Upgrade from C1 LE to Pro worth it versus alternative RAW converter purchase?

[ardbeg]

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So, having come from a Nikon RAW workflow using Capture NX, I've been using C1 LE with the M8 for a couple of months. Considering paying for the LE to Pro upgrade but wanted to solicit feedback before dropping the ~$400 versus alternatives of purchasing Lightroom and/or Aperture. My main focus is on RAW conversion, B&W conversion, and light editing (cropping, curve adjustment, etc.). No Photoshop heavy lifting functions required at this time. Thanks.

 

--Lawson

[wattsy]

What is lacking about the LE edition that makes you want to upgrade to the Pro edition? Unless you specifically require any of the features of the latter, I wouldn't bother.

 

Personally, I am still (after 10 months) in a slightly unsatisfactory situation of using a mishmash of raw converters for my M8 conversions - CS3 Bridge/ACR for stock stuff, C1 for some client stuff and a lot of personal work, Aperture for when I want to create a web gallery (I know I can do the latter in Photoshop). The only one I don't seem to use is Lightroom.

[S. Wong]

Free photo (RAW/TIFF) viewer/converter (DNG, CR2, NEF)

FastStone Image Viewer, Screen Capture, Photo Resizer ...

 

Free photo software (non-RAW), haven't tested on raw since downloading faststone, am testing

Paint.NET - Free Software for Digital Photo Editing

 

I had to get a plugin from the forum, here's the link:

Paint.NET :: View topic - RawLoader

[tom0511]

I have found Silky Pix also to be worth consideration, specially regsarding smooth tones.

Personally I dont know yet which converter to like best.

Cheers, Tom

[fordfanjpn]

I spent part of a weekend comparing M8 conversions with different software (Silkypix, C1 Pro, Raw Developer, Aperture, ACR 4.1 and Lightroom), and my favorite was Silkypix, followed closely, at least in terms of image quality, by C1 and Raw Developer. I was less impressed with the Lightroom and ACR conversions, and didn't care much at all for Aperture. However, since the user interface can affect how you work with a converter, the best thing to do is try as many different ones as you can, and see what works best for you. Even though I get the best results with Silkypix, other people will have better luck with something else. Personal taste figures in to this as well.

 

I should add though that if my intended use of a pic is the Web, then I'll do the raw conversion, tweaking and jpeg conversion all in Lightroom, because it's so easy to use. But if I'm planning to print an image, then I'll do the raw conversion in Silkypix, export a tiff to Photoshop for any tweaks and the 3 levels of sharpening, and then print from Photoshop. But again, everyone has their own preferred way of working, and what works for one person may be totally wrong for someone else. You just have to try it and see.

 

Bill

[Piers]

I've consistently found better image quality on M8 Raw using C1 LE compared to ACR (which I've always used long term for converting Nikon Raw files--the files from my Nik D200 seem less good when run through C1 LE than through ACR).

 

C1 LE even seems to clean up slight chromatic aberration from the 28/2.8 asph which appears-and has to be corrected--when processed in ACR.

 

A disadvantage of C1 both LE and Pro is they will not process raw files (even originally from the M8) created by Adobe DNG converter (which permits non-supported camera files to be run through ACR);

 

there is an interesting complementary programme called DNG Recover edges which shows normally hidden pixels around the image and can thus increase the visible image area from the sensor slightly. So this facility is not available to C1 users as the resulting DNG file is not readable by C1. I was told a future release of C1 would recognise Adobe DNG files.

 

Best

[ardbeg]

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What is lacking about the LE edition that makes you want to upgrade to the Pro edition? Unless you specifically require any of the features of the latter, I wouldn't bother.

 

Personally, I am still (after 10 months) in a slightly unsatisfactory situation of using a mishmash of raw converters for my M8 conversions - CS3 Bridge/ACR for stock stuff, C1 for some client stuff and a lot of personal work, Aperture for when I want to create a web gallery (I know I can do the latter in Photoshop). The only one I don't seem to use is Lightroom.

