the Epson P800:

Here's a scan of 5x7 print made on the Epson P600 using the Red River profile on Paulo Duro Etching and you can see the color gamut is quite impressive for a matte paper:

Full Resolution Tiff V850 Scan of a SureColor P600 Pal Duro Etching Print

It should be noted that my scanner couldn't pick up the full range of grayscale so I had to scan it twice to get the gray squares and the grayscale gradient is better in real life than what's shown in the photo. Simply put, the scan doesn't do it justice compared to what you'll see in real life.

Click here To get an ICC profile.

In The Hand

At 21mil and 315gsm, this is no flimsy paper! It's got a hearty chalky feel with a noticeable texture. It doesn't flex easily and Red River recommends using the fine art media tray, but I was able to run it through the Auto sheet feeder on my P600 without any problem, so it's not unbearably thick!

Photo Quality

The following are unedited s of actual 5x7 prints made using my P600 (my dedicated matte black printer). In the first photo, this is Epson's Advanced Black & White mode of a color photo:

Full Resolution Tiff V850 Scan of a SureColor P600 Pal Duro Etching Print
Advanced Black and White Mode (Warm | Dark setting)

It was a little darker than I hoped so some of the details were muddy in the vest, but it looks better in real life than in the scan. Here's the color print which is remarkably close in tone to what I get using photo black and luster paper:

Full Resolution Tiff V850 Scan of a SureColor P600 Pal Duro Etching Print
Photoshop Manages Color using Red River P600 ICC Profile

Here's the actual photo file used for the print  which of course has a much wider dynamic and tonal range:

Gary Original Image printed from Photoshop

In this next photo, the loss of color fidelity in the reds and yellows can be seen fairly easily - as well as the hearty texture of this paper:

Full Resolution Tiff V850 Scan of a SureColor P600 Pal Duro Etching Print using RR ICC

It should come as no surprise, this isn't a great paper for high fashion, but that's not its intent. Landscapes, abstracts, and images with lots of texture are the ones that will benefit the most. 

Model Original Image printed from Photoshop

Full Resolution Tiff V850 Scan of a SureColor P600 Pal Duro Etching Print using RR ICC

Naturally the best type of image for this type of paper is going to be a images with lots of texture, so I've printed my famous Treehouse photo using both the P600 (above) and the Canon PRO-1000 (below) using ICC profiles provided by Epson and I was quite pleased with the real world results.

The wider gamut of the Canon comes through in the form of warmer tones and deeper blacks. In real life under a light box in ideal lighting conditions, the Canon really shines but in normal tungsten lighting conditions the Epson print doesn't feel as dark so it is easier to see some of the detail in the shadows.  Simply put, both look good but if you have great lighting conditions then the Canon will produce the more visually pleasing print.

Full Resolution Tiff V850 Scan of a Canon PRO-1000 Pal Duro Etching Print using RR ICC

Epson Driver Settings (Windows)

For Epson SureColor printers, the driver will be basically the same so here's the settings I chose:

I did Cold Press Natural so I could use the sheet feeder, despite Red River's recommendation for using Velvet because 5x7 paper can't be used for the manual feeder (required for Velvet).

No matter what paper you use, you have to set Paper Thickness to 5 in Paper Config(uration):

In all of my testing, I had no issues with the paper being scratched - even when I forgot the paper thickness set to 2. You'll also noticed below that I did LEVEL 4 (1440x1440 dpi) per Red River's guidance. 1440 does variable size dots vs 2880 which uses fixed size, so the lower resolution can still result in higher quality results which was my observation with this paper. As a result, I agree with Red River's recommendations:

In Photoshop I chose to do Perceptual rendering intent (despite my normal preference for Relative Colormetric) for the best results:

Mac settings look different, but the values are all the same so what you see here - despite looking very different - still applies to the Mac.

