Editing/post etc

[AndrewPiper]

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Hi guys..

 

Please dont shoot me here as Im a newly minted Leica user..

 

So with that disclaimer out of the way...Is the Leica photo editing programme any good or is the Lite Room, Photo Shop etc a better. easier or maybe even cheaper option. I see that the Leica option did have a one time buy if I read the blurb correctly.

Thank for any and all advice and suggestions.

 

Andrew.

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[JNK100]

4 hours ago, AndrewPiper said:

Hi guys..

 

Please dont shoot me here as Im a newly minted Leica user..

 

So with that disclaimer out of the way...Is the Leica photo editing programme any good or is the Lite Room, Photo Shop etc a better. easier or maybe even cheaper option. I see that the Leica option did have a one time buy if I read the blurb correctly.

Thank for any and all advice and suggestions.

 

Andrew.

Andrew 

What Leica software are you referring to?

I am not aware L offer any editing software.

Jeff 

[frame-it]

22 minutes ago, JNK100 said:

Andrew 

What Leica software are you referring to?

I am not aware L offer any editing software.

Jeff 

he probably means leica fotos or lux?

[evikne]

If you think of the Leica Fotos app, it is only for connecting to your camera and previewing and sharing photos, and it can remote control your camera. It is not an editing tool.

Leica cameras use DNG files, which is a universal RAW format supported by all common editing software, like Adobe Lightroom or Capture One.

[Corius]

As others have mentioned, the only Leica SW that allows editing is "Lux" This is for the iPhone and is aimed at letting you edit iPhone photos so they have a "Leica Look". It's not what you need for editing your M11 files, particularly RAW files.

The tier 1 editors are Lightroom, Capture One and DxO Photolab. There are a second tier such as ON1, Luminar Neo, Affinity, which are capable but I've not found them as good as the tier 1. They tend to offer more gimmicks and the results are not as good (IMHO)

If you have a Mac the Photos app is a pretty good "free" editor to get you started.

You can get trial versions for most of them if you want to experiment.

The tier 1 editors are not cheap, but neither was your camera, so it's worth investing in a solution that you are happy with. Note that Lightroom is subscription only, DxO is a one-off perpetual license, and Capture 1 offers both subscription and perpetual.

The best support for the M11  is provided by Lightroom which is the only editor that supports Digital Zoom and Perspective for imported Raw files. It's my preferred app, but the others have their fans too. There isn't a "best" solution for everyone.

Lightroom comes in two variants, "Lightroom Classic", where your images are stored on local disks, and the newer "Lightroom" which stores your images in the cloud, "Lightroom" allows you to edit on your desktop PC/Mac as well as on mobile devices. "Lightroom Classic" and "Lightroom" can work together, but that is a more complex discussion.

Adobe offer a number of subscription plans, and the "Photography" plant is great value at around £10/$10 per month. It includes Lightroom Classic, Lightroom and Photoshop. See https://www.adobe.com/uk/creativecloud/photography/compare-plans.html?sdid=88X75SKR&mv=search&mv=search&mv2=paidsearch&sdid=39JWBJ4B&ef_id=CjwKCAjw_4S3BhAAEiwA_64YhmgbENnSpPg83Nc6O3sQD8CzD_AJX-_mHnSNXzRI62tsqA52KRhYQhoCpcQQAvD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!3085!3!520877000818!e!!g!!lightroom photography plan!1422699809!58647952031&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADraYsKSF7aRNinrlRIRuf8UF5sjZ&gclid=CjwKCAjw_4S3BhAAEiwA_64YhmgbENnSpPg83Nc6O3sQD8CzD_AJX-_mHnSNXzRI62tsqA52KRhYQhoCpcQQAvD_BwE

Hope that helps.

Edited September 11, 2024 by Corius

[LocalHero1953]

5 hours ago, AndrewPiper said:

Is the Leica photo editing programme any good

As Socrates might have asked "what is good?".

If all you want is to apply Leica Looks and express none of your own vision, then Leica Lux is good.
Leica Fotos isn't an editing programme.

If you just want nice pics, then use JPGs straight from camera. But then, why buy a Leica?

If you want to turn your Leica photos into the vision you had when you pressed the shutter release, and add to it something of yourself, then you need to shoot in raw; then Lightroom (especially Lightroom Classic) and Capture One are 'good'. Lightroom is more versatile, pound for pound (dollar, euro....) with its different versions for different platforms and the rest of the Adobe ecosystem, but many people say that Capture One does a better job at raw conversion. Wannabes like Affinity, Luminar and DxO would also declare themselves as 'good'.........(well they would, wouldn't they?)

Apologies for exposing all my prejudices😉.

Edited September 11, 2024 by LocalHero1953

[jaapv]

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Can’t live without Photoshop…

[AndrewPiper]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions here guys.

My fault totally here obviously...how embarrassing! Not sure what the heck I was thinking.

Thanks again. I think I'll run with Literoom.

I appreciate the detailed replies and advice.

