DPP - Lightroom - CS5

I think the reasons why I enjoy using Lightroom 3 as much as I do have already been stated by others here. It's really helpful to have practically every tool you need to edit your picture on your screen ready to be used when you process a RAW file. I just go down the list and I am done. Now I know that other RAW processors have the same type of format, but it also has a few other tools built into it that I have found useful such as the graduated filter which applies adjustments like a graduated filter would. Also related to the tools, the noise reduction is great- a little bit of luminance smoothing and color adjustment and my photos end up darn near noiseless if they need the adjustment.

I also find the organization that is built in to be very handy when it comes to locating files from different days or events. The option of adding your files to collections is a big plus for me because I can easily go through all of my photos from some event in one place and edit them the second I click the photo instead of waiting for the program to open each file separately. You can also sort through all of your photos using different filters like the shutter speed or F-stop used or any combination of the available settings.

And one last thing that I am not sure on how other programs handle it: Lightroom will "save" your editing history of your RAW files that you have started to develop. This means that if I process a RAW file, open it in Photoshop and see that one little thing is off, I won't have to go through editing everything all over again and just make the necessary adjustments, export, and get right back to Photoshop. Like I said, I don't know how other programs handle this because I went right into Lightroom when I started shooting RAW so I haven't ever really played with DPP or other similar applications.

Overall, I think it is the layout of everything and the effectiveness of all of the tools and features that have me hooked. If Photoshop had the same organization built into it that Lightroom does, I probably would skip the step of using Lightroom. Given that it doesn't, though, I will continue using Lightroom.

FYI - been playing a LOT with LR3 the past couple of days. I'm starting to really like it . . .

So, if I have ACR and CS5, is there anything I get with LR-3?

mikeporterinmd wrote in post #11235573
So, if I have ACR and CS5, is there anything I get with LR-3?

CS5, including Camera Raw, does most of what Lightroom does -- they share the same Raw processor and you can do a lot of tasks through Bridge and the editor of CS5 that LR does. And, it should go without saying, Photoshop does a whole lot of things Lightroom can't.

What LR offers is an integrated workflow interface that avoids the things in CSx that you don't need and may not want taking up your attention -- Lightroom concntrates on offering you a quick, efficient way of doing all the things you commonly need to do with your photos without needing to jump between Bridge, Camera Raw, the Photoshop editor, and the endless dialogs that Photoshop uses.

So, with CSx you don't need Lightroom, the question is whether Lightroom will improve your workflow significantly. Some people love it, some don't. Read up on it a bit and then download the free trial and see if it suits you.

Riveredger wrote in post #11235539
FYI - been playing a LOT with LR3 the past couple of days. I'm starting to really like it . . .

Ok - after some extensive image comparisons today, I am going to stick with DPP. I can see why LR makes sense for some folks, but I prefer the output from DPP.

You wouldn't be the only one to make that choice. DPP is especially good with images that require a minimum of processing things like highlights and shadows, IMO.

Myself, Lightroom suits me, but it's still nice to have DPP on hand.

Riveredger ... I am coming to that conclusion myself. DPP is an awesome raw converter. Sure - its not Lightroom or Photoshop, but for the first go around in my workflow, it is the best I've used.

With using DPP, Photoshop, and some real nice plug-in software, I think I have my workflow defined.

EXCEPT - from where I think I originally started this thread, I lack the organizational capability like that included in Lightroom and Aperture. I do have Aperture, but don't like it - Perhaps I can just use it for organizing since it has the great faces and places tools.

Lightroom 3 is one of the best third party pp software packages undoubtedly. However, I only have DPP which is my proprietary package that I got in my EOS 50D box.

Wondering how to enable "fill light" function in it! Could anyone kindly help?

Thanks in advance.

In Lightroom and Photoshop Camera Raw you have pretty much all the functionality of your controls (except for White Balance) with jpegs, although with some limitations. In DPP, if you shoot Raw you have a tab/panel of controls available, the Raw tab, which has a dedicated shadows slider. If you are processing a jpeg, you don't have that tab, so you work in the RGB tab. There are several things you can do in the RGB tab but you have to play around. There are a couple interesting Auto Adjust buttons but they will tend to increase contrast which won't help to lighten blacks. You may try to decrease contrast and then increase brightness and see if that helps.

All these things and more can be tweaked if you can work with the curves and the borders by clicking, dragging and such. I'm no expert in DPP and have just played around and you may need to watch one or two of the video tutorials that have been posted here in the last couple days and read up in the user manual. I'd suggest doing all that because there is a lot of stuff to cover!

I had CS4 and moved to Lightroom because the upgrade ocst is significantly lower and it would be cheaper in the long run.
I like how Lightroom doesn't force you to save every file. I like the way it is easier to use presets.
BUT if I already had CS5 I wouldn't get LR. I did so only because over time it would be cheaper.
They only thing I miss with CS5 would be the ability to use smart objects.

philmar wrote in post #11269171
I had CS4 and moved to Lightroom because the upgrade ocst is significantly lower and it would be cheaper in the long run.
I like how Lightroom doesn't force you to save every file. I like the way it is easier to use presets.
BUT if I already had CS5 I wouldn't get LR. I did so only because over time it would be cheaper.
They only thing I miss with CS5 would be the ability to use smart objects.