Canon PRO-1000 Settings (Windows)

For the Cano - PRO-1000 I chose Heavyweight Fine Art Paper so I could use the Rear Tray (for the same reason as above for Epson - you have to do this with 5x7 paper). I also chose the highest quality which with the optional XPS (non-default for Canon) driver can result in better color fidelity:

On this page the key thing to remember is to click Advanced Settings and Color Intensity to Manual (then click Set):

For color you want None so Photoshop can apply the ICC profile without double color management:

For Advanced Settings you have to set Print Head Height to "Avoid Paper Abrasion" which just means this is thick paper:

Conclusion

This paper feels substantial in the hand with a hearty texture so some will perceive that as high quality and others will be think ugh, that's too chalky for me. However, that's the art of choosing the right paper for the right photo. When paired with a texture heavy image like the treehouse shot, it's a great choice that feels good in the hand.

This paper has the fine art "special" feel that separates it from your cheapo prints, so even a novice will know that this wasn't printed at your local discount warehouse or volume online print service. When commanding a premium price for your images, this is important so that's where paper like this really pays for itself!

Red River has done a good job of offering a museum quality paper at a reasonable price with excellent ICC profiles. As a result, this paper is an easy one to recommend to both Canon and Epson fine art printer users.

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy today.

Photographer's Choice Sample Kit Special Offer

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Printing Series 
• Which Printer Should I Buy? Epson or Canon?
• Canon PRO-1000 Review
• Canon PRO-2000 Review
• Epson P600 Review
• Epson P800 Review 
• Red River San Gabriel Baryta Semi Gloss 2.0 Review
• Dano’s Dictionary of Fine Art and Photography Printing Terms (Concise Edition)
• Getting Great 4x6 Prints Without Any Hassle–Part I of II
• GTI PDV-2020EX Desktop Viewer - 23.5 x 25.3" with Lower Luminaire and Side Walls
• How to ship prints
• Metallic Paper Comparison: Red River Polar Pearl vs LexJet Sunset Photo (Coupon Code Included)
• Printing Your Own Holiday/Greeting Cards (Tutorial Included)
• NEC PA Series Monitors
  • QImage RIP & Layout Software Review – Great image layout solution for dirt cheap and it keeps getting better with every release!
• QImage 2013 – Complex Print Layout Made Easy
• Red River Paper vs Epson Papers - Fantastic papers for Canon and Epson printers
• The PERFECT Print DVD Series by Randy Hufford  - A MUST own series!

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

REVIEW: Amazon Echo Show - Jetsons or Junk?

Amazon Echo Show

As a kid I was a big fan of the Jetsons, so I dreamed of the day when voice conversations would be video conversations as portrayed in the show. Years later I'd get to work in telecommunications where I had the benefit of working with high end video and teleconferencing technologies so I know what is possible - and I know how hard / expensive it is to do it right!

Despite all of this, I'm also a consumer like you so I don't have wheelbarrows of cash to throw at the problem and my family members aren't as geeky as me, so if there's going to be a video phone in the house - it better be super easy to use.

This is why when Amazon announced the Show, I immediately placed my order for two. I had dreams of having one at home and sending the other cross-country to my parents in Texas where they could easily stream video (and I hoped photos) of my 4 kids from my home to theirs.

Our family already successfully embraced an Echo in the kitchen and I keep an Echo Dot on my bathroom countertop, so I'd consider myself an existing fan of the Amazon Echo platform. In fact, I have a past working history with some of the key people at Amazon who built the Echo, so I wanted to love this product.

Would this be my dream video phone for an affordable price come true, or would it be another close but no cigar attempt at the awesome portrayed by the Jetsons?

Setup

The out of box experience was excellent. It was nicely packaged and super simple to set up. It took about 20 minutes of updating before it was ready to go, but aside from that it was pretty painless. That said, I still don't think my 80+ year old parents could set it up, so I feared that I'd probably have to fly to Texas to deliver their unit to them if everything went as planned.

Video Calling Experience

Now I'd love to show you a video of how things went, but video of video is awful and doesn't do any video product any justice. I've tried to do video of video in the past and trolls have destroyed the product I was trying to review because they quite simply are focusing on the quality of the video and not the reality that you see in real life. As a result, I've refrained from going down that path in this review.

