RAW conversion software

[matt_xyz]

what software do you use for converting RAW images? For several months I have been using Elements 5, but I'm becoming unhappy with the quality of the converted images. Images tend to be oversaturated even when saturation is left at 0 and sometimes have a tendency to have a yellowish colouration. In principle these problems can be corrected by adjusting saturation and colour temperature, but I'm still never quite happy with the results.

More recently I've been experimenting with Canon's Digital Photo Professional (DPP) and am finding the results much more to my liking i.e. it requires far less adjustment to get 'realistic' colours and tones. Someone told me a while ago that they preferred the results from DPP to Elements and now I'm starting to see why.

I think I have a free copy of Capture 1 Pro which I should try at some point.

Does anyone have any views? I'm sure many use CS2 but this is too expensive given that Elements 5 does everything that I could possibly want (apart from good RAW conversion ).

Has anyone used Bibble?

Matt

[Pete W]

I use Lightroom then CS3.

Lightroom does the intial processing and conversion to Tiff or Jpeg then I use CS3 for final processing

[pressld2]

Lightroom for me too. I purchased RawShooter premium on Andy Rouse's reccomendation and was happily using that but then Adobe bought the company (Pixmantec) and incorporated the technology into their new Lightroom product. As a registered user of RSP I received a free upgrade to Lightroom v1.0 and subsequently to v1.1. It took me a little while to get used to it but I like it now.

If I need to do any further manipulation after conversion I use Paintshop Pro (v9).

Dave P.

[WestLothian]

Bibble Lite as an Adobe Photoshop "plugin" is good for optimising the RAW level curves.
It works with Elements 5.0 and CS2 also as a stand-alone saving to most file types.

[kshotton45]

I use Lightroom. I like it because it never alters any file, it keeps a database of all the PP ing that you do and you have to export to get a new file. It organises your workflow from library stage through to printing. I like the interface layout, but in all honesty, you can achieve most of the effects in Photoshop. I think it's a couple of hundred pounds to buy, but I had it as a birthday present so I'm not sure of this.

Here's a link to get a 30 day free trial ............

https://www.adobe.com/downloads/

You'll have to register with them (free) then scroll down the list to find 'Photoshop Lightroom'.

Keith.

[Interpreter]

For Fuji images, I use the RAW Image Converter LE, which is the one bundled with the camera, the same for the Canon cameras. Most of the adjustments I do through MGI Photostudio 3, which was given to me many years ago. I use Finepix viewer to resize the images or to change the save method. I have CS2, but have never had the time to sit and play with it.
I tried capture one, but it would not recognise my Canon 5D, so I dumped it - it was a free trial. It was very expensive.

I have seen CS2 for sale on our favourite auction site at a 'buy it now price' of £12. The young lady selling this programme assures me that it is quite legal, however she is no longer a registered user of that site.

[matt_xyz]

thanks for the replies, it seems Lightroom is popular. I read a review of lightroom and I wasn't really clear what it offered over and above Elements 5. I also wonder whether the basic Adobe RAW conversion process is the same within Lightroom, CS3 and Elements 5. As I said above, I'm more than happy with every other aspect of Elements 5 so can't really see much point in buying Lightroom or CS2/3.

I think I'll stick with DPP although I might also have a play with Capture 1 Pro.

Matt

[kshotton45]

Hi Matt, may I suggest that you try the free trial ( it's a download), you may take to it. It certainly has a different approach. You still save your files wherever you want to, you tell light room to import them, but it just makes a thumbnail for reference and uses the files at your location for PP'ing. Even then, it only creates a data base of your 'instructions'. If (say) you have jpegs, it won't alter your originals. You have to export the image - only then will you get a new one created. The original is safe.
I initially found it difficult to 'get my head ' around this new approach, but I bought a book off Am*zon and all was revealed! I really enjoy using it now and the only other software I use is PSP for resizing for the Gallery and some freebie for HDR.

Keith.

[tc_leeds]

Hi,

I use Phase One and open the converted file in CS2. I think if you try Phase One you will find it gives exactly what you want in terms of the ability to adjsut white balance, exposure and sharpness before converting to a tiff file. Once you have worked on a file it will open it in Photoshop. You can then make your final adjustments and save to a folder of your choice. It also stores a copy of the image in a seperate folder just as it was when exported frrom Phase One. This allows you to go back to where you started without having to process again. This is a useful feature but can clog up your hard drive if you are not aware of it.
I have used the CS2 Raw convertor but find it poor in comparison with Phase One.

Hope this may help.

TC

TC's Digital Photography

[Rookie 300d]

Hi, Matt.
I use RAWshooter Essentials 2006 from photo-freeware.net, It is fast and very good quality. It is very basic to use and a good tool for a newcomer to RAW format.

Paul.