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The Digital Darkroom The In-Computer editing forum.

What software for processing Raw

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  #1  
Old 04-07-07, 22:11
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Default What software for processing Raw

I have a Nikon D50 & a Fuji Finepix 6500.After always shooting jpeg images I have decided to give raw a try.I expect the D50 will see most use in raw mode but the Fuji has raw capability as well.I have been looking at Nikon Capture NX or Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.At the moment all my digital editing is completed using Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10.
Perhaps someone could advise what would be the best move.Do I get rid of the Microsoft software ? Any advise would be most gratefully received.
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Old 05-07-07, 06:24
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Hi Horace. I converted to RAW a little while ago and won't shoot using anything else when using Canon. I use Raw Shooter Essentials and find it very good (much better than Canons DPP, which put me off RAW at first). RSE is a free download and worth trying (Google Raw Shooter Essential - it's now owned by Adobe).
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Old 05-07-07, 06:57
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If you shoot Nikon, there is no finer RAW conversion and editting tool than Nikon Capture NX.

Check the Nikon website for a 30 day trial.
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Old 05-07-07, 07:40
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Hi Horace, I use Bibble pro and Photoshop CS2 for editing and Faststone image browser for browsing.

Alan
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Old 05-07-07, 09:10
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Thanks Gents I will check these out.
Stephen
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Old 05-07-07, 10:02
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If you use Nikon, and can afford it, then NX appears to be the weapon of choice. If you're a bit strapped for cash, then Phase One's excellent Capture One is a good choice. If you buy a Sandisk Extreme III 2GB SD card from here:
http://www.picstop.co.uk/Secure-Digi...%29-Card---2GB
for the princely sum of £17.40 + £1.50 P&P, then it will come with a slip printed with a licence activation for Capture One LE (C1). This was certainly true as of last week when I bought a couple. The licence works fine, I installed a copy on my 2nd PC.

For anyone who buys a card and finds they are no longer shipping with a licence for C1, you can buy a copy of C1 here:
http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/item/650-200Z/
It's gone up recently, they had it for £33 the other week when I looked.

I've tried Bibble, Raw Shooter Essentials, Adobe Capture Raw and SilkyPix (superb output for Pentax users, but uuuggggggh, impossible user interface), as well as C1. I find C1 to be an excellent package. Not being a Nikon user, I've never tried NX, but I've yet to find anyone who's tried it and not raved about it. C1 for <£20 and you get a free 2GB SD card with it, seems a much better value package to me though.

Oh, and persevere with using raw, it may seem like a lot of faff to begin with, but once you've got the hang of it, you'll never look back. I used to be a die hard jpeg shooter, now I never consider using anything other than raw.

Duncan
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Old 05-07-07, 11:05
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Thankyou Duncan some good tips here.As you say C1 seems to be a good deal but I have not ruled out NX yet.If I go with either of the above will that make my MS Digital Image suite redundant ?

thanks
Stephen
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Old 05-07-07, 11:21
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Another vote for NX if you are a Nikon user.

You can download a 30 day trial from here http://support.nikontech.com/cgi-bin...php?p_faqid=61

There is a thread ' NX tips & tricks ' with lots of info on it in this forum. All I can suggest is give it a try.

Before getting NX, I used Nikon Capture and before that RawShooter Essentials. In comparison with NX or NC I found RawShooter a pain in the neck.

The major difference when comparing with other image editing programs is that NX has NO clone brush.

It will not recognise Finepix 6500 raw files but you can procees any jpegs on it.

Don
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Old 05-07-07, 12:42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Horace View Post
Thankyou Duncan some good tips here.As you say C1 seems to be a good deal but I have not ruled out NX yet.If I go with either of the above will that make my MS Digital Image suite redundant ?

thanks
Stephen
From the information on the NX Hints and Tips thread, it would appear that Nikon NX does a lot of general image processing as well as raw file conversion, I can certainly see the attraction of an all-in-one package for image editing. It is certainly far more fully featured than C1 in this respect.

For the bits you can't do using the raw processor (whichever you chose), Photoshop Elements is probably the best choice in terms of Value For Money. There's a huge amount of tutorials and help information on using Photoshop, both the full package and the more limited (though perfectly adequate for most users) Elements version. Most photography magazines in their "digital darkroom sections" base their instructions on Photoshop. This would make your MS Digital Image suite redundant.

You could use the Adobe Camera Raw plugin with Photoshop Elements, it has a very easy to understand user interface, but personally I find the results a bit dull in comparison to C1.

Elements will set you back around £70.

Anyone had any experience of Adobe Lightroom? It looks appealing at £140 as an all-in-one raw convertion and editing package.
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Old 05-07-07, 12:49
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How about Lightroom? and it has clone/healing brush tools and it will process jpgs. It has a great range tools for exposure (both shaddow & highlight), contrast curves, selective colour balance, selective hue & saturation, noise reduction, crop & rotation. It will also create slide shows, web galleries, and you can print from it as well as image library database facilities. In fact it will do just about everything except pixel level editing.

LOL - Duncan you must have been typing your post at the same time as me
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Last edited by Gidders; 05-07-07 at 12:51.
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