best RAW processor?

[sparkie]

i am on the verge of shelling out for a RAW processor. so what is the consensus for the front runner.

the usual suspects are lightroom, C1 pro and aperture. or is there something else i should consider. I dont mind buying C1 at almost double the price of lightroom if its worth it. would appreciate your comments and experiences so i can make some sort of informed decision.

ok, ok, i need to test out the aperture and C1 free trials for myself at the end of the day. lightroom i have tried already, seems to have a lot of control, but need to test some more to gauge where each stands

is there a poll thats been conducted recently? sincere apologies if this has been discussed before

thanks folks

[tjphoto]

I love Raw Developer . Cheap, Fast, and right on the money. Works on all my cameras from
leaf to canon and to the leica M8 . I think it's the best one out there.

[erl]

To the best of my knowledge, you have to be using a Mac to use Raw Developer. No good for PC users. I know this will be rapidly refuted if I am wrong.

I was considering the C1 Pro ver. but got the drift that C1 LE is about to release a greatly improved version VERY soon. I am waiting to see that. I advise you to do the same. Meanwhile, you might play with some of the other free test options. Remember everyones needs are different, so your own opinion is the final arbiter for you.

[xrogers]

Originally Posted by erl

To the best of my knowledge, you have to be using a Mac to use Raw Developer. No good for PC users. I know this will be rapidly refuted if I am wrong.

You are correct. If you're on a Mac, though, Raw Developer is amazing, especially at the price. It has a huge feature set, and it's standard profiles are excellent (it also supports Jamie's profiles and the JFI black and white profiles). It provides the most detailed conversions I've seen from a raw converter (both for Canon and Leica). The person who writes and maintains it keeps an eye on this group, is prompt and helpful with support queries, and clearly is motivated to support the M8.

Mac users, get Raw Developer!

Until later,

Clyde Rogers

[cottonc]

If you ARE running on a Mac, then I would suggest you look at Aperture. If you are running on a PC I would suggest C1 Pro. It is a personal decision, and it's great that companies are promoteing the 30-trial period to see what you think.

[blakley]

I'm very happy with Lightroom. Fast, resource-lean, good workflow, excellent controls. Lack of perspective correction tools and ability to generate a border are problems.

[mgcd]

I tested all of these and posted the results on the old forum. C1 Pro is the best, bar none.

Cheers,

[Mark_Rinella]

Originally Posted by cottonc

If you ARE running on a Mac, then I would suggest you look at Aperture. If you are running on a PC I would suggest C1 Pro. It is a personal decision, and it's great that companies are promoteing the 30-trial period to see what you think.

Except Aperture does not read M8 DNG files! I would be very happy if it did. Please let me know if I missed something.

[andybarton]

Aperture will read M8 files if you hack a .plist file, use ACR to do some initial conversion and then get the Mac to think that the file is a Nikon one. It does work though.

Do a search for Aperture on this forum and you will find instructions as to how to do this.

Don't bother if you have a DMR, as those files are completely unreadable by Aperture.

[mgcd]

Originally Posted by andybarton

Aperture will read M8 files if you hack a .plist file, use ACR to do some initial conversion and then get the Mac to think that the file is a Nikon one. It does work though.

Do a search for Aperture on this forum and you will find instructions as to how to do this.

Don't bother if you have a DMR, as those files are completely unreadable by Aperture.

What the heck is Aperture besides the photography magazine from the US?

[SnapperJ]

Adobe Lightroom is the one for me. I am constantly pleased with the versatility of this processor. You can process your images to produce high quality colour/B&W or you can be creative with how you process. See images attached.

[Eoin]

Originally Posted by mgcd

I tested all of these and posted the results on the old forum. C1 Pro is the best, bar none.

And then you say"what the heck is aperture", I presume your joking.

Mark, here is the hack....
http://www.leica-camera-user.com/dig...dng-files.html

[carstenw]

Originally Posted by mgcd

I tested all of these and posted the results on the old forum. C1 Pro is the best, bar none.

Cheers,

The old forum? Then the programs probably all have new versions, and the comparo should be re-run. In the old days C1 was the best. This is not the case any more for all situations.

[wattsy]

I like the functionality of Lightroom and would move over to it as my main RAW processor but for the fact that I prefer the colour and sharpening I get from C1. The latter has a weird interface and is limited in what it can do (other than process RAW files) but I get better results from it (which is, I guess, what counts).

[jlancasterd]

Having used C1 for some time I needed some persuasion to try Lightroom, but I'm glad I did. It is much more user-friendly and, in my experience, produces images at least as good as C1 with DNG files from the DMR or M8 - I haven't had the opportunity to try it with RAW files from my Digilux 2 yet as that is away getting a 'heart transplant'...

[xrogers]

I like Aperture's feature set, but it is unusably slow on a dual 2.0Ghz G5 tower (fine on a MacBook Pro 1.83Ghz core duo, however). Lightroom is also excellent, and is fast everywhere. If I get one of these two, it will be Lightroom.

--clyde

[hammam]

I was wondering myself. I use C1 LE so far (good conversion for the M8's DNGs), but it has limited features, especially the fact that you cannot save a set of modifications to be recalled later, and there is very little latitude to correct color. And you need another program just to preview, sort, file or generally organize your images. I use Nikon View, but it does not read DNG. Photoshop browser does not either, etc...

So I was wondering if Lightroom (I tried the trial version, but not very extensively) would be the solution, organizer and DNG converter in one package? Isn't the «import-export»» concept a PITA? Like, if I add some files to a previously imported folder (say, from a card reader) will Lightroom automatically update the Library to reflect the new content of the folder, or will I have to re-import it?

Thanks.

[sparkie]

thank you everyone for your responses

TJ, i'm on a mac so i'll check out RAW Developer when i get a chance. I assume its the one by Iridient Digital

[tjphoto]

You are correct sir!

[sparkie]

ok, thanks!