New app - Adobe Lightroom

[ehasler]

This looks pretty interesting even though it's still a beta version. It seems to be a mix of image converter/processor and image library, with some useful features.

It's Mac only at the moment, so us PC only bods will have to wait a few months before we can try it

Over to you Bacardi

[Bee_Jay]

Have downloaded already and can't wait till I get home to my powerbook to have a play with it (stuck on my nasty windoze laptop in the office at the mo)

The review on Luminous Landscape is very detailed and very interesting.

Looks like I may finally found the equivalent of Rawshooter on the mac.

[Bacardi]

Thanks Ed, I'll have a look. Obviously a competitor to Aperture. I haven't looked at that as I have read it's slow and work in progress, as it would seem is Lightroom. From what I've read the RAW conversions aren't that great out of Aperture.... yet but, knowing Apple, by version 3 I'm sure it will be a killer app.

Their pro video editor, Final cut Pro, version 1 wasn't much of a program but rumour has it that tomorrow, at mac expo, they will announce the latest version which will run rings around the 'industry standard' Avid.... for less money. Since Avid decided to stop support for mac some years ago (a decision which they immediately reversed), there has been no love lost between them. There has been, and still is, some friction between Adobe and Apple so it will be interesting to see how things will develop.

Talking of RAW convertors. I have no experience of RS as I would rather stick pins in my eyes than have to suffer windoze. I would have thought it would be OK as it comes from some developers who used to work at Phase One. However, judging by some shots posted on the Fred Miranda Leica DMR thread, I don't think I'm missing anything. There have been quite a few comparisons between ACR, RS pro, Flexcolor and Capture One. Flexcolor produces nicer colour than ACR and I would put RS pro behind ACR. OK, I know the basic RS is free, but if you wanted the best image quality (and a very nice workflow), then C1 just blows them all away. Which is good for me as I can keep the same workflow for all cameras. If you are shooting Canon and can put up with the interface, I know of pros who swear by the latest version of DPP. Might be worth downloading the latest version.

[Bee_Jay]

Use DPP on the Mac mainly because there is nothing else I like. I tried CaptureOne but the interface and workflow was just too clunky for me when compared to the simplicity of Rawshooter. In Rawshooter you just navigate to a directory of RAW files and start work - in C1 you have to mess about with sessions and it's not nice if you like leaving your RAW files where you put them. If there is a better way to do it that I missed then I would consider C1.

Also played with Aperture - nasty and slow, even on my 1.67GHz 2Gb Powerbook G4 with 128MB of video RAM. Again, couldn't get on with the interface.

However, Lightroom appears to be much better, and reviewers have it as a multiples faster than Aperture.

Can't wait to have a play with it this evening.

[Bee_Jay]

Absolutely love it!!

Used it on a shoot today on my 17" Powerbook.

Did tethered capture to DPP, occasionally doing an import (if you keep importing the same folder it just adds files - nice).

It was then perfect to do an instant slideshow with the client, and then using the compare function and the 'L' key have the 3 'final' images up on screen for them to look at.

Currently it is converting the RAW images to JPEGs for upload to our site.

Definitely gets my vote, and will get my money if they add crop as planned and also an RGB picker... (similar to info in CS2 - maybe I just haven't found it yet...)

[Bacardi]

Bee_Jay said:

- in C1 you have to mess about with sessions....

To be honest, when they first introduce this way of working, I didn't like it either. Now I've been using it, daily, for a few of years, I love it. Keeps all the files, edits, deleted files in neat collections. You don't have to work with sessions though. It's easy to drag a folder of RAWs to the folder pane and set that as the process folder if you want to keep all the files together. It's also easy enough to navigate to folders using the file browser under the folder pane. Having said that, I've heard that the PC version is different and not as friendly. Another powerful feature that I find useful (although, to be fair, I doubt many people on this forum would), is being able to process to multiple destination and formats in one process. ACR can do it but that really is the definition of clunky. Ultimately though, I use C1 for it's image quality.

Had a quick look at Lightroom. To early to pass any judgement as it is still work in process. Looks like it has some nice touches like the 'L'. There are a hell of a lot of sliders, and scroll bars when you open out all the panels, that's for sure, and no proper curves. The quality of the conversion looks to be the same as ACR, which I guess would make sense. I'll think I'll wait until it, and aperture have been sorted before parting with any money. Between Apple and Adobe I can see the developers hurriedly trying to incorporate the best bits from each others programs so I would imagine they will end up being quite similar. Time will tell.

Bee_Jay said:

and also an RGB picker...

Apparently, according to Adobe, RGB numbers are missing because Lightroom uses Profoto RGB as its working space and a linear gamma.

Out of interest, what camera are you shooting tethered with Bee Jay and what version of DPP?

>> Edited by Bacardi on Tuesday 10th January 22:12

[Bee_Jay]

Using latest version of DPP (build 61 I believe).

Tethered camera is a 20D (which still doesn't work tethered with C1 anyway :-( )

Now drooling over the just announced Dual Core MacBook Pro. Will wait for a 17" and a universal compile of CS2 and Lightroom/DPP before comitting to that one though...