You "had" CS4? What happened to it? What do you use for image editing now if you need something beyond Lightroom?

tonylong wrote in post #11263661
In Lightroom and Photoshop Camera Raw you have pretty much all the functionality of your controls (except for White Balance) with jpegs, although with some limitations. In DPP, if you shoot Raw you have a tab/panel of controls available, the Raw tab, which has a dedicated shadows slider. If you are processing a jpeg, you don't have that tab, so you work in the RGB tab. There are several things you can do in the RGB tab but you have to play around. There are a couple interesting Auto Adjust buttons but they will tend to increase contrast which won't help to lighten blacks. You may try to decrease contrast and then increase brightness and see if that helps.

All these things and more can be tweaked if you can work with the curves and the borders by clicking, dragging and such. I'm no expert in DPP and have just played around and you may need to watch one or two of the video tutorials that have been posted here in the last couple days and read up in the user manual. I'd suggest doing all that because there is a lot of stuff to cover!

Thanks. I tried both (LR with a friend) for RAW processing. DPP performs well for processing portraits. However, not so efficient for landscape shots. Therefore, I may be buying LR soon.

sanjeedbd wrote in post #11271798
Thanks. I tried both (LR with a friend) for RAW processing. DPP performs well for processing portraits. However, not so efficient for landscape shots. Therefore, I may be buying LR soon.

I'd say that's a good "quick take".

There are plenty of shooting scenarios where the "get it right in-camera" idea is all it takes -- if your scene lighting is good or controlled, if you have a good composition, and if you have your exposure and all the other camera skills and settings where you want them, then you really can get an exellent out-of-camera jpeg or, alternatively, bring your Raw files into DPP and do a quick "jpeg-like" conversion with excellent results. DPP really shines in that regard! And, of course it has the tools to tweak or enhance such shots as needed. I really enjoy that type of shooting because DPP makes it go so smoothly and quickly. Even on occasions when I've blown the exposure somewhat DPP can make things work (this happened to me recently with some on-the-fly indoor social shooting with a bounced flash -- I was rushed and crowded and messed up with some underexposed shots and I had done some "for fun" testing with jpeg settings and inadvertently left the camera in jpeg mode (I always shoot Raw))!

Anyway, DPP can handle straightforward exposure/brightness corrections quite well, and it's still a quick in-and-out operation, so I didn't feel like it was a FAIL bringing things into my DPP-only laptop and getting some shots out for the Web so the people/subjects/victim​s could enjoy them.

But then there are the challenging scenarios -- bright sun, deep shadows, crazy lighting, landscapes, often urban/street shooting -- basically being outdoors in the elements and unable to use controlled lighting -- to me Lightroom is powerful for all that stuff. Its shadow and highlight tools as far as I'm concerned are much more capable than those in DPP. Also, I really like working with the Lightroom color channels controls a lot better than those in DPP. Maybe if I spent alot more time in DPP working on those scenes and learning to work with all the tools of DPP I could get a lot better results, but I'm so used to Lightroom I just haven't taken the time and effort. Maybe if I met a Canon DPP guru...heh!

Lightroom does have one more huge thing going for it and that is the local adjustment tools. Of course these and the other tools are in Photoshop Camera Raw, so if someone has CS5 they have that along with the top-of-the-line image editor, or if you are a Mac user Aperture has brushes with from what I have heard some very good features that aren't the same in Lightroom, but of course you won't find these in our nice free DPP. Lightroom brushes are, though, to me a huge consideration in both landscape processing and people/portrait/skin processing. My problem is that I'm not a portrait or wedding photographer and so just don't get the practice/experience with this stuff -- but I've seen some very nice results of people using Lightroom on portraits.

Well, yadda yadda yadda -- I've earned myself the title of "Long...winded" again, but I hope this helps some!

Thanks Tony, I enjoy ur posts. I've decided to retain DPP for all the purposes that u've mentioned - sure it's a fast RAW processor. I'm a hobbyist nature photographer mainly concentrating on landscapes and wildlife (mammals and birds). LR will offer me the additional fine tuning that I observed. It retails at US$ 300/- right? Little high, but u get what u pay for. . . . .

sanjeedbd wrote in post #11274784
Thanks Tony, I enjoy ur posts. I've decided to retain DPP for all the purposes that u've mentioned - sure it's a fast RAW processor. I'm a hobbyist nature photographer mainly concentrating on landscapes and wildlife (mammals and birds). LR will offer me the additional fine tuning that I observed. It retails at US$ 300/- right? Little high, but u get what u pay for. . . . .

Yup, you get what you pay for!