looking for a new RAW converter

[coeng]

I've been using my 20D and the EOS RAW Viewer Utility it came with for the past 2 years. Since I haven't really been keeping up with any new software since then I'd like to know if any new RAW converters have popped up that people really like. The one thing I don't like about the one I have is that the resulting JPEGs don't look remotely as sharp as they do in the RAW preview window. This makes for a lot of unsharp mask operations in my photo editor. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Hermeto]

I am not familiar with EOS RAW Viewer Utility..
Did you try Digital Photo Professional?

[JC4]

Lightroom (Adobe) and Aperture (Apple), both organize your photos, preserve the original RAW, let you make numerous adjustments, print, export to jpg, tiff...., ....

Both have 30day trials too. It'll change your work flow, in a very good way.

[condyk]

I use FastStone Image Viewer (free!) for viewing and deleting images and then right click into Bibble Pro to post process the RAW.

[tzalman]

Canon's free DPP was always better than EOS Viewer Utility (several years ago discontinued and replaced by Zoombrowser and Imagebrowser) and since then it has been updated four or five times. It is definitly worth your while to download the latest version and try it before deciding if you want to spend some money on one of the many third party converters.

[René Damkot]

Then again, sometimes EVU is the only Raw converter to match Canons in-camera processing ;)

Agree DPP is a step up in UI, workflow and options.

Other raw converters such as Phase One C1, Lightroom, ACR, Lightzone or Silkypix offer options DPP doesn't have, but cost a lot more, and sometimes its hard or even impossible to match the colors of DPP.

[mbellot]

I use FastStone Image Viewer (free!) for viewing and deleting images and then right click into Bibble Pro to post process the RAW.

(In my worst Cuban accent) You got some 'splaining to do condy... :lol:

I use the same combo, but whats this "right click into Bibble" magic of which you speak?

[tmpb]

bibble pro 4.9.9 is nice

[thatkatmat]

I use DPP for exposer and WB, then process in neo-imaging, not the quickest way, but definately inexpensive and versitile. I'd like to get CS3 but everytime I have an extra $500 it seems to go towards hardware

[tdaugharty]

ACR seems most appropriate given you will more than likely want to retouch images and other various post activities. ACR with PhotoShop works great and is already included with CS2 and CS3.

[Keith R]

RawShooter Essentials.

[coeng]

I will take a stab at DPP later today. I remember disliking it for some reason when I first got into RAW two years ago. Why? I don't know. I'm going to make sure I get the latest version and not the one that came with my camera.

Of course I'd prefer the use of a free RAW converter, but have no problem spending up to $100 , if the particular converter substantially distinguishes itself from a free product. Does such a converter exist in this price range?

I really don't do much tweaking except for WB, Exp Compensation, Contrast, and Saturation.

Basically I'm looking for the simplicity of an application like EVU but one that produces JPEGs that resemble what I see in the preview window.

By the way, that still bothers me...if a photo looks spectacular in the EVU preview window, why doesn't the corresponing JPEG look that good?

[AndreyD]

Then again, sometimes EVU is the only Raw converter to match Canons in-camera processing ;)

Agree DPP is a step up in UI, workflow and options.

Other raw converters such as Phase One C1, Lightroom, ACR, Lightzone or Silkypix offer options DPP doesn't have, but cost a lot more, and sometimes its hard or even impossible to match the colors of DPP.

I used ACR, C1 for raw conversion but for now use only DPP, it's options satisfy for me now, and colors just good! I always had trouble with ACR colors converting my G6 and 400D images

[coeng]

Tried to install DPP 3.2 and got the following message:

The file is damaged. Re-obtain a valid file.

Any clue? Repeated the process more than once. Same result.

[NOsquid]

You looking for Mac or PC?

[Elton Balch]

Tried to install DPP 3.2 and got the following message:

The file is damaged. Re-obtain a valid file.

Any clue? Repeated the process more than once. Same result.

Sorry you are having problems loading it. I like it myself; you can get a really good idea of what it would be like by viewing the canon video tutorials for it at the following link. I can't imagine needing much more than this and photoshop elements unless you are anxious to spend money!!:p:p:p

http://www.usa.canon.com/content/dpp2/index.html

[mike397]

coeng,
Do you have the original disk for DPP,is it alrerady installed on your computer??
before you upgrade to the latest version ,it has to be installed already.


Mike

[coeng]

Well, I got DPP installed. It wouldn't install on my work computer at work, but it did at home.

I decided to do a little comparison of EVU and DPP. I created two copies of a RAW file (DPP.CR2 and EVU.CR2).

I then edited each file in its respective application. All I did to the photo was change WB to 5200K. In DPP I selected "5" for sharpness. In EVU, I selected "standard" contrast. I figured these two settings were fairly equivalent (though I may be wrong).

The resulting JPEGs were very close as far as sharpness goes. The DPP photo was a little more grainier, which explains why it looks a tiny bit sharper when zoomed out.

The biggest difference to my surprise was the WB. The DPP photo was noticeably cooler than the EVU, and more closely matched what I had intended the WB to be.

[ralexander9646]

You may already know about this Canon on-line tutorial for DPP, but in case you don't:

http://www.usa.canon.com/content/dpp2/index.html

This is also helpful:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=412518&highlight=dpp+tutorial

Roger