How can I use Lightroom on an ultrabook with limited SSD space for RAW workflow in the field?
Asked 7/18/2013
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2 answers
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I want to use a Toshiba ultrabook for on-the-road Lightroom work with Canon 5D Mark II RAW files, but the internal 128GB SSD only has about 40GB free. The laptop does have USB 3.0 and an SD card slot.
My field workflow is mainly culling, tagging, rating, geotagging, and making minor adjustments. Later, I want to move everything—photos plus edits and metadata—into Lightroom on my main workstation to finish editing and export.
What is a practical workflow for handling large RAW files on a small ultrabook without running out of space or hurting battery life too much?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
4
The reason why your notebook has good battery life, is light and is small is primarily because of the SSD drive in it. The trade off for large amounts of storage is that it forces you to use spinning disks which consume more power. Using spinning disks via USB is more or less the same power drain as via direct SATA connections.
My suggestion (and what i generally do) in this situation. I've got a small 1TB USB 3.0 external hard-drive. I copy the photos off my camera onto my USB drive, then copy the photos i want to edit to the SSD. Then i disconnect the drive, edit the photos, and copy the finished edits back onto the USB drive when i'm finished (and delete everything off the SSD to make room for the next batch)
You could also check out getting an external USB SSD drive which would save your battery life somewhat and give you fast access to your files. Only downside is they're not as cheap! :)
Originally by user14506. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user14506
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A practical approach is to keep the ultrabook’s internal SSD for Lightroom, the catalog, and only the images you’re actively editing, while storing the full shoot on an external USB 3 drive.
Common workflow:
- Import RAW files from the camera to an external drive.
- Copy just the current batch you want to work on to the internal SSD.
- Disconnect the external drive when possible to save power.
- Do your tagging, rating, geotagging, and minor edits on the SSD.
- Copy the updated files back to the external drive and clear the SSD for the next batch.
If battery life and speed matter, an external USB 3 SSD is better than a spinning hard drive, though a portable hard drive is the cheaper high-capacity option.
Another good Lightroom-specific option is to keep a separate travel catalog on the ultrabook (or attached drive) for a shoot or trip, then merge that catalog into your main desktop catalog later. That preserves your edits and metadata cleanly and is a standard Lightroom workflow for laptop-to-desktop work.
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