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Just put in an order for the A7Rmk2. Been saving up for a full frame for years and am finaly taking the plunge. Currently, I have a Panasoic GX7 (micro four thirds) and Fuji XM1 (crop frame)  - both of which generate 16 MP images. I process these files in Lightroom and Photoshop using a laptop that has an i5 processor and 8gb of RAM. The laptop handles these files prety well but will it cope with the massive 42.4 MP files of the Sony? Or will I have to break the bank and upgrade my editing system?

 

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Just put in an order for the A7Rmk2. Been saving up for a full frame for years and am finaly taking the plunge. Currently, I have a Panasoic GX7 (micro four thirds) and Fuji XM1 (crop frame)  - both of which generate 16 MP images. I process these files in Lightroom and Photoshop using a laptop that has an i5 processor and 8gb of RAM. The laptop handles these files prety well but will it cope with the massive 42.4 MP files of the Sony? Or will I have to break the bank and upgrade my editing system?

 

Have a go first and then make the decision. Might just need a RAM upgrade to 16gb which, if possible, is pretty cheap to do.

 

I run an i7-3.2Ghz Clevo with 32GB RAM with an additional 8GB DDR5 on the graphics card but this is a bit overkill to be honest with A7r files. Only got it for 3D modelling work.

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Thank you Puffy. That's a sensible piece of advice about waiting and then maybe upgrading the RAM. That's a powerful set up you have (jealous me - although 3d modeling is way beyond my brains capacity) I wonder if anyone has attempted editing  A7Rmk2 files  on a lower spec system and how it fared.

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Thank you Puffy. That's a sensible piece of advice about waiting and then maybe upgrading the RAM. That's a powerful set up you have (jealous me - although 3d modeling is way beyond my brains capacity) I wonder if anyone has attempted editing  A7Rmk2 files  on a lower spec system and how it fared.

 

LR you should be fine, but I find Capture One Pro does demand more system resource (I know this because the cooling fans sometimes go mental).

 

Capture One does a much better job on the Sony RAW files I find and can be had for around £45 for the Capture One Pro (Sony only) version.

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I would second the recommendation for more RAM and trying out Capture One for Sony (express if free, Pro is $30-50 instead of ~$300!) I suspect that with more RAM you should be fine. I don't have the A7RII (yet) but I've played around with the RAW files in C1 on my computer with 24GB of RAM and I have not complaints. 

 

Oh, I'd also recommend keeping your catalogue on an SSD drive. You can keep the full RAW files on spinning drives but the SSD will make a huge difference too.

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Like everything in photography it depends on what your are planning to do.  If you process one raw file at a time your system will probably be fine.  Where I run into trouble with my a7rii files is when I'm working with pano's, HDR's, focus stacking, statistics modes etc.

 

As mentioned before ram is always a good idea.

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Once again - thank you for all the good advice and to Vetsky for your addition - I tend to just process one image at a time with no HDR or stuff so hopefully I will be okay but as you and the others suggest, I shall update my RAM.  My A7R mk2  is in the store awaiting my collection .... so I shall soon find out. Trouble is; I spenT all my money on the body and am struggling to raise the cash for a lens! Ah well.

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Just to say - I finally got my lovely A7Rmk2 and my laptop is handling the files very well - I am unable to notice any speed difference when processing them in Lightroom and Photoshop - seems the same when compared to my Micro-four-third and crop frame Fuji X files. So very pleased as I cant afford to upgrade the computer....And once again thanks for the advice everyone...

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