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Software for handling camera RAW-files [closed]

Software for handling camera RAW-files [closed]

I use a digital SLR as most other photographers do today and have quickly realised that capturing images using camera-RAW files is the way to go.

Asked by: Guest | Views: 249
Total answers/comments: 5
Guest [Entry]

"Considering you mention Apple Aperture, I will assume you mean your question for Mac software, but I'll answer with the programs I've been using previously and currently on Windows for the same.

I have a Canon EOS 20D, if that matters.

Previously I used Capture One by Phase One. It was nice, but was basically just a conversion tool. Until I upgraded to one of the higher licenses, it had a very small queue and was rather cumbersome. It did produce very good quality images however. In lieu of your question about easy to use software, I would not recommend this. It supports both Windows and Mac.

After that I tested Bibble, which also supports both Windows and Mac. It too leans heavily towards conversion only. Personally I liked Bibble a lot more than Capture One. The price was nicer as well, at $159 for the Pro license.

I've also tested Adobe Camera Raw, in conjunction with Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Photoshop Album. Worked rather nice, the conversion process felt a bit clunky to me though.

I believe Picasa supports the RAW files by my Canon camera, but I have never tested it.

Currently I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2, which serves me very well. The price wasn't all that bad, but yes, it's slightly more than what you might be used to for ""home"" edition type software. Then again, camera RAW files are slightly above what I would suggest ""home"" people do anyway.

If anything, I would suggest to people I know that ask to go with Lightroom. It has the organization tools built in and the conversion tools are both powerful and, compared to others I've tried, relatively easy to use."
Guest [Entry]

Picasa handles the RAW images from my Pentax without any problems, on both windows and linux.
Guest [Entry]

Qtpfsgui is simple, free, open source and cross platform.
Guest [Entry]

"For Nikon there is one answer: Use Capture NX2.
Nikon has very good JPEG output thanks to automatic chromatic aberration correction, vignetting correction and Auto-D-Lighting. With NX2, all these corrections are done on RAW too, and distortion-correction can be added with ease. With all Apple and Adobe programs it takes much more time to get close to base JPEG quality from your Nikon.

For more complex tasks I do the lens and exposure correction in NX2, then I choose edit with Photoshop, the image is transferred as 16-bit TIF for detailed editing."
Guest [Entry]

I've found that DXO Labs Optics Pro is very good for starters. It has an automatic correction that you can afterwards override and do everything manually. They have a fully functional free trial, but the product will set you back around $170. Give a try like I did and you might end up paying for it.