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Photo Forum / Digital Photography / DSLR Cameras / March 2007Raw converters and tutorials?
Hi All I'm just getting used to working with my new Nikon D80 after 20 years of slide and B&W print work. I'm just beginning to look for information about working in RAW and am interested in views on what's available in terms of convertors and tutorials on their use. Have downloaded Rawtherapee and Ufraw to try out - they seem very different and the former is rather slow in operation compared to the latter. Are there any others I should be considering/trying? Either commercial or freeware - at the end of the day quality and usability counts over cost. I'm a web designer so am very familiar with graphics programs although I've always disliked Adobe interfaces so tend to use PSP, Fireworks, and Gimp rather than the old copy of Photoshop 6 that lingers on one of my old machines. Any pointers to good sources of information gratefully received. TIA Bill Marshall > Hi All > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Any pointers to good sources of information gratefully received. Well I like the photoshop workflow & usability but for image quality you probably won't do better than Nikon Capture since they know what's in their files. I just hate it though, they aren't a software company sheesh. I tried RSE and that's pretty cool to work with, fast, etc, but somehow I did not like the results imagewise. If you want to get technical, try ImagePlus for the 16 bit processing though it's not designed for traditional photographers but for astro & scientific work as I understand. > I'm just beginning to look for information about working in RAW and am > interested in views on what's available in terms of convertors and > tutorials on their use. A good article (series) is here http://ronbigelow.com/articles/raw/raw.htm > Have downloaded Rawtherapee and Ufraw to try out - they seem very > different and the former is rather slow in operation compared to the > latter. Are there any others I should be considering/trying? Either > commercial or freeware - at the end of the day quality and usability > counts over cost. Which operating system are you using ?  Signaturegautam > I'm a web designer so am very familiar with graphics programs although > I've always disliked Adobe interfaces so tend to use PSP, Fireworks, > and Gimp rather than the old copy of Photoshop 6 that lingers on one > of my old machines. I'll probably get flamed for saying this, but at the end of the day I really don't think you can beat photoshop for a 1-stop solution. If I were you I'd purchase a copy of Photoshop CS2 with the latest DNG / Adobe Camera RAW converter (3.6) and just get used to the interface. It does take a bit of getting used to - but that's just the way it has to be when you have a program that's as deep and as wide as PS is. The Adobe RAW converter has some awefully cleaver "smarts" that many don't appreciate - such as the ability to interpolate or extrapolate between profiles shot for differing colour temperatures. The very best source of info on RAW (bar none) is "Real World Camera RAW with Adobe Photoshop" by the late Bruce Fraser. http://www.amazon.com/Real-World-Camera-Adobe-Photoshop/dp/0321334094/ref=pd_bbs _sr_1/102-3604781-0940927?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174904715&sr=8-1 He's also writter a small PDF which you can find at: www.adobe.com/digitalimag/pdfs/understanding_digitalrawcapture.pdf Hope this helps! > don't think you can beat photoshop for a 1-stop solution. If I were you I'd > purchase a copy of Photoshop CS2 with the latest DNG / Adobe Camera RAW [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > appreciate - such as the ability to interpolate or extrapolate between > profiles shot for differing colour temperatures. I totally agree with you. I have CS2 and it is great never leaving P.S. I load my raw file and the Raw coverter pops up. I do some minor adjustments and one click and I'm ready to continue working. All with never leaving P.S. I have Noiseware Pro Plugin so I can do noise reduction, again still in P.S. >> don't think you can beat photoshop for a 1-stop solution. If I were >> you I'd purchase a copy of Photoshop CS2 with the latest DNG / Adobe [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > never leaving P.S. I have Noiseware Pro Plugin so I can do noise > reduction, again still in P.S. If you're a "pure" photographer- and I am in some things I do- you can't beat Lightroom for processing RAW images. It's fairly intuitive, quite deep, and free for thirty days, thereafter $200 until April 30th when it goes to $300. The interface is a tad different from PS 7! SignatureJohn McWilliams > >> don't think you can beat photoshop for a 1-stop solution. If I were > >> you I'd purchase a copy of Photoshop CS2 with the latest DNG / Adobe [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > deep, and free for thirty days, thereafter $200 until