I was wondering what you think about Fred's software //www.fredmiranda.com/software/. In particular, the Web Presenter, Digital B&W Pro and 10D profiler plug-ins.
The Stair Interpolation Plugin:
This is great for preparing photos for DPCprints.
Works in small increments and saves a lot of work.
//www.fredmiranda.com/shopping/SIpro
I use his CSpro for sharpening. I like it better for portraits than other sharpening tools, but I don't use it exclusively. CSpro has a lot of flexibility in the sharpening controls. He has versions for different cameras; I use the Nikon version. The price is right, as well. He just came out with a slightly upgraded version.
Thumbs up to Digital Velvia, Shadow Recovery, Dynamic Range Increase and Chroma Noise Reducer. Haven't used anything else yet, but when I need something and he offers the tool I'd buy it blind now. :)
Check out Breezebrowser. This software has a lot going for it, but most of all it has a really good RAW converter (at least it does for Canon, from first hand experience!)
If you want what is the best RAW converter in my opinion, you should check out Capture One DSLR. If you have a 300D, it is only $49, a 10D/D60/D30 it is only $99. If you're a "pro" and have a 1D or 1Ds, it is $599. But the RAW conversion algorithms and real-time preview capability of exposure compensation, white balance adjustments, curves, sharpening, color saturation, etc. (which happen in real time) is the same in all 3 versions. There are some differences at the various levels, but at least between the "LE" version for the 10D and the "Pro" version, the only difference is the size of the "develop" queue. It is by far the best RAW converter I've used. I shoot in RAW exclusively now because of C1.
You don't have to take my word for it, you can try it yourself: they have a downloadable free trial available.
If you want what is the best RAW converter in my opinion, you should check out Capture One DSLR. If you have a 300D, it is only $49, a 10D/D60/D30 it is only $99. If you're a "pro" and have a 1D or 1Ds, it is $599. But the RAW conversion algorithms and real-time preview capability of exposure compensation, white balance adjustments, curves, sharpening, color saturation, etc. (which happen in real time) is the same in all 3 versions. There are some differences at the various levels, but at least between the "LE" version for the 10D and the "Pro" version, the only difference is the size of the "develop" queue. It is by far the best RAW converter I've used. I shoot in RAW exclusively now because of C1.
You don't have to take my word for it, you can try it yourself: they have a downloadable free trial available.
Eddy, thanks, I'll try that. But you should check out Breezebrowser too. It has a "Combined" mode, which is similar to Miranda's highlight recovery method; it combines the normal and linear conversion automatically to produce the best of all worlds from a single exposure. It also has built in "Smart" Noise reduction which seems to work very well, eliminating the need to do neat image later (though I have that too). You can even do the conversion, noise reduction, gamma adjustments, histogram levels, image reduction, and sharpening in one step. Or any of the above, you have complete control.
Preview is real time, but it is not on the full size image, but rather on a 640x480 preview.
I'll have to look at Capture One as well. Breezebrowser has a free trial too.
Disclaimer: I am not in anyway associated with Breeze Systems other than a happy customer.
I used breezebrowser for a long time, but I use CaptureOne now. It is far, far superior to breezebrowser in terms of colour and tonal quality - and it doesn't use the nasty Canon conversion libraries.
I still use breezebrowser for the initial preview and lighttable steps, because Capture One handles JPEGs really badly though.
I used breezebrowser for a long time, but I use CaptureOne now. It is far, far superior to breezebrowser in terms of colour and tonal quality - and it doesn't use the nasty Canon conversion libraries.
I still use breezebrowser for the initial preview and lighttable steps, because Capture One handles JPEGs really badly though.
So have you experimented with the "Combined" mode and the noise reduction. Does capture one have something equivalent?
I'll give that a try, but one thing I want is to be able to do all my adjustments to the image in the Raw mode. It seems like Breezebrowser comes closest to this, assuming (and it may not) it works with the raw data for all adjustments, rather than just converting it and then doing smart noise reduction (I know the combined mode at least works with raw data because it combines the linear and normal modes).
But I will have to try Capture One and compare some results!
C1 allows significant adjustment of the image at the "RAW" level, including, Exposure compensation (+/- 2.5EV), contrast, saturation, levels, curves, noise reduction, sharpening, white balance (color temperature and tone balance), cropping, scaling, sizing, etc. all done at the "raw" level before conversion.
Plus, once you've "tweaked" an image from a particular shoot, with a click of the mouse you can apply some or all of the parameter changes to whatever images you want.
Also, up to 3 different output files can be generated simultaneously from each RAW conversion, so you can generate a thumbnail, a "web sized" JPEG and a full size TIFF version all at the same time (or whatever combination you choose.)
C1 allows significant adjustment of the image at the "RAW" level, including, Exposure compensation (+/- 2.5EV), contrast, saturation, levels, curves, noise reduction, sharpening, white balance (color temperature and tone balance), cropping, scaling, sizing, etc. all done at the "raw" level before conversion.
Plus, once you've "tweaked" an image from a particular shoot, with a click of the mouse you can apply some or all of the parameter changes to whatever images you want.
Also, up to 3 different output files can be generated simultaneously from each RAW conversion, so you can generate a thumbnail, a "web sized" JPEG and a full size TIFF version all at the same time (or whatever combination you choose.)
Sounds very good. Does it let you select the type of conversion (e.g., Linear?). I'll download it and try it later. Hopefully the demo is full function not watermarked so I can actually try and use the images if they are better than Breeze does.
I used breezebrowser for a long time, but I use CaptureOne now. It is far, far superior to breezebrowser in terms of colour and tonal quality - and it doesn't use the nasty Canon conversion libraries.
I still use breezebrowser for the initial preview and lighttable steps, because Capture One handles JPEGs really badly though.
So have you experimented with the "Combined" mode and the noise reduction. Does capture one have something equivalent?
I'll give that a try, but one thing I want is to be able to do all my adjustments to the image in the Raw mode. It seems like Breezebrowser comes closest to this, assuming (and it may not) it works with the raw data for all adjustments, rather than just converting it and then doing smart noise reduction (I know the combined mode at least works with raw data because it combines the linear and normal modes).
But I will have to try Capture One and compare some results!
Thanks, Regards, Neil
You can do all the adjustments in C1 (levels, curves, hue, saturation, white balance) and see a real time preview. It really is a huge step up from breezebrowser. You can also do exposure adjustments of easily one stop and up to a couple of stops, depending on the scene. This is comparable to the combined mode in breezebrowser.
When I need extra dynamic range I convert twice, once for shadows, once for highlights, layer and then generate a luminance mask to combine the two.
so am i correct to understand that desaturation in photoshop does not do the same as "converting to B/W" with other photoshop filters (ie: Miranda's B/W Pro)?
