Software Processing Overload

[DJO]

Is there any consensus on the best, or at least top 2-3, software
processing tools to use?

Adobe 2 comes with the dRebel, but it lacks "raw" support. Adobe
3 costs $100, and includes raw support.

I have seen some positive reviews on Google's Picassa, and plan
on taking a look at it.

The ZoomBrowser and FileViewer software that comes with Canon
seems good too. FileViewer does not get that much attention, but
it's pretty cool to see all the settings and histogram that the pictue
was taken with.

I am looking to personally standardize on one tool that is free or below
$100. You just spend so much time learning about the software that
it's too ineffecient to jump around. Sort of like standardizing on Canon or Nikon, and avoiding some of the smaller camera guys.

[jbradc]

I use Photoshop CS and I just started playing around with Phase One's Capture One Pro software. Both are excellent tools if you shoot RAW but they are expensive. Capture One also has a light version for $99.00 that you may want to try, here is the link http://www.phaseone.com/content/software/lesoftware.aspx
Good Luck...

[Jesper]

Software like Google's Picasa, ZoomBrowser, FileViewer etc. are not really image editing tools. They're mainly meant to view images and with some of them you can change things like brightness, contrast, maybe colours of the image.

Programs like Photoshop (CS, Elements 2.0, 3.0, ...) are very powerful programs, with which you can do almost anything, including very detailed editing of (parts of) images.

Have a look at Paint Shop Pro by JASC Software (http://www.jasc.com/), which is a good alternative for Photoshop Elements. I think the latest version can also read RAW images. It costs about the same as Photoshop Elements.

I don't know if Adobe has an offer to upgrade Elements 2.0 to 3.0, you might want to check out their website (http://www.adobe.com) or call them to find out.

[tim]

I use Photoshop CS and ACDSee. CS is a great program, but it's file browser's pretty damned slow. If you don't use the file browser you're missing out on a lot of the new CS features.

[S230]

Has anyone considered using the Digital Photo Professional 1.5.0 Updater for Windows?
I also downloaded a whole bunch of updates from Canon's web site for the software and including ZoomBrower, is a big improvement with Processing Speed and viewing abilbity. I was going to get a 3rd party software such as Adobe CD or PhaseOne for Rebel (Not sure of exact name). I am still experimenting and so far quite impressed at the updates.

[FlipsidE]

PSE2 does not support RAW, no. But, Canon File Viewer w/ the DPP upgrade does a great job. It's not all in one, but for the price, ya can't beat it.

FlipsidE

[robertwgross]

Please explain what the overload is.

---Bob Gross---

[DJO]

Please explain what the overload is.

---Bob Gross---

What I meant by overload is the sheer volume of editing / processing
software on the market. There are so many choices out there it is
hard to select one.

[robertwgross]

Judging by all of the postings in this forum, there aren't very many that are used by serious Canon photographers.

There are utilities to convert from RAW to TIF.

There are complete editing programs, e.g. Photoshop.

There are simple editing/viewing programs, but these do not amount to much.

There are color noise reduction programs, some of which are plugins to the editor, and some run independently.

There is very little software that will do all of the above and do it well, and certainly no overload.

---Bob Gross---

[wolf]

PSE 3 is good software for processing raw files and is actually quite fast. You can't go wrong for the price.

[Hydro]

Actually, I too am a little confused about the post processing choices. My goal is to shoot my kids sports events with results that approach those of Blinking8's or Gmen (guys that post some great basketball photos in the sports section).

I have been concentrating on learning about camera settings and lenses, and have just started looking into the post processing issue, but if any of you experienced folks have the patience to anser any of the following newbie questions I sure would appreciate it:

1. How important is it to shoot in RAW, and how are the results so much better than editing a JPEG in PSE? I notice that many speak of it as being a two stage process---edit in RAW, then throw it into PS? The apparently knowledgabe guy at the local photo shop said RAW is way overated and not necessary.

2. The camera came with ESO Digital Solution Disk ver. 8.0, Photo Shop Elements 2.0, and Digital Photo Professional. They seem to overlap in what they accomplish. Is PSE 2 just a light version of PSE 3?

Thanks for any input.

[S230]

for me, I find that Canon does a pretty good job at JPG without much distortion or loss of quality (Highest setting). RAW is better but it really depends what you are shooting. I did a comparison side by side and if you zoom very much, then RAW is better. If you do cropping, then RAW is better.
If you do general shots like family trip to the beach and lots of sand, etc.,, then JPG is good.
If you have the storage space, go for RAW because you don't want to miss that one great shot.

[KevC]

You could always try Gimp if you're willing to learn :)