Editing Software?

[Mikep996]

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Paul, I totally agree with your comment re amateur/professional use.  My statement is probably more based what I ASSUME would be the speed at which the various operations can be carried out by say, LR as opposed to Photos, not that that one program can produce "better" results in the final photo.  But again, it depends on what the photographer is shooting for (NPI)   .  

As I have said in other threads, my original color photo background is 90+% slide (transparency) film.  So even in the digital realm I still base the shot on what I framed/wanted in the first place.  IOW, if II don't see what I wanted in the initial viewing of the image, other than some minor cropping/a bit of shadow boost, I delete the image.  I don't like futzing with a digital image trying to get it right.  If it wasn't (mostly) right in the camera, then I screwed up the shot.  I don't spend more than maybe five minutes to "adjust" a digital image.

OTOH, I use my darkroom and shoot/develop/process B&W film.  In the darkroom I perform all the usual operations - cropping/dodging/burning/etc.  It may take hours to produce one good print.  But I enjoy doing it in the darkroom; I do NOT enjoy doing it on the computer.  In the darkroom it's fun; on the computer it feels like work - I might as well be at the office on the computer all day!  But that's just me and I realize that most folks don't feel that way.

Funnily enough, the image I have had the most success with at a local shop is a print of a photo taken a few years back using an iPhone 11!  The only processing I did was convert the image to B&W! 

[Cogito]

Photoshop has a high learning curve and is overkill IMO for a hobby photographer. As another has noted on this thread, apple photos will do much of what you want and if you want to push your work up a level, Photomator, (which integrates 100% with your apple photos library) is what I use for all my personal photography (which includes all my Leica photography.) The mac and iPad apps have feature parity, I have a lifetime subscription which now costs $99 and it's simple to learn and a joy to use. 

One thing about Photomater is that apple recently purchased the company, so I don't know if the apps will be integrated into apple photos or if they'll remain stand-alone apps. I guess you could get the one year subscription. 

[jaapv]

9 hours ago, PhotoCruiser said:

AI classification plugin from Excire to find photos by photo content as i have about 80K Photos

I did not know that software Thank you for the tip! Just what I needed for 175.000 photographs...

[JMPerona]

9 hours ago, PhotoCruiser said:

i have about 80K Photos and Videos in the big Catalog

How do you catalog all these photos in lightroom? In the cloud or in HD?

[jankap]

 

[Mikep996]

I can not get my head around taking/keeping multi-thousands of images.  I would have no idea what to do with them - no way I could ever view them all!  And "processing" them, how the heck do you folks do that?  What do you do with all the photos?  Do you ever look at them again after review/processing?  

TBH, the only difference I can see between nowadays and the film days is that the physical storage space is not an issue today but I would still end up with 99.9% of photographs (that I decided to keep) in "storage" and never viewed.  Whether they are in a shoe box, a slide tray or a hard drive/SD card, the end results for me are the same - a bunch of pics in storage "somewhere."  

I'm not particularly talented photo-wise so I toss the vast majority of my pics!   Back when shooting 35mm film (I don't anymore), out of a roll of 36 there might have been two or three photos that I thought were pretty good.  My average is far lower with digital.  OTOH, when I go out for a day with 4x5 film, the opposite is true BUT I intentionally take only 5 film holders (10 shots) so I spend considerable time evaluating what I'm trying to capture/how to do it.  I have tried to transfer some of that thinking to digital but it's difficult since it's so easy to "just take more pics."   

But I'm amazed and impressed with those of you who have the talent and drive to take, and especially to manage all those photos!!!!!

Edited April 15 by Mikep996

[PhotoCruiser]

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vor 13 Stunden schrieb JMPerona:

How do you catalog all these photos in lightroom? In the cloud or in HD?

I have one catalog containing all photos and smaller cataloges, one per year, however, the catalog containig all photos is reasonable fast to use.
All photos and videos are on a external SSD, i never use any cloud storage other than what my Mac's store in Apple iCloud.
Chris

[PhotoCruiser]

vor 13 Stunden schrieb jaapv:

I did not know that software Thank you for the tip! Just what I needed for 175.000 photographs...

Jaapv, it is rather expensive and there are two versions
a) Lightroom plugin to use directly from Lightroom
b) a external software who catalog the photos and store the data, if one/more are selected then it opens them in Lightroom.
After some tests i bought the Photoshop Plugin but had after a short test that the external working version works a bit better, however both work well and are helpful if you need to find a photo with for example a bee, starfish, etc, etc
I think you can download either and conduct some tests before you buy it.
Chris

[PhotoCruiser]

vor 49 Minuten schrieb Mikep996:

But I'm amazed and impressed with those of you who have the talent and drive to take, and especially to manage all those photos!!!!!

Well, i basically agree with you and most of the photos are just there, but sometimes i need one/some for whatever reason and then Lightroom and Excire comes handy to find them. Storage is cheap so i don't mind to store them, also the shitty ones even during the pandemic i deleted about 10K of totally shitty ones.