April 30th when it > goes to $300. The interface is a tad different from PS 7! It's a shame Raw Shooter Premium is no longer supported it is fast and a LOT more intuitive than Lightroom without mentionning it was way cheaper than the adobe product. Take a look at DxO (http://www.dxo.com/intl/photo), it has many interesting characteristics. Jean >>>> don't think you can beat photoshop for a 1-stop solution. If I were >>>> you I'd purchase a copy of Photoshop CS2 with the latest DNG / Adobe [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > the adobe product. Take a look at DxO (http://www.dxo.com/intl/photo), it > has many interesting characteristics. What I find even more interesting is the number of RSP users who bawled and fretted and complained and moaned about "losing" that app. until they actually started using and learning LR., and found it met and surpassed almost all their needs. To each his own. SignatureJohn McWilliams > What I find even more interesting is the number of RSP users who bawled and > fretted and complained and moaned about "losing" that app. until they > actually started using and learning LR., and found it met and surpassed > almost all their needs. Lucky them, they just had to relearn a whole way of working. Now imagine LR fails the same way, what then? It can always happen (e.g. bought up by MS) ... -Wolfgang > > If you're a "pure" photographer- and I am in some things I do- you can't > > beat Lightroom for processing RAW images. It's fairly intuitive, quite [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > the adobe product. Take a look at DxO (http://www.dxo.com/intl/photo), it > has many interesting characteristics. LightZone is even more intuitive. There is no difference among how RAW, jpg or tif is opened or how you process them. The RAW converter may leave a little bit to be desired, which may have as much to do with how I set my camera as how they do the conversion (I read they use dcraw), but you can create a tool stack that will open automatically any time you process a RAW file from that camera type. I scan negatives and you can do the same thing with different types of film, except it isn't automatic. You have to tell it to load the Kodacolor II stack, for example. Still, it is a good way to do the initial work on any image you may want to process, and they are all handled the same. SignatureRobert B. Peirce, Venetia, PA 724-941-6883 bob AT peirce-family.com [Mac] rbp AT cooksonpeirce.com [Office] [snip] > I'll probably get flamed for saying this, but at the end of the day I really > don't think you can beat photoshop for a 1-stop solution. If I were you I'd > purchase a copy of Photoshop CS2 with the latest DNG / Adobe Camera RAW > converter (3.6) and just get used to the interface. It does take a bit of > getting used to - but that's just the way it has to be when you have a > program that's as deep and as wide as PS is. [snip] The latest ACR with CS2 is 3.7, and changes the interface slightly, so that would be better for someone to get used to than earlier versions. Except that CS3 will be released "in spring" (there will be a major announcement today about it) and ACR 4.x will have a significantly different (and much more powerful) interface, so someone getting used to ACR might be better off waiting for that. -- Barry Pearson http://www.barrypearson.co.uk/photography/ On Mar 25, 6:36 pm, William Marshall <bill.marsh...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote: > Hi All > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > Bill Marshall The best converter for Nikon RAW is Nikon Capture NX, interpret in camera data and users claim an extra stop of dynamic range, but talk about a funky interface.. Phase One Capture One LE is also well thought of, as is ACR, my personal favorite. For books, Bruce Fraser on ACR and ?Jason? O'Dell on Nikon Capture NX. I have been using Photoshop since 1995 so I'm used to the interface. The nice thing about Photoshop is that it gets improved with updates. PS 7 was a significant improvement over PS 6 and CS2 is better than PS7. To get ACR to run your D80 you need CS2, BTW a $144 upgrade from PS6 (New Egg). Tom > I'm just getting used to working with my new Nikon D80 after 20 years > of slide and B&W print work. I'm just beginning to look for > information about working in RAW and am interested in views on what's > available in terms of convertors and tutorials on their use. http://bibblelabs.com/learn/index.html -Wolfgang Your best bet is Nikon NX it costs £78 from One Stop Digital, then after editing the NEF image in that & having total control you can covert it to jpeg or Tiff. When I've used Adobe PS etc it is not as good as NX. Bruce Guys, thanks for all the ideas and opinions - even though they vary quite a lot! ;-) Much to mull over and to explore/experiment with, which I shall do. Will let you know what I end up using and how it performs. Much onliged Bill Marshall |
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