Brian

The image that you see on the camera's LCD IS NOT THE RAW FILE. It's the JPEG Preview that is contained within the Raw file. I agree with the others, ditch the card.

You will need something independent, called a NAS. Since you are running Macs, this could be accomplished a few different ways. What does your budget look like?

If you choose 1 TB for the capacity, the price lowers to $978.99 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1183450-REG I'm no fan of small SSD Drives. People are generally creatures of habit and dump / install / save everything on a C: Drive. They never do a custom install to install software on a D: Drive. Yes, having a SSD Main Drive is great, boot up times are quick, but a 128GB drive won't do you any good if it's full.

Nope, you are doing everything that I would.

No. Some Eizo Displays are $2000+. You asked for "Wow." Yes, that Dell is fine. Buy it.

Personally, I don't recommend laptops for photo editing. Ever. But people keep asking and I'm tired of repeating myself. If you check threads in the Windows Forum in Ask Brian, you should see a few threads.

I sense a Spyder5 Pro is in your future...

Or just use a EHD. WAY faster. Going from Mavericks to El Captian is easy. It's just when you try to go the other way, will you hit a brick wall. Just be sure to un-authorize your iTunes and PS, etc. on your old Mac when you are ready to pull the plug. Don't forget your Actions, Brushes, E-mails, etc.

Or you could just copy things manually, like I do. Or even use Time Machine. But putting Mavericks on your new iMac? Forget it, you are stuck with El Capitan. I will create a folder called "Transfer" Then create simple folder names in the "Transfer" folder. Like Docs, Music, Pics, etc. Something different than what they are called on my Mac. Bonus points if you put the Transfer Folder on a clean EHD. You could always network the two Macs together and copy things over that way. Up to you. No Mac Bashing Crystal. Windows is just as much of a Pain in the Ass as Macs are when it comes to migration.

I don't think so. Take a look at this: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350

If there isn't a updated Lenovo driver available, and the monitor profile isn't sticking, you are kinda screwed because it's a laptop. More often than not, laptops are "orphaned" by the manufacturer. A laptop is really only supported for about 90 days, then it's replaced by another laptop model. Updated drivers...good luck. You MIGHT get one update or two, that are from 3 years ago. This is one of the main things that I hate about using laptops for photo-editing.

Body's Focusing system. How Autofocus Systems work is based on a "Phased" type of system. Printers also use this technology. To see what I'm talking about, put your hands together and spread your fingers apart. If you see gaps in between the fingers, it's in "focus" if you rotate your right hand one notch, your fingers will be "out of focus" or out of "phase" as each of your fingers on one hand to fill a gap. What I really think is happening is a combination of things. You really need another photographer to critique your technique, since both you and your wife are having similar issues. A fresh set of eyes could give you an "Ah-ha!" moment without trying to gear your way out of this problem. Also, you have a stupid Tamron lens, and you are too far away from your subject on a normal basis. You aren't giving your camera a chance. You need to get closer. Speaking of which, if you did rent a higher-end body, like a D750, you are going to have to get even closer to your subject than you normally would with a DX body. Why? Because of the Angle of View Change. Here is a quick and dirty example of what I'm talking about: Comparison Shots between a D700 and D7100 Those sample shots where taken with the same lens, the only difference is the body. FX takes getting used to. It's not something that you can casually pickup after shooting DX. You really can see the "Magnifying Affect" from the "Crop Factor" when it comes to DX. The angle of view is different, which changes the position on where you stand, which then affects your Depth of Field. You have to get closer to your subject with FX bodies. It's amazing on just how much you have to stop down with FX. The flexibility and wiggle-room that DX offers, isn't an option on FX...it's much less forgiving. When I'm at f/2.8 on DX, I'm more than likely around f/4 on FX. Maybe f/3.2. I'm a OEM snob. I don't think I will ever own a 3rd party lens. If I were, it would probably be along the lines of the Sigma ART series. I would never own a Tamron lens. Often you have to go through 4-5 copies to get a good one, and even then you could have issues. I can't tell you how many times I've known photographers who just question shot after shot after shot, on why things are sometimes in focus, but their majority of shots are "almost" in focus. They just seem off on a continuous basis. Tamron lenses are just junk, and I don't care how much they have improved. LOL!! You aren't going to change my opinion. Photography, as with most things...you get what you pay for. So I'm seriously recommending you "Get a Taste of Heaven." This way you will stop driving yourself nuts and start saving for better equipment. If you were to get a better body today and wanted to stick with DX, I'd just get a Nikon D500 when it comes out later this month. For the "average" person who wants to switch to FX, the D750 is a good place to start. As for the D810...fantastic camera, but 36MP is tough to deal with. It's so easy to blow the shot, because the resolution is so high. Your technique needs to be solid. Since you are having such trouble with focus, the D810 is not where you want to be. Plus, the $3200 price-tag isn't always an option for people, including myself. That's why my next camera body will be a used D3s in good shape, possibly a D4s if I keep saving.

