RAW processing

[colincurry]

I have an HP Pavilion that was 5 years old last August with an AMD Athlon (m) 1.00Ghz CPU. I have upgraded to XP Professional Service Pack 2 and 512 RAM. I downloaded RSE Essentials but could not use it because my CPU lacked a Streaming SID Extension , and I was told that I neeeded a Pentium III CPU min 800Mhz.

I also have a Canon 30D and have downloaded the software that came with it successfully. The system requirements for this include Pentium 750 Mhz or higher CPU. Canon Digital Photo Professional may be used to process RAW images, but, looking at what others can do with their programs, it does seem fairly basic. So far as I can see, there is no noise reduction facility.

I do not intend to change my computer - it keeps chugging along (crossed fingers) and has been very reliable. HP tell me that it is not possible to change the CPU - I have probably reached the point of no return with upgrades, although an external hard drive remains a future possibility.

I am seeking advice on RAW processing programs that would run on my PC. I have seen and read what has been done to the dog pictures on "Flying birds" and some of this is probably beyond what I would want, but it would be false economy to exclude the more sophisticated facilities if available.

I am not a computer anorak. I have upgraded my RAM and installed an expansion slot for USB2 and Firewire, and that is about my limit.

Thanks

Colin

[Kev Lewis]

Originally Posted by colincurry

I have an HP Pavilion that was 5 years old last August with an AMD Athlon (m) 1.00Ghz CPU. I have upgraded to XP Professional Service Pack 2 and 512 RAM. I downloaded RSE Essentials but could not use it because my CPU lacked a Streaming SID Extension , and I was told that I neeeded a Pentium III CPU min 800Mhz.

I also have a Canon 30D and have downloaded the software that came with it successfully. The system requirements for this include Pentium 750 Mhz or higher CPU. Canon Digital Photo Professional may be used to process RAW images, but, looking at what others can do with their programs, it does seem fairly basic. So far as I can see, there is no noise reduction facility.

I do not intend to change my computer - it keeps chugging along (crossed fingers) and has been very reliable. HP tell me that it is not possible to change the CPU - I have probably reached the point of no return with upgrades, although an external hard drive remains a future possibility.

I am seeking advice on RAW processing programs that would run on my PC. I have seen and read what has been done to the dog pictures on "Flying birds" and some of this is probably beyond what I would want, but it would be false economy to exclude the more sophisticated facilities if available.

I am not a computer anorak. I have upgraded my RAM and installed an expansion slot for USB2 and Firewire, and that is about my limit.

Thanks

Colin

Carry on using what you have to convert the raw images to tifs or jpg and then dlownload a copy a Neat Image, free for private use. This will do a much better job of noise reduction than most raw convertors.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by Kev Lewis

Carry on using what you have to convert the raw images to tifs or jpg and then dlownload a copy a Neat Image, free for private use. This will do a much better job of noise reduction than most raw convertors.

Hi Kev,
just downloaded neat image (thank you) and had a quick go on the swan I put in. Initially did everything on automatic and then soon found out you can only do it on small image sizes on the free version. Never the less I have had a go but I need to practice because whilst losing noise I was also losing definition, it is obviously a compromise and I will have another go. Got to confess though I went back to Rawshooter and played there, - much less sophistication but easier. Still you get now't for now't eh?

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by colincurry

I am seeking advice on RAW processing programs that would run on my PC. I have seen and read what has been done to the dog pictures on "Flying birds" and some of this is probably beyond what I would want, but it would be false economy to exclude the more sophisticated facilities if available.

just to clarify colin everythng that graham and I did to the dog pics was done with photoshop or photoshop elements - which are picture editors rather than raw converters - Laffs original image was a jpeg in any case

[colincurry]

Hallo Eeyore

Thanks for the clarification. What are the system requirements for the programs you mentioned, please? Would my CPU handle thse, please?

Thanks

Colin

[eeyore]

photo ele 5 requires intel pentium 4 or celeron or compatible 1.3ghz processor minimum , ms xp operating system, 256mb ram, 1.5gb of hard drive space.

I would imagine that the requirements for full photoshop will be higher

you might howeve be able to find copies of photo ele 2 on ebay or similar with a lower iminimum requirement (on account of how it first came out 5 or so years ago)

i think eventually you are going to need to bite the bullet and upgrade your system tho

[colincurry]

Originally Posted by eeyore

photo ele 5 requires intel pentium 4 or celeron or compatible 1.3ghz processor minimum , ms xp operating system, 256mb ram, 1.5gb of hard drive space.

I would imagine that the requirements for full photoshop will be higher

you might howeve be able to find copies of photo ele 2 on ebay or similar with a lower iminimum requirement (on account of how it first came out 5 or so years ago)

i think eventually you are going to need to bite the bullet and upgrade your system tho

Good morning Eeyore

I find that I have Paintshop Pro 7 on my PC that seems to be a poor relation of Photoshop. I have dabled with it but it seems very complicated. I think that the next step will be to buy a written guide that will point me in the right direction.

Thanks for the advice.

Colin

[smartie]

I thought I was the only person left in the world who had Paintshop Pro 7. No-one else ever mentions it and I've been a bit embarrassed to own up

It isn't so bad to use once you get accustomed to it - though I must admit I'm agitating for Photoshop when we get our new computer later this year. And I don't do anything very clever with my images.

[Dennis1234567]

I don't think there is much between the latest Photoshop and Paintshop Pro, except the massive gap in price.

[colincurry]

Thanks to everyone who has responded.

I have just been to our local library and ordered a copy of one of the books on Paintshop Pro 7 to see if that will help me get my head round it.

Colin