C1-Rebel vs. Photoshop CS?

[richardtallent]

I have C1 Rebel Edition and, other than minor annoyances, I'm pretty much satisfied. I'm planning to upgrade my old Photoshop to the new version (CS), which also claims to support Canon RAW conversion. For anyone that has both, should I expect to be spoiled by CS to the point that C1 will gather dust? Just to compare, here's my current thoughts on C1:

Pros:
- White balance
- Exposure compensation
- Immediate preview in docked pane: no dialogs for adjustment

Cons:
- Does not preserve settings back to CRW files.
- 10-image batch-processing limit.
- TIFF exports have posturization-like artifacts in out-of-focus or darker regions.
- Tries (and fails) to replace Explorer with "integrated" file management.
- Minimal online support: most answers seem to begin with "this works in the more expensive version"
- Annoying pop-up because I have non-traditional (but correct) color balance profile selected.
- Yet another program that thinks it should replace the themed Windows widgets with its own widgets and color scheme.

[evilenglishman]

--

[drisley]

I personally prefer C1. But I have the Pro version.
I never did like the Photoshop conversion for my G3. I wonder if it's any diff for the DSLR's.

What exactly do you mean by "posturization-like" artifacts?

Photoshop doesn't preserve settings back to CRW files either.
Does any software do this?

[dtrayers]

I use Breezebrowser when I trust the camera settings (WB, sharpness, etc) and want to convert the RAW files en masse.

I use C1Rebel also for batch processing, but when I may want to tweak the WB or know I have some under exposures. Actually, I'm processing them one at a time, but when I do catch up with the 10 file limit it's usually less than 4 minutes and the queue is empty again. I just wish it would clearly tell you how many are in the queue.

Both BB and C1Rebel I use when I'm going to share photos with the grandparents or friends. I usually convert to high quality JPG and burn to CD.

For those conversions destined for the printer, I'm using PS-CS. I usually adjust WB and exposure (shadows are usually already to the left), add a little contrast and saturation to taste and convert.

A little healing brush, cropping, and then sharpen for printing and I'm done. I rarely do any levels or curves, that's taken care of during the exposure or in the CS raw conversion. But sometimes I find that the new Highlight/Shadow adjustment tool is amazing. It's like a magic curves tool. I suppose you can use the curves tool in C1 for a similar result, but it seems the Highlight/Shadow tool is much more powerful. It's almost like it uses curves with a dynamic mask.

I had BB from my days with the G3, and I got in on the deal late last year with the C1Rebel. To me, they're cheap enough.

But I would think that the bigger attraction for you to CS would be the greater support for 16-bit files (I amost never have to convert to 8 bit anymore), the new tools like the Highlight/Shadow tool, and lastly the RAW conversion. Even if you don't like the RAW conversion tools, it's still worth the upgrade.

Oh yes, CS doesn't save the settings back to the CRW files, and neither does C1Rebel. They both just remember the settings for the CRW's in a small setttings file somewhere (like and .ini or .txt file, I never bothered to find it).