New Serif Affinity Photo (Or Additional Raw Converter)

So the Serif Affinity Photo software has officially been released. Apparently, it is a bona fide competitor to PS with similar functionality. It also has Raw Converter akin to ACR. However, reviewers were not impressed by the converter in the beta version. I assume it's been improved for the official release, but that is pure speculation (I plan on buying it tonight and will try it out soon). I'm interested in everyone's opinion on the quality of the raw conversion.

My PP experience is limited to iPhoto and DPP - in other words, non-existent. While I've been meaning to upgrade to LR and doing more PP, I haven't been able to justify the Adobe cost. At $40 (until 7/23), Affinity is a "no-brainer." However, I only shoot in RAW (always with the intention of PP at some point), and if the Affinity raw converter is not up to snuff, I would like to know what other raw converters are worth using without breaking the bank.

Thanks.

There are numerous Raw converters out there, and some have quite good reputations -- a sign of the evolving "digital darkroom" field!

I myself have "stuck" with Lightroom since the early days, which shares the same Raw engine as the equivalent version of Adobe Camera raw found in Photoshop CSx, but here in this forum we are seeing people popping up all the time who are happy with their non-Adobe converters, heck, we see a lot of people who are quite happy with their DPP Raw work!

As you are getting started, I'd encourage you to check out our Raw Conversion Before and After thread:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=684360

It's been active for several years and has several thousand posts, but don't be intimidated, just scroll through until you see a post that "catches your eye". You should see a number of Raw processors represented, although the Adobe products tend to be heavily represented, because over the years they have won a lot of fans!

Enjoy, and keep us posted!

Thanks! I found that thread and started to look at it but the breadth of the thread was too daunting. I'll give it another look though. I've used DPP intermittently, but the clunky interface has generally keeps me away (the upgraded DPP does not support my current camera; come to think of it, I'm not sure Affinity does either).

t's times like this I shoot jpeg. Raw converters and all that.

DPP should support your camera, you just may need the newer version (version 4), which provides support for newer cameras. If you bought your camera new (with software disks included) then install the software, but don't un-install the older version because you need it with older cameras/Raw files. Go to the Canon site and look at the page for your newer camera and there will be a link for software/drivers that will go to the latest version that supports your camera. You can install it directly from the Canon site.

Yeah, I've considered going that route. It would definitely save space on my hard drive. But I have two years of RAW photos so I just keep going.

The old DPP (v 3. something), but the new one, last I checked, does not support the T4i, which is disappointing because by all accounts it is a significant upgrade.

spooky action wrote in post #17626243
The old DPP (v 3. something), but the new one, last I checked, does not support the T4i, which is disappointing because by all accounts it is a significant upgrade.

Hmm...did your T4i come with software?

Yes it came with software. I checked the canon website and confirmed that the latest DPP version does not include support for the T4i. It supports the T5 and up only.

spooky action wrote in post #17626512
Yes it came with software. I checked the canon website and confirmed that the latest DPP version does not include support for the T4i. It supports the T5 and up only.

So your camera came with the DPP 3.x software? If so, use it, although there are rumors that future updates could make the DPP 4.x compatible with older cameras...but you know how rumors work!

I do use DPP 3. I'm just not a fan of the interface. I use it for the lens profiles and sharpness corrections. I just wish Canon would update DPP 4 already to I can use it with the T4i. Of course, if I thought it would happen soon, this thread would be moot.

There is a trick that you can use in order to use DPP4 with T4i files. It involves using an EXIF editor to change the info so that you "fool" DPP4 into "thinking" that you are using a camera that it can handle.

YOU CAN READ ABOUT IT HERE.

I've found that link in the last few days. It sounds simple enough. One question: Does the EXIF change occur on the camera thus making the photos immediately supportable by DPP upon import, or do I have to edit the EXIF data to each photo after importing them? If the former, I will give it a try, if the latter, that seems cumbersome.

EDIT: After checking that page again, it appears the EXIF edit is done after importing, though it looks like it can be done as a batch, which isn't so bad.

Sorry but I haven't tried it as I don't have a T4i. Just from reading about it though, I can say that it does not change the camera EXIF but merely the EXIF of the photo being edited. I suppose a batch option is available, but thought that if you had just a couple of very important photos that you wanted to process in DPP4 you could do so using this procedure.

That's all that I know about it.

Thanks for your help. I actually do have a few faves that I plan on putting through the paces in Affinity, so it would still be worth my time if I don't think the Affinity Raw converter is cutting it.