Yes i sometimes watch and edit them again, to test new software features (like the awesone AI Denoise f.e.), to send them to someone or building my website or have printed poster size blow-ups.
What i am thinking about is to print some photo books and they make a very nice and personalized gift and also to use a site who sell them to make a bit of money, even if i don't believe that it will give me a considerable "income"

I did photo editing, computer graphics and website building for life back beginning of 1990 till i left 1996 to Sardinia and i enjoy to do it, what i never got warm with is editing videos but i don't record many, most where when i had my scuba diving companies to make short videos to post on social media for advertising purposes.

But there are many here who just use there Leica to shoot in JPG, throw away most of them and use the good ones to print, publish online or just make private albums. Every photographer has his own way and opinion what to do with his photos and all of them are fine.

Chris

Edited April 15 by PhotoCruiser

[FlashGordonPhotography]

It doesn't matter what, if any software you use. Only that you treat it like any other part of the process and learn it well. Shooting raw or jpegs, you need a decent way to find, grade and sort images and something to make them look like your vision.

I detest comments like *C1 is a better processor then LRC* or *you only need program X* etc. Mostly because they're complete BS. A few things I personally recommend as someone with over a million images in storage drives.

1. Use a catalogue. Tag, rate and keyword your images. No one remembers an image from a deade ago but software does. You need to use an advanced search exactly once to see how valuable it is. Photos of your kids birthdays. Easy. A nice pic of a loved one for their funeral. No problems. Recalling that holiday moment. Instant.

2. New software is better. Have a new look at old files. No, your old software isn't as good as it gets or more than enough. Reprocessing older files with improved algorithms can make older images sing like never before. Especially if it's something like DXO or Topaz. Remember that file that was too noisy to print? Maybe not now.

3. Subscriptions aren't more expensive, mostly. Upgrading DXO Photo Lab costs about the same as LRC, Photoshop, bridge and LR per year and you get new features every month or so. Affinity doesn't include a catalogue. Etc. Etc. Etc. New cameras and lenses arrive. Operating systems update with each new computer. You don't have to like the model but Adobe is constantly improving. So is C1. And they're a LOT quicker to add new gear than perpetual software. And new features. The worst I've seen is On1 who basically stop development immediaely each year the new vesion arrives. Never again.

4. The program you choose doen't matter but the time you invest does. In a digital world processing is almost required to make images sing if you shoot raw. A 14 bit file is flat as a tack until you play with it. If you're not keen on the nitty gritty then something like the Nik Suite might be worth a look. But mostly out of camera means unfinished. Except for Fuji jpegs and a few Leica looks the rest are just bad. But really. If you hate processing it's likely because it intimidates you rather than anything else. The same people who don't want to look at a computer after work spend the evening watching TV or looking at a phone screen. An iPad is an excellent image editir in 2025.

5. The brand of software matters. UI is important. So is workflow. It'll make you detest processing if it doesn't suit you. So try a few and pick one that you like the look of. You can argue that Adobe isn't as goof for Fuji XTrans files but this is a Leica forum. The best software is the stuff that works for you. LRC isn't better than Infinity or C1 or whatever. I know of exacly nobody who can identify software from a side by side comparison if the processing is done well. If photos floats your boat. Awesome. You're missing out but they're your photos so who cares, except you? If you use instagram, can you send directly from your chosen software? How about output to a printer etc?

6. Download and save you phone photos with yor camera photos. Sort and rate them. I know of someone who accidentally and permanantly deleted a decade's worth of iPhone photos. I can't think of much worse.

7. Minimum should be two copies of your photos. I have 5, with two offsite rotated and 3 local.

8. Consider making books of your favourites. I do a volume each year. Three copies. One for me and my kids.

9. If you really hate processing. Shoot jpegs. But even then they can be tweaked in a few seconds to be more.

Gordon

[JMPerona]

4 minutes ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

It doesn't matter what, if any software you use

Interesting approach. I enjoyed reading it.

I will say my problem is choosing the software, not keeping it. And after choosing, trying to keep a system for cataloging all the pictures. I have problems with that. I need to choose one program and then put my hands on it, but the question is which one and in which form: subscription? One-time buy?

[PhoToad]

ON1 Photo Raw. I came from Lightroom, of which I only used versions up to 6.14 as for me, the subscription model is not worth it. The new (2025) AI facilities of ON1 do a very good job in sharpening and noise reduction, but you should have a capable GPU. Occasionally, ON1 also has special offers.

[LocalHero1953]

5 hours ago, Mikep996 said:

I can not get my head around taking/keeping multi-thousands of images.  I would have no idea what to do with them - no way I could ever view them all!  And "processing" them, how the heck do you folks do that?  What do you do with all the photos?  Do you ever look at them again after review/processing?  

