On Oct 19, 2005, at 5:01 PM, Paul Stenquist wrote:
I've read that the stair-step method can be destructive. It introduces more opportunity for error.
In some cases it can be, but not all. Just like in some cases doing upsampling in the RAW converter is the right solution.. :-)
My system has no problems with the 144 megabyte files (although it's only a G4, dual 1.25), so that hasn't really entered into my thinking. I do use a fast and large scratch disk. That seems to be the most important factor when it comes to working with large files. And, unless I'm doing a lot of retouching, my work is almost finished by the time I convert.
A dual-processor G4 is significantly faster than what I'm using at present ... much faster bus and IO. Fast and large scratch disks are definitely an issue as well ... are they external or internal? External ones are gated by the speed of FireWire, internal can be faster too. I have a reasonably fast, FireWire 250G external drive for scratch space.
I think I do more editing in Photoshop post-raw-conversion than you do as I do about 80% B&W work too. Adjustment Layers add a lot of overhead and I use them extensively.
Godfrey