With that said, my neighbor works at Amazon so he received his Echo Show the same day. This was handy for me because we were able to quickly do a video call in the evening under poor lighting conditions and really see the Show at its worst.

My experience was that the audio was good - better than your typical cellular phone call - but at night it was clear that that high ISO performance of this video camera wasn't very good. In fact, I'd have to say it was awful - but those were the worst conditions.

Video conditions under good lighting conditions are about the same as a good 720p webcam, but not as good as I have seen from higher end web cams. It's definitely no worse than what you get from your typical Macbook or Windows based laptop though.

Drop In - Not really good as a baby monitor

One interesting (or creepy depending on how paranoid you are) feature is called Drop In where you can instantly connect to another Show without having to call it. One of the benefits of this shown in advertisements is as a baby monitor, but the fixed camera position doesn't really allow for that in a practical way. I have a 20 month old in a crib and thought I'd try this, but it proved to be a distraction for the baby and was immediately taken out of service for this duty.

You can also imagine what can go wrong with Drop In too (definitely won't be replacing the Dot in the bathroom with a Show with Drop In - ha, ha)!. I didn't see a way to limit who could drop in, so it was all or none, but I suspect that limitation will be addressed in software at some point in the future.

I liked the concept for home security purposes while traveling, but again the fixed camera meant that it was pretty useless for that as well. Simply put, this is a good feature that would be better served on a device with a remote controllable camera and of course restricted so that my neighbor can't accidentally drop in on me at night - ha ha.

Compared to FaceTime

I've been using the iPhone since 2008 when the 3G came out, and I've never looked back. When FaceTime came out on the iPhone 4, I was an instant fan. Years later when I'd work on Skype at Microsoft, I embraced Skype but whenever my wife and I were apart we'd gravitate to FaceTime between our iPhones rather than using Skype (which we preferred when we ere on our computers).

To this day the big advantage that I see with FaceTime is that it's on my phone which means I can seek out better light - often a nearby window during the day or bright room at night. It's selfie camera quality before the iPhone 7/7 Plus  wasn't very good, but now that it's improved I have to say that it's still my preferred mechanism for video conferencing with family members. It's also so easy to use my 81 year old mom can figure it out, so that's saying a lot!

Bang for the Buck

in my opinion, my Xbox One with Kinect performs significantly better for video conferencing with Skype which is saying a lot as I have few good things to say about my Xbox One. Given the fact that the Xbox One with Kinect is currently $284 at Amazon and the Echo Show is $229.99, it's easier to recommend the Xbox route as you get a lot more for your money with very little extra to spend. You'll also gain the advantage of being able to Skype with anyone which is a larger audience than those with access to Amazon video conferencing.

However, with the show it feels like you have an embedded Amazon Fire HD laying on its side so there's something nice about having a decent quality touch screen at your fingertips. There's also a lot of fun apps and experiences that you have with the Echo that aren't on the Xbox, so I'd still have to say for what you get that the Show is a very good value.

Overall, I didn't see much of a benefit to the Show over what I was already used to with my Echo. Yes, I could read what Alexa was saying and she'd suggest things to ask her which was nice, but that's not worth the premium price.

Photos Support was Disappointing

Yes, I could show photos - but only temporarily from my Amazon  Photo Albums - not continuously like I do from my Meural frame. This was a MAJOR disappointment for me as I  hoped to use it as a digital frame while it was inactive.

I could change the background photo to a photo of my choice - but only one photo - not a gallery - so that was a huge disappointment too.

Overall, it seems like the folks at Amazon didn't really see the potential this product has as a digital frame so while the picture quality was good - the software implementations were poor - at best. Again, this may improve over time, but I think an idle time slideshow isn't something we'd likely see anytime soon based on how I saw the model for all of the other apps on the device.

Conclusion

I wanted to love the Echo Show and my 8 year old son is really disappointed to see it get returned, but in the end I didn't see much value added over my Echo. If I didn't have an Echo already I probably would have liked it a lot more and kept it.