 

Well, one big missing feature is the free form rotate in RAW. LE only allows 90 degree rotations. Most of the time I get my horizon level but occasionally I'm off by a degree to two. I'd much prefer to rotate in RAW and then gen TIFF or JPEG rather than rotate after the fact in Photoshop, etc.

 

Also, I believe I read somewhere that the JFI BW profiles only work in Pro. Was considering the JFI profiles thus was considering C1 Pro.

 

--Lawson

[cbretteville]

Also, I believe I read somewhere that the JFI BW profiles only work in Pro. Was considering the JFI profiles thus was considering C1 Pro.

 

They work just fine in LE.

-C

[pklein]

Also, I believe I read somewhere that the JFI BW profiles only work in Pro. Was considering the JFI profiles thus was considering C1 Pro.

--Lawson

 

The JFI B&W profiles work fine for me.

 

C1 LE has a different user interface than vanilla Windows users are used to, but I've come to like it. And in general, I've found that the best image quality comes from the camera manufacturer's own RAW converter. Or in this case, the converter company that worked with the camera manufacturer. They know things about the files that nobody else does.

 

--Peter

[wparsonsgisnet]

I have been using C1 LE since last December. Today, I tried CS3 on some pix in comparison. I prefer the C1 version of the raw converter [Disclaimer: I am using Edmund Ronald's profiles and they render the pix naturally.]

[hofrench]

I've been a very happy user of Lightroom for months now. I find it feature-rich and flexible, and love the way that it integrates so seamlessly with PS. I find the latest iteration of Lightroom to be a real improvement, and love its "Clarity" slider, particularly for B+W work.

I'd be interested in giving C1 a try, but have found it hard to grasp, frankly.

Does anyone know where one can find a good guide to its use and features?

I've heard that it's B+W conversions are particularly fine, but was surprised not to see a on-click conversion function (if I overlooked it, please by all means point it out.)

[michaelstokes]

Does anyone know when C1 4 will be available and what the improvements will be?

[Englander]

Howard,

BW conversion in C1 LE Leica Lite is available in the Process Panel by changing the profile. Unless you buy other profiles, there is only one "BW default profile." I think Raw Developer provides better conversions that the default. Of course, you can set the SAT to zero and fool with the curves and EC or CC sliders in the Exposure Panel which provides for more elegant variations.

 

Joe

[ardbeg]

Howard,

BW conversion in C1 LE Leica Lite is available in the Process Panel by changing the profile. Unless you buy other profiles, there is only one "BW default profile." I think Raw Developer provides better conversions that the default. Of course, you can set the SAT to zero and fool with the curves and EC or CC sliders in the Exposure Panel which provides for more elegant variations.

 

Joe

 

So, still considering my options on LE to Pro upgrade. Thanks for the feedback.

 

However, I did pick up the JFI profiles and installed them into /System/Library/ColorSync/Profiles as instructed. The profiles don't show up as options on the process panel. Am I missing a step? When I go into Profile Management in C1 LE they show up as Camera profiles but not Destination/Proofer profiles. Let me know if I'm missing something but wouldn't I want to leave the input (ie Camera profile) at current setting of "Leica M8 generic UV-IR" and toggle the JFI profiles as Destinations via the Process panel?

 

--Lawson

[erl]

Lawson, I have been considering the upgrade, same as you, to C1Pro. From my examinations, it appears the only real advantage to an M8 user (as opposed to tethered studio camera backs) is the ability to scale the the output image size. For the cost of the upgrade that is a waster of money IMHO. Scaling can be done in an action in P.S. It's a pain to have to use another software package, but I am not about drop megabuck just to achieve a scaling function. Otherwise, I find C1LE to be excellent. I am hoping (a) that the Ver. 4 includes scaling for LE, ( that it is released SOON so that I am not attracted to alternatives.

[grduprey]

I use C1 LE and like its interface and work flow,however, I have yet to find a way to print from it. I have to go into PS Elements to print, seems a waste of tiime to change applications. C1 LE is however extreemely slow to come up, even slower than PS Elements.

 

Gene