Right. You have to get the graphics driver from Lenovo. Even though they use Intel's Chips, the driver is brand-specific. I'm sorry to say, profiles and calibration is kind of Damien's thing. I'm going to move this thread to the Land of Misfits for others to chime in.

I'm also not a fan of Tamron lenses. I realize you are probably stuck with it, so I'd rent a D750 and a Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 combo to see the difference between the Tamron & Nikon.

Yeah, read the fabulous manual. Let's go with that. You just figured out your problem. In order for your camera to lock focus, there needs to be enough contrast swing for it to lock on. So if you are 20 feet away, trying to focus on a eyeball, you are going to blow focus. Period. Likewise, when you get closer and your subject's eye (or whatever you are trying to lock onto,) focus will be much easier for the camera's AF sensors to lock on. In addition, lenses have a minimum focusing distance, which means how close your subject can be to the lens, but there is a MAXIMUM DISTANCE that never gets talked about. Right now, one of my most used lenses is the Nikon 17-55 f/2.8 DX. It's the "24-70" for crop bodies. If my subject is between 5-10 feet away, my images are "tack sharp." Between 10-15 feet, they are "sharp." 16-20 feet it's "meh, fix it in PS sharp." 20 feet or more, "don't bother clicking the button, or reach for the 70-200." So it sounds like you need to re-think your approach to certain situations. I wish you could simply point the camera at something, click the button, and it's in focus. LOL! It doesn't always work that way. For large groups, 3 to 4 rows deep, chances are, I'm going to be 15+ feet away, just to get everyone in the shot. So I will stop down to f/8, or possibly f/11. Then I will pick something on the front row, somewhere in the center. It could be a jacket or someone's face that has dark hair, something for the AF sensor to lock on. As you said, something that fills the AF point. A eyeball isn't going to do it. To top things off, you are dealing with the angle of view change that comes with crop sensors. So a 24-70 lens performs more like a 36-105 equivalent. It's really not "wide" on a crop sensor. That's why a 17-55 f/2.8 is better on a crop body. Since you are shooting with a 24-70 lens, you might want to rent a D750 and give it a spin. Bonus: High ISO will be at at your disposal, which will help with crappy lighting.

Wow...That's Eizo. That's $2000 just for the monitor. Or more. I'd get the Dell U2715H as well. Enjoy your purchase.

If you are going for more hardcore things like video games and such, or editing video, then I would add more stuff to look for on the list. Since it's just photos, the basic 4 points I usually refer to will be sufficient.

Either the Dell U2715H or Dell U2415H is fine.

Read the above comment. I don't type this stuff out for my health. Or look at the specs for the Dell XPS 8900 and find something similar. Bottom Line: You are looking for a low-end gaming machine. Whether it's a Desktop or Laptop.

The Dell Line of monitors has been refreshed, so I'm going to have to look at them. What hasn't changed on what to look for is: IPS-Based Display. Matte Coating or Matte Display. HDMI / DVI / DisplayPort for the port type. AVOID using the 15-pin D-SUB / VGA port. That port is meant for tube displays, not fancy flatscreens.

Crashplan is a whole other thing. We might have to create a new thread and I'll move it to the Land of Misfits for others to chime in. I have zero experience with Crashplan.

Creating a new catalog will lose your LR settings for each file. Yes. But in reality, those edits are only applied when to export from LR. That's one of the big problems with LR catalogs. If the Catalog corrupts itself, all that labeling and edits with the sliders are lost. So, what you might want to do is export those files that you go keep going back to and export them as .psd files in a special folder. Or create presets based on those edits.

No special software. Just good 'ol copy and paste. Step 1: Let's get that WD configured for RAID 1 and formatted for use with the Mac.

I'm wondering if Apple's previewer is trying to render the D810 files at 100%. Apple's image programs (iPhoto and now Photos,) never worked really well. A D810 file-sizes might be too large for the Previewer program. So again, let's try ViewNX or a similar program before forking out money for a whole computer. Oh, every new 27" iMac is 5K. You don't have a choice in the matter.

Let's try using Nikon's viewer, ViewNX, which is free and see what happens. The 27" iMacs have a access panel that allows end users to install RAM without voiding their warranty. That said, if you screw up installing your RAM, Apple won't cover the repairs under warranty. (Duh!) However, I've never had a member screw up to the point they have broken anything. Even Moms that have 4 year olds "helping." It's not a big deal. The second thing I want to bring up is if Apple finds out you have 3rd party RAM (e.g. Crucial, Kingston, etc.) they will blame every single stinking problem on the RAM. Mouse battery died? Oh it's the Crucial RAM. Computer won't power on? Oh, it's the Crucial RAM. Even though the surge protector was switched off, it was the Crucial RAM that cast a magic spell on you forcing to turn off the surge protector. Of course, I'm being a little silly, but I'm serious about Apple blaming everything on 3rd party RAM, which is complete BS. So if you ever talk to Apple, just keep your mouth shut. No, Apple RAM isn't magical or better. Just extremely overpriced.