My biggest gripes was that the audio output level was too low - much worse than the Echo (which is pretty good) and the fixed camera and odd viewing angle made it pretty impractical as a video conferencing experience in my household. It was also a dust magnet (click the photo at the top of the article to see what I mean), so neat freaks are probably going to prefer the white one over the black one which is surely going to show the dust much easier.

This is a 1.0 product made by a team that has a good track record with innovation. I think some of my gripes can be addressed in software, but fundamentally a better video camera that can move around is going to be necessary to make this an experience that has more to offer than your typical laptop. Until then, I'd suggest sticking with your phone or laptop for your personal video conferencing needs and keep an eye on this product for future innovation.

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy today.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Meural - An outstanding digital frame for the home that is cheaper to use and operate than your Smart TV
• Google Glass Review
• NEC PA322UHD 32" 4k Photo Editing Display
• Canon PRO-1000 - An excellent fine art photo printer for the serious photographer
• Canon PRO-2000 - A 24" large format fine art photo printer for the professional photographer
• Epson P600 - A great photo printer for the average photographer
• Epson P800 - A great fine photo printer for the serious photographer who needs roll support
• Ron's Recommendations 

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

I am currently employed by Microsoft and have worked on the Skype team, and I've worked with team members at Amazon who have worked on the Echo. I'm also an Amazon affiliate. The opinions here are my own personal thoughts and do not represent the views of Amazon or Microsoft.

Luminar finally arrives on Windows (Video Tutorials)

Download Now

With a name like Macphun Software, it is easy to understand why  all of their photo editing software has only been on the Mac. However, there are a lot of photographers on Windows who edit photos so I've heard endless complaints from blog readers about the absence of products like Aurora 2017 and Luminar from Windows.

I'm happy to announce that the drought is over - well, almost.

Macphun is doing an open beta right now which means that there features missing and there's a lot of "polish" missing from the UI. However, they are new to Windows so they need your help kicking the tires and providing feedback.

Click here if you want to see my video that shows how Luminar works on the Mac.

Before and After Shots

Here's a few edited shots processed exclusively with the Luminar for Windows beta and what they looked like with the unedited original:

Edited Version

Original Unedited

Edited Version

Original Unedited

After Bloody Mary Preset

Original Unedited

Video Tutorials

Here's an overview of the Windows Open Beta which DOES support RAW files, PSD and of course JPEG's:

Presets

For quick and dirty edits, Luminar offers nice Presets with real-time thumbnails so this video shows you how to make the most of the ones shipping now:

Filters

The real power of Luminar comes through the use of filters which can also become part of your own custom presets. Here's a video that shows how they work:

Check these out no matter what

Even if you do nothing else and delete it right away, I highly encourage you to download the beta and check out these three filters. All three are quite good with Accent AI Enhancer being a little magic pixie dust that I wish was in Lightroom!

Conclusion

The final version isn't scheduled to ship until the Fall, but feedback from users like you will really help them to improve the quality of the product between now and then. I did have some crashes here and there, but a workflow that includes restarting Luminar after each photo that you work on seemed to limit the crashes.

I did edit about a dozen photos and had no problems with the quality of the saved files. Most of the bugs seem to be around doing things with filters on multiple layers, but even there I was able to use layers many times with no problems.

Personally I really enjoyed the three new filters mentioned in the previous section and can see the potential for this product down the road as it matures. With Nik gone, I'm looking for its replacement and knowing the people behind the scenes who are working on this product I have a good feeling that this will get there - the question is when.

Join the FREE Open Beta

CLICK HERE to learn get the beta and kick the tires today.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Aurora 2017 - HDR software by Macphun
• Luminar for Mac
• NEW Imagenomic Portraiture 3
• on1 Photo RAW 2017.5
• Topaz Studio (NEW)
• Ron's Photo Editing system for Windows
• Ron's Recommendations 

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Ron's Windows Photo Editing System - Intel NUC i7

On June 6, 2016 I picked up an Intel NUC Kit NUC6i7KYK Mini PC as my primary computer (RAM and storage sold separately). In the past year that I've used it for my Photoshop, Lightroom and Camtasia 9 video editing system, I haven't had a single regret.

