Photoshop CS vs C1 Rebel Edition for RAW?

[commando]

I have Photoshop CS, and i'm slowly learning how to use it - it's not a simple or intuative piece of software, especially for PC users. I just read about C1 rebel edition, but it doesn't seem to be on their website - has that edition it been discontinued?

Either way, given I have Photoshop CS, is it worth purchasing another piece of software? I'd probably want to do batch processing, it'd take too long otherwise. For really good photos that i'll get printed in large format i'd do them individually.

[Scottes]

Yes, the Rebel C1 has been discontinued. I think the LE version is what you'll need for $100.

For about $30 you can get a book, Bruce Fraser's "Camera RAW with Adobe Photoshop CS"


I love C1, but it's not intuitive either.

[commando]

Thanks for that. I'm going to read the adobe docs first, that someone pointed to from here.

http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/ps_pro_primers.html

[drisley]

I used C1 Pro for the entire time I had the 300D.
Now that I have the 20D, I've been forced to try other Raw software for the past 2 months. C1 won't support the 20D for a couple weeks yet.

Well, I really liked Canon DPP1.1 software at first, until I discoverd that it has a bug that causes a purplish fringing around high contrast areas.
So, I went on to Canon EVU software, which didnt have the best interface, but produced great results. Well that was until last week when I discoverd that it has a MAJOR bug that produces blotching on high ISO images.

So, here I am with no other option but to try the Photoshop CS Raw converter. I had tried it in the past, but I wasn't impressed with it's colour accuracy. Well, since I've been using it for a week now, I don't think I will go back to C1!! I really am impressed with the PS CS workflow, and the way that it makes use of the entire dynamic range. If you need more shadows, just reduce the shadow setting. If you need more detail in the highlights, reduce the exposure setting, and then increase the brightness setting to bring back the overall brightness without clipping! Amazing!
The colour accuracy still isn't perfect, but it's quite good, and easily correctable. Also, the sharpness and noise reduction is VERY good, probably on par with C1.

Anyway, I think I am now a Photoshop Raw user for good. But I will have to try the new C1 software when it's available to make a final decision.