For hobby, CS3 extended or DPP

[acs55812]

So if a new hobbyist thinks someday he might get a pic worth keeping in RAW format and wants to do "quite a bit" of fixing of his errors with the camera on the computer:rolleyes: would the $300 investment of CS3 be a waste as compared to DPP that comes with a 30D? Or is the learning curve (not that I am a complete idiot) steeper with CS3 that it would not be used in a non business environment?

Thoughts?

Thanks
Dan

[prime80]

If you can afford CS3, get it. I doubt you'd need the "extended" features, but standard CS3 is a phenominal program. Yes, the learning curve is steep, but since PS is the standard, there are literally thousands of tutorials online that can help you with every step of the learning process. I just recently started making money from my photography, but I've been a PS customer since PS 7 due to its incredible feature set.

If you do decide the price tag is too steep, then check out PS Elements 5. It's 80+% of PS at about 15% of the price.

[davidcrebelxt]

Remember, DPP is no slouch as a RAW editor... very capable.

Only you can decide if the $300 for CS3 is in your budget, however.

My feeling, personally, is that I can't justify the cost for ME. Sure, there's some tools I'd like to have... panorama stitching, among others... but its just not necesscary for ME... right now. I prefer to hone my skills with the camera. I've got PS Elements, and currently that's enough for me, and the skills I learn there will transfer to CS if I ever go that route.

Nice thing is, later on I can decide to buy it whenever I want, and hey, by then CS4 might be out, and I'll have saved myself the upgrade costs.


(disclaimer: I also have LR, but I bought that at discounted price when in early release... had it been $300 at release I would have happily stuck with DPP.)

As said, in the end only you can decide your needs, but I try enourage new photographers to seriously evaluate their needs before jumping into the deep-end with CS3, just because it seems like everyone else is using it. There are other less-expensive options that often fit a beginner hobbyists needs quite well.

[chauncey]

The cheapie one is good enough, if $300 is cheap, unless your going into 3-D work.

I got CS3 because I wanted the merge to HDR and photomerge features, otherwise I would have been happy with Elements and ACR 4.1.

Be advised that the learning curve is...not weeks or months, it's years. You can get some good basics down in several months.

[cfcRebel]

So if a new hobbyist thinks someday he might get a pic worth keeping in RAW format and wants to do "quite a bit" of fixing of his errors with the camera on the computer:rolleyes: would the $300 investment of CS3 be a waste as compared to DPP that comes with a 30D? Or is the learning curve (not that I am a complete idiot) steeper with CS3 that it would not be used in a non business environment?

Thoughts?

Thanks
DanHi Dan,

I would suggest you start with DPP since it is free. It is not some junk that Canon throws into the camera package, especially with the latest upgrade (DPP 3.0.2?) it is quite able. The time and effort you invested in DPP won't be completely wasted when you are ready for Photoshop suite. Who knows maybe when you are ready to move up, your $300 could get you CS4 or newer release. Just MHO.