Here's some of the highlights from the system:

• 6th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-6770HQ
• Intel® Iris™ Pro Graphics 580
• Up to 7.1 multichannel digital audio via HDMI or DisplayPort signals
• USB 3.1, Thunderbolt, Bluetooth 4.2, 802.11ac & more
• 32GB 1.2v DDR4 RAM (purchased separately - Crucial 32GB Kit (16GBx2) DDR4 2133 MT/s (PC4-17000) DR x8 SODIMM 260-Pin Laptop Memory - CT2K16G4SFD8213)
• 512GB NVMe M.2 Internal SSD (purchased separately - the 950 I have was replaced by the improved Samsung 960 PRO Series - 512GB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD) - this storage is the size of a stick of Wrigley's gum!
• Full tech specs here and hardware compat list here

At the time I ordered this setup it was $1092.98, but the RAM was only $103.99 so as of July 9, 2017 this setup cost about $1117 USD. Now it's VERY important to note that not just any DDR4 RAM will work in this system, you must have 1.2 or 1.35v DDR 2133 SODDIMS or it WILL NOT WORK. Since this RAM type is less common, the prices will fluctuate based on availability.

Dual Displays - No Problem

NUC shown in red on my current desktop setup
Click for a full size view

For my left and primary photo editing monitor, I use a 32" 3840x2160 4K UHD native resolution (NEC PA322UHD) display in landscape orientation as shown in the middle above and a NEC PA241W in portrait orientation as shown on the right. The big gray box on the right is my GTI light box for viewing/comparing prints against my calibrated displays.

Notice how tiny the NUC is - it's about as thick as two of my Wacom Intuos Pro Pen and Touch Tablet, Medium (PTH651) (review) stacked on top of each other. It's barely wider than three of my NEC SpectraSensor Pro calibration puck. Simply put, this thing isn't a problem when it comes to space, and if it is then you can mount it to your display to get it out of the way.

Here's more info on my main display:

NEC PA322UHD-BK-SV 32" 4k Display at Amazon and at B&H (review)

Performance

Here's unedited iPhone video of me turning on my Intel NUC Kit NUC6i7KYK Mini PC with fast boot enabled and legacy boot turned off after 1 year of use with no disk degrag and 126 GB free disk space (40 seconds):

Here's unedited iPhone video of me restarting my Intel NUC Kit NUC6i7KYK Mini PC with fast boot enabled and legacy boot turned off after 1 year of use with no disk degrag and 126 GB free disk space (18 seconds):

What about Photoshop?

Here's a video I did that shows how fast Photoshop and some image files (including one that's over 700 MB) took to open:

NOTE: Please excuse my error in the video - I meant to say 10 bits per color channel, not 8. Read here to see why 30-bit (10-bit per channel) is a big deal.

I've been using this set up for over a year and edited countless files, and I've never found performance to be a problem. Because my work includes reviewing cameras, I've used the Nikon D800, D810, Sony a7R,  a7R II, Canon 5Ds and 5DsR and their large files haven't been a problem for me either.

Lightroom performs well too, but for confidentiality reasons I am not able to provide a good demo. What I can say is that my catalogs are created for each calendar year and contain 35,00 - 45,000 images all living on my external NAS, and I've never been bothered by the performance.

A note about Photoshop performance & Plug-ins

90% of your boot time for Photoshop is loading your plug-ins. For the record, I load A LOT of plug-ins so if your list is smaller than this then your boot time will be faster:

What about creating video?

I don't do much video so I can't comment a whole lot, but I can say that my typical 5 minute blog videos generally take about 10 minutes to render via WMV - much faster (around 2 minutes) if I'm only doing 1080p MP4. There are a lot of variables so your performance will vary. This machine can certainly handle video, but you'll want to be doing something else while it renders because it's not breakneck fast.