I could wish I don't have quite so many thousands, but I do a lot of photography for theatre/music/dance; I came away with 1115 shots from a particularly good dress rehearsal last night. I will cull this down to 400-500 for distribution, but that's still a lot. At least they are easy to find because both folder and file names include the production name. For many of these shows I have no interest in keeping all the raws and edits, but the performers occasionally ask for copies of their photos again. After a year or so I convert them to full res jpgs which take up a lot less storage on a back up drive.

As for processing, the grunt work is done overnight by batch processing: Autotone, Denoise AI, and then my own 'Stage Photo' preset (mainly tone curve, clarity, sharpening, vignette). That leaves me with culling (1-2 hours) and finally the hands-on stuff: cropping and adjusting white balance and lighting (3-4 hours). If the performance was boring then the editing becomes boring as well. If it was good, then I enjoy editing the images to get the best out of the show and cast.

[Luke_Miller]

On 4/13/2025 at 1:06 PM, JMPerona said:

What do you people use for editing the Leica Q/Q2/Q3 DNG images? Lightroom, Capture One, DxO, etc.? Which one do you recommend?

I shoot with the Q2 and use both Capture One and Lightroom for processing. Lightroom "honors" the camera frame line settings while Capture One does not.  For Q3 users Capture One does not currently support Leica Perspective Control.  So ones choice of processing application should reflect how you value these features.  What Capture One does provide is access to the full (~25mm) image rather than the 28 mm default.  I find that useful on occasion.

[luetz]

On 4/13/2025 at 10:06 AM, JMPerona said:

What do you people use for editing the Leica Q/Q2/Q3 DNG images? Lightroom, Capture One, DxO, etc.? Which one do you recommend?

I'm just a hobby photographer, so nothing professional for my editing, but I need at least basic editing, camera profiles, and at least masking. I'm trying also to avoid subscriptions, but I'm willing to join one if it has a good price and its worth it.

I use and have always used LR...Try them all, but whichever one you choose, become proficient at using it..there is no one software that is best...

[PeterHatt]

In an earlier post I mentioned GIMP  As a new version has recently been released I thought I’d post this link 

 

[johnwolf]

On 4/13/2025 at 1:57 PM, Robert Ardinger said:

Lightroom "Classic" (LRC) and Photoshop (PS).  I am just used to them (using PS for over 25 years and LR/LRC since its first release) and see no reason to change.  Was at first not thrilled with the subscription idea when it was introduced but given the cost of upgrades over the years and the pretty incredible tools Adobe has added, especially recently (masking!) it has been worth it. I have spent a lot of time learning how to use PS and LRC and am reluctant to invest more time learning another program.  There has been a recent price increase (for new subscribers and I suspect eventually for us long term folks) but put in perspective with the time, effort and financial resources I have expended on photography even the higher cost would not stop me from using it.  

Completely agree on LR, PS and the latest selection and masking tools. LR’s file management and its print module are amazing. The photographer’s subscription is well worth it, IMO.

[barnabythebear]

Hi,

Another Photomator user here. I was a long time user of Capture One, but it's getting too expensive and it's development seems to be slowing (imho). As a Mac user I've started to use Photomator, the raw editor sibling to Pixelmator Pro. I really like it, it's easy to use and has all the tools that I need. I love the way I can send a photo to Pixelmator with Photomators mask's. It's Ai subject and background selection is very quick and usually quite accurate. The company has now been brought out by Apple, I hope they develop it more.

Thanks,

Nige.

[Rhyser]

I started using ‘Rawshooter’ about 20 years ago before it was purchased by Adobe and used in the creation of Lightroom a couple of years later.  I switched to Mac and Aperture until Aperture was discontinued by Apple.  I loved Aperture! I’ve been with Lightroom since.  Lightroom more than meets my needs but I’m always looking for something a little better.  Maybe something more Mac-like.  I figure that I only use about 20% of what Lightroom has to offer and that percentage keeps going down and Adobe adds more features I don’t use.

About once a year, I re-visit competing products but keep coming back to Lightroom for another year.  Part of what keeps me coming back is probably just muscle memory.  I know how to do what I do in Lightroom without thinking about it much.  Another big consideration is the availability of Lightroom plug-ins.  I also shoot film and use Negative Lab Pro to develop scanned negatives and maintain the analog meta data.  This plug-in only works with Lightroom Classic.  Annually, I print my favorite 20 photographs of the year for a ‘photo wall’.  For the printing I use another Lightroom plug-in, Qimage One.

I think Photomator (now owned by Apple) holds the greatest promise of being a Lightroom replacement for me.  It just depends on the direction Apple takes the product.  Hoping for Aperture II!

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[LocalHero1953]

7 minutes ago, Rhyser said:

Part of what keeps me coming back is probably just muscle memory.

This is important for me as well. In my post above, I mentioned editing large numbers of images. The hands-on stuff of culling, cropping and adjusting white balance and lighting (left hand on the keyboard, right hand on the mouse) would take far longer if I hadn't been using Lightroom since about 2011!