clinchico Posted November 1, 2009 Share #1 Posted November 1, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hello everyone As a owner of a Leica D-Lux4 and beginner to digital photography, what software would you recommend I start out with? So far all I have is I-Photo on my Mac-Book. Any suggestions out there? Herb Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 1, 2009 Posted November 1, 2009 Hi clinchico, Take a look here Software for beginner. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
dpitt Posted November 1, 2009 Share #2 Posted November 1, 2009 Since you are familiar with iPhoto, IMHO the obvious choice would be Aperture. It has an easy learning curve and excellent Mac look and feel. After trying Adobe Light Room and Capture One, I found that each of these three has its own strengths, and all will do a nice job in skilled hands. Aperture adds to that a very good system for organizing and tagging your images. For reference look at the tutorials by Apple and on this blog: RB Design – Aperture – Lightroom – Photography Apple - Aperture - Tutorials You can download full functional trial versions for the 3 software packages mentioned above. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlosecpf Posted November 1, 2009 Share #3 Posted November 1, 2009 I love and use Apple Aperture. The only limitation that I see for you is that, as of now, Aperture is not compatible with D-LUX 4 RAW images. But if you shoot JPEG, Aperture will work pretty nice. I heard good things about Google's Picasa. Though it's free, it seems to be more powerful than iPhoto for photo editing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpitt Posted November 1, 2009 Share #4 Posted November 1, 2009 This is a quote from RB Design about the difference between LR and Aperture: "One of the things that is becoming more and more clear to me is that photographers that want a really better way of interacting with their libraries as a whole and are very demanding of the environment in which they spend their time prefer Aperture. Especially photographers that have a general bent towards “strait” photography. Photographers that spend lots of time manipulating their images and are satisfied with the file system facilities to organize their images and the work associated with those images seem to prefer Lightroom." Full story here : RB Design – Aperture Users – We Have A Converted Lightroom2 Guy I am in the first category. Certainly for Leica pictures. I used to use the others for Nikon NEF development occasionally because Aperture is not great with the Nikon format. In fact nothing except Nikons own software can handle them perfectly, but that is an other story. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinchico Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share #5 Posted November 2, 2009 Thanks for the input guy's, I will visit the Apple store today. I am not interested in manipulating my photos too much so I guess aperture 2 will be the way to go for now. Herb Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted November 2, 2009 Share #6 Posted November 2, 2009 You could always download trial versions of each from the relevant websites. If you shoot RAW and Aperture doesn't support your camera wouldn't that be a problem? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted November 2, 2009 Share #7 Posted November 2, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) A lower cost alternative might be Adobe Elements which offers many of the features of its bigger siblings. The latest versions should read DLux4 raw files. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackart Posted November 2, 2009 Share #8 Posted November 2, 2009 A lower cost alternative might be Adobe Elements which offers many of the features of its bigger siblings. The latest versions should read DLux4 raw files. I secont WDA, Elements is the way to go. Later, You are quite familiar with full PS. And Elements doesn't break the bank. Jaak Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roguewave Posted November 2, 2009 Share #9 Posted November 2, 2009 Herb, you purchased a very fine camera. Why? If you want to learn how to use that tool and to become a better photographer, don't fool yourself. The "straight stuff" is BS. The raw image or even the jpeg is just an "averaged" rendering from the software that interpolates the data from the sensor, just like a negative is the data that has been collected in the silver. The sooner you learn what's in that raw file and the possibilities of what the image holds, the more you will be able to grow, both in your mastery of the camera and in the display of how you interpret the image. It's silly to think that the initial rendering is the "Straight" or "pure" image from the camera. All camera companies, including Leica, flatten the output to make a best guess, so folks get an initial peek at what they captured. If "average" is what you what, that's what you will have. If you have the funds to buy this camera, you will at some moment in time have the funds to purchase an equally important tool, the software to see what's really in that image, not the "Average" rendering. That tool is Photoshop. The sooner you download a trial of this software, the larger the world of image crafting becomes. Ignorance is not Bliss. Don't be fooled. Enjoy your new camera, it's a beauty. Don't sell yourself short. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted November 2, 2009 Share #10 Posted November 2, 2009 Ben, I think Elements, (or Lightroom or Aperture) would give most beginners what they need. Better to buy that and then see if they need the full version of Photoshop IMHO. All of the types of adjustments you mention can be performed in Elements. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roguewave Posted November 2, 2009 Share #11 Posted November 2, 2009 Steve, I agree. However, it's like the person that buys a new $5000-7000 camera, never reads the manual but manages to produce the same images the camera makes by itself. I guess thats fine. Being short-sighted never worked for me. It's like telling my patients, don't work too hard, it's ok. You don't really need to understand that. Just drone on, take your meds. It all will be just fine. In fact, you probably don't really want to mess around and learn something that might change you or how you see things or heaven forbid, find out that things aren't what you have always thought. Please, NO! Let's just get them up & runing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinchico Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share #12 Posted November 2, 2009 Thanks guy's. I have not made up my mind which way to go jet. I will first get to know what my camera can do. I am a photographer, however I have been away from my passion for the last 13 years do to illness. I am learning every day what this little marvel is capable of. Herb Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpitt Posted November 4, 2009 Share #13 Posted November 4, 2009 Ben, I think Elements, (or Lightroom or Aperture) would give most beginners what they need. Better to buy that and then see if they need the full version of Photoshop IMHO. All of the types of adjustments you mention can be performed in Elements. Herb, I have used photoshop since '90 and still have it on my machine (PS 4 off course) but photoshop is not really a photographers tool IMO. PS is fine if you want to spend a lot of time on each photo, which I don't. PS does not have a fine set of features for organizing your work. PS is very powerful bit also very complex. You can literally get lost in this complexity. PS is great for artists that take a photo and transform it to a new art form. Think back to analog days. Did it take a full darkroom for color development to make good pictures? The older I get, the more I appreciate something that just works. If a camera can produce great jpgs, why bother with lots of PP (post processing)? In a way, if you manage to master your camera you could easily do with something like iPhoto or Picasa. Catch the right white balance and exposure, and chances are that any PP will rather degrade than improve the result. Maybe that is the way to go for you? Use one of those and see if you want/need more in the end. Enjoy mastering your camera. If you are pleased with the results from the camera the PP tool does not matter. If you start with a bad photo, chances are that even the best PS guru can not make it a good photo. PS: Keep your original jpegs and raws in case you want to do the PP later on with a more sophisticated tool. Dirk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalina Posted November 5, 2009 Share #14 Posted November 5, 2009 I agree about buying Photoshop. It's a tool that can grow as you grow. I never owned Photoshop Elements and I tried using Aperture, Lightroom, and Capture One after Photoshop and I never found these other programs equal to Photoshop. I never took a Photoshop course. I barely opened the manual. I learned by experimenting and reading short Photoshop articles off the net and in magazines like Photoshop User. I've taught my art school teachers things about Photoshop when I was in their classes. If you can figure out your Leica camera, you can figure out Photoshop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinchico Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share #15 Posted November 5, 2009 I agree with you that post processing will not make a bad picture better. As I go along, learning what my camera can do, I'm finding that my pictures need less pp then at the beginning. The photographer in me is slowly emerging from all the years of inactivity. However it helps a great deal to have people like you all,who are willing to help others. Herb:) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.