Is 512GB storage enough? Where do you keep your photos?

I use a Synology 1515+ with 16 terabytes of a usable space for my photo storage needs plus a ioSafe DS1515+ (review includes Synology details) for redundant data protection as mentioned in my Scott Kelby article

99.9% of my photos get loaded directly off and saved to the NAS as part of my workflow and that hasn't been a performance problem that has ever bothered me.

What about your laptop?

I use a Surface Pro 4 as my laptop, and I own a Mid 2015 i7 based Retina 15" Macbook Pro that I use for blog videos. I love them both, but I prefer the Surface Pro for the weight and Windows Hello for logging in. However, I don't do much photo editing on either, I use my NUC 99% of the time. That said, when I have edited photos on both of them I haven't had any issues, so I'd say I'm happy with both.

Conclusion

Yes, using a tower system with multiple SSD drives as I had done in the past is faster. However, I'm extremely happy with this much smaller, quieter, more reliable and cheaper system than ones I've purchased in the past from Alienware, Dell, Gateway, and more.

Drivers have been reliable and updates are issued more often than I need or want them, but that's a good thing. I haven't updated in months and my system has been rock solid (no blue screens or any problems whatsoever).

Windows 10 can be a little sluggish in Explorer sometimes for reasons I can't fully understand, but Devices & Printers and the Settings control panel always open instantly on the builds I'm using. Office and Outlook run extremely well too (and I have all mail dating back to 2009 loaded locally).

Geek Stuff

All of the NUC's feature the Visual BIOS which is the most beautiful BIOS I've ever used in my 30 year high tech career, and Intel has been awesome about making updates easy with the driver update utility 2.8.1.9 shown:

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy today. Intel has also has a great NUC website here, and

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Ron's Guest Appearance on Scott Kelby blog writing about data protection
• Wacom Intuos Pro
• GTI PDV-2020ex - Professional Desktop Viewer
• ioSafe 1515+ NAS powered by Synology DSM–The Ultimate in Photo & Video Storage
• NEC PA242W Monitor Review (PA241W & PA271W Review)
• NEC PA302W Monitor Review (PA301W Review)
• NEC PA322UHD 4k for Pro Photo & Video Editing
• NEC EA244UHD 4k Display
• NEC SoundBar Pro Display Speakers
• NEC SpectraSensor Pro (powered by X-Rite)
• Canon PRO-1000 17" Professional Printer
• Canon PRO-2000 Large Format Printer
• Epson SureColor P600 Printer Review
• Epson SureColor P800 Review
• Epson SureColor P5000 Preview
• Ron's Recommendations
• Printing Series 

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

New Features for KelbyOne (Discount Offer) - 2017

$20 Off KelbyOne Annual Membership

KelbyOne has been known for years as one of the best deals in Photography for video training by some of the top photographers in the world. Now they've add some new perks for members that I think are pretty cool.

Insider Blog

One of my favorite blogs has been ScottKelby.com, so  I was a little concerned when I found out that there was going to be a "insider" blog on KelbyOne. However, when I checked it out, I quickly realized that this wasn't a rehash of Scott's blog or something that would take away from Scott's blog. Instead, it's something entirely new and pretty cool from what I've seen. Here's a glance of what it looks like on the inside:

New Community

Another improvement is the new Community feature which is extremely well done and seems to currently be free of trolls and bots, so it's a lot better than many community sites I've visited. Here's what it looks like:

Want a tour or discount for KelbyOne?

Click here to check out my inside peek video of KelbyOne so you can see what you get when you subscribe. This is a video behind the scenes look of this nicely designed site and what kind of content you can expect.

$20 Off KelbyOne Annual Membership

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Think Tank Photo Summer Sale 2017

I've been loving my new Streetwalker Roller Backpack by ThinkTankPhoto that I'll be reviewing later this year. However, before I do that I wanted to share some good news - ThinkTank is having a sale!

Click here to see what they have on sale while supplies last. CLICK HERE to see my reviews of ThinkTank camera bags and back packs!

Enjoy,

Ron

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.