[NigelG]

I wouldn't sweat it too much - choose a program that has a decent catalogue system (as an Apple user I don't see what's wrong with Apple's proprietary one) as that for me is the hardest part, and then keep it simple if you can.

!!*Tall Poppy Alert*!!

There are many on here who seem to spend hours processing images - mulling over the finer degrees of black points/tone curves/highlights/shadows/printing profiles etc when a hit of the "auto" button and a couple of tweaks would suffice IMHO if you're sharing via any kind of screen...and then only if the image was worth it.

But then be careful to never, ever admit that here 🤫

 

Edited September 11, 2024 by NigelG

[jaapv]

Routine, my friend - I process my images individually as good as I can, and essentials like blackpoint, curves, levels, color correction etc. take seconds rather than minutes. TPAI is a serious timesaver and enhancer as well, Standard images a few minutes, fully processed 5-10. Printing is another matter -that takes more time, but then I only print those few images I find worthy. 

[NigelG]

“If you’re sharing via any kind of screen” was my caveat obv. but I still wouldn’t spend too long…

If you ever shot slide film you know how long you spent post-processing 😉

Edited September 11, 2024 by NigelG

[jaapv]

14 minutes ago, NigelG said:

“If you’re sharing via any kind of screen” was my caveat obv. but I still wouldn’t spend too long…

If you ever shot slide film you know how long you spent post-processing 😉

I used to print slide film on Cibachrome. Quite a demanding process, colour balance, exposure correction, dodging, burning, quite a bit of work but the results were fantastic. Yes I know how long I spent processing slides. Days. 

[jaapv]

No joke. Dark or Lightroom. photographs without postprocessing are half-baked. Have been for the last 125 years at least. Remember Uncle Reginald’s deadly boring slideshows?  One bad snapshot after another…

[LocalHero1953]

In the end, photo editing is a means to an end. If you don't know what your photos should look like, then don't get any editing programme. The editor you get should meet your needs for the final image. You shouldn't buy software and then ask "what do I do now?" Start with a vision of what you want to achieve.

Edited September 12, 2024 by LocalHero1953

[250swb]

I've never understood the rush to admit that no time is spent on post processing if you expect other people to look at the photograph. The viewer deserves the best you can do, not second best. I guess after culling the bad ones some could by chance come out of the camera perfectly expressing the intent, but it won't be many.

As for the OP @AndrewPiper I think Lightroom is what you may need, and it's spelled Light and not 'Lite' just in case you think it's a simplified editing programme. But just like it's big brother Photoshop you don't need to learn every feature in Lightroom, only learn the bits you need then see what other people are doing with it, there are Adobe tutorials and plenty of web sites or YouTube videos around. But have a vision for your best photographs and understand you only need to 'edit' the good ones by deciding if the camera truly represented what you expected in your minds eye. With many modern cameras the dynamic range of the sensor is so great that strong shadows become 'light shade', and bright clouds become off-white. These are the sorts of things you can decide to keep or maybe add some contrast to a scene in your edit, or desaturate or saturate the colour more, etc. The only thing that matters in editing is if the photograph is what you wanted it to be and what the end result is going to be, so sized for printing or sized for posting in one of the photo sections on the forum.

[hansvons]

24 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

In the end, photo editing is a means to an end. If you don't know what your photos should look like, then don't get any editing programme.

Sage advice.

19 hours ago, NigelG said:

mulling over the finer degrees of black points/tone curves/highlights/shadows/printing profiles etc when a hit of the "auto" button and a couple of tweaks would suffice

Agreed.

19 hours ago, AndrewPiper said:

I think I'll run with Literoom.

Good idea. For beginners, I advice to book a session with a professional photo editor/colourist. This will save you years of dabbling and improve your photography instantly. YouTube is not a substitute for that because you can't separate the wheat from the chaff as a beginner. 95% of photo editing content on YT is outright bad or questionable.

[jaapv]

There is nothing wrong with the YouTube tutorials provided by the software makers. 

[Jeff S]

3 hours ago, jaapv said:

There is nothing wrong with the YouTube tutorials provided by the software makers. 

True for learning controls and techniques.  For Lightroom (or Photoshop), free videos from Julianne Kost, from Adobe, are superb in that regard.

The tricky, and most important, part is deciding when, where, and to what degree to apply those techniques. As noted above, this is not possible without a personal vision.  And even then, learning to see and making choices to express that vision is what separates photographers.  This applies to all aspects of photography, starting with the camera and the shot.  Learning techniques is the easy part.

Jeff

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[pedaes]

2 hours ago, Jeff S said:

For Lightroom (or Photoshop), free videos from Julianne Kost,

Fully endorse this. When I first started using LR I quickly fell in love with Julianne!  It is so helpful having LR and the tutorial both open on the screen together.

[roydonian]

Photo Ninja is much more affordable than most post-processing programs, and fairly easy to use. And it doesn't require activation or subscription. The company will give you a free short-time license so that you can try it out. The downside is that there are only minimal updates, and there is almost no tutorial material on the internet. Tech support is good - the responses come directly from the guy who wrote the program.