Best RAW conversion/filing/editing, etc software for M8

onley · 10-04-2008

I have just bought a used M8 (so I can't use the C1 software which is already registered). I have an AppleMac with 2GB Ram and I have used the inbuilt Apple iPhoto 06 for jPegs up to now. I am not a computer expert (in fact a novice!).
I want to use RAW now with the M8. Can anyone recommend the most suitable software for me to use. I have read reviews on Aperture 2, Lightroom, Capture One LE, etc. There seem to be so many it is confusing! I want to be able to produce A3 size high quality pictures, a simple-to -use comprehensive filing system and possibly to project images. The M8 is supposed to be matched to C1 but does this mean this is the only programme to give best results? Aperture on the other hand is matched to the Apple! Other people seem to extoll Lightroom. Or are they all as good as each other? Grateful for advice from those who have experience and can put themselves in the shoes of a relative software novice.

martin-f5 · 10-04-2008

I like Lightroom LR2,
works perfekt for me,
I don't need more.
import, develop, sort, organice and export to jpg files

Rogier · 10-04-2008

If you are on a Mac, use Aperture!

sfokevin · 10-04-2008

I'm hooked on Lightroom 2... I am no pro and like the slimmed down/clean interface... Go to the Adobe website and download the software - they let you use it for 30 days free...

Cleck out the Kelby online training...
http://www.kelbytraining.com/instruc...loskowski.html

I have signed up for one month access ($19.99) to watch the Lightroom 2 series

johnastovall · 10-04-2008

Capture One, they work with Leica on correct camera profiles.

palker · 10-04-2008

I use Aperture, have for ages. I looked at Lightroom and I also like that too. At some point you have to make a choice and at the time i wanted and liked the two display set up that Aperture offered that Lightroom didn't. So i picked Aperture. Now lightroom offers 2 display so if i had to start again - wow glad i don't.
overall i'm pleased with aperture. would recommend to a friend.

achi4 · 10-04-2008

I have all three (CaptureOne 4, LR2, and Aperture) and also use them all depending on the image.
LR2 has in my opinion by far the best printing possibilities and when I develop a RAW file in one of the others I always import it into Lightroom for printing.
I used the other two programs because I did not like the skin tones LR produced, but since there is the possibility of making profiles for LR2 using the Adobe DNG Profile Editor that problem no longer exists. If I had to limit myself to one program I would go to LR2.
Still, I often find myself using CaptureOne 4 because the results are achieved quickly and are really excellent.
All programs have a trial period, and I would in your position try them all, especially using different DNG files, preferably also some "difficult" images.

onley · 10-04-2008

Thanks to all for the advice. Very useful. As anyone can see different members suggest different software. I guess I will try the free 30day trial each seems to offer. One question; Capture One 4 has specific M8 profiles- that sounds to a novice in software like me to be a big advantage. What I don't know is how significant this is in practice. Will Aperture and LR give equally good results, or is it that they do but it might take longer and more tweaking to get there?

achi4 · 10-05-2008

As to profiles:
LR2 has a basic camera raw profile, ACR 4.4 which can be adjusted using the free Adobe DNG profile editor program. I have made a few profiles for caucasian skin and for lenses used without the IR filters for example and which can then be can chosen in the drop down menu under camera calibration.
Capture One has many profiles among which the profiles for the M8.
Other profiles have been created and made available, some free others against payment. If you search the M8 forum on Leica users forum http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/?langid=2 you will find info. about these.

Peter Klein · 10-04-2008

Many SanDisk Extreme III SD cards came with a free copy of Capture One 3.7. I don't know if the registration codes are still valid, but if they are, you could pick up one of the cards for your M8, and get the software along with it. The cards are now superceded by a newer model, so they can be had for fire-sale prices if you look around a bit.

Doug · 10-05-2008

I'm interested in the opinions and experiences shared here... I don't use any of these three programs. But let me address the file organization question by suggesting (for a Mac user, anyway) that file organization is the main function of the Finder. It's pretty good at it, and it's free. Using the folder structure and your choice of file/folder naming scheme is entirely satisfactory in keeping things organized, IMO. I was quite disappointed in the way iPhoto works, so quickly gave up on that.

I gather that file organization is a major part of the feature set of both Aperture and Lightroom, and I don't need that. But it is useful to see a thumbnail catalog of the photos. My photo editing software, shareware GraphicConverter, optionally embeds a miniature representation of the file as its icon. This is not large enough to be a full thumbnail, but it is useful. Further, Photoshop includes a Browser feature in which one can scroll through photo files organized by folder in the Finder. And so does GraphicConverter.

Besides the catalog/browser feature, GC has considerable power in photo editing including Levels, Skewing, White Balance, sharpening, and saving/opening a slew of file formats including the raw files from Leica and Pentax. It isn't Photoshop, has no Layers, and is limited in other ways, but it's a lot easier for me to use. $35 shareware for the Mac, see http://www.lemkesoft.com/

digger1914 · 10-05-2008

I use Aperture with my M8, and feel it works a treat.

I have tried Lightroom and prefer the workflow of Aperture.

I also enjoy the ability to use add ins in the current version. Being able to easily use Silver Efex Pro and Noise Ninja are a bid advantage with Aperture at the moment.

coquillat · 10-05-2008

Hello, I organise my pictures with LR2 (and use for quick developing); high quality developing with the new CO1, last corrections with LightZone
greetings - Nikolaus

Shadowplay · 10-05-2008

Sandisk cards were coming with free capture one licenses for a bit there and they may still be. I'm not sure what version of C1 was, but I had two license cards i threw out because I use bridge/photoshop, now I wish I had saved them to give away! Anyhow, if you need a new SD card it might be worth a shot.

biggambi · 10-05-2008

If you already like the mac environment, I would strongly recommend Aperture 2. It is considerably more advanced than iPhoto, and with the available plug-ins, it can grow with your needs. It does not have the feature set that PS3/4 offers, but when you need these just add the other plug-ins. Also, it is geared to be an easier application to use for someone with a non-technical background. At least this is what I have found. I am sure that any of the programs will give you great results; but, none of the others will feel more like a part of the apple environment. Just my thoughts...

onley · 10-06-2008

Once again, many, many thanks to you all. The input is extremely useful.

Patman · 10-06-2008

Never understood why anyone needed anything more than PhotoShop, it's the best photo editing software And the browser makes it easy enough to find anything.

Joshua · 10-07-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patman

Never understood why anyone needed anything more than PhotoShop, it's the best photo editing software And the browser makes it easy enough to find anything.

Because its destructive editing on RAW files after you've used CameraRAW for the import.

Because it has no organization, keywording, ratings, etc...

Aperture + Photoshop FTW.

palker · 10-07-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshua

Because its destructive editing on RAW files after you've used CameraRAW for the import.

Because it has no organization, keywording, ratings, etc...

Aperture + Photoshop FTW.

Yea - it is a case of less is more

for me Aperture is enough. but then i was a clumsy sod in the dark room so never needed to over adjust?

DaveB · 10-08-2008

I love the M8 profiles that are available in Capture 1. Too much work required to recreate them in other RAW processors.

The user interface with LR2 makes for a very easy workflow. That said, I really only use it for developing. I do my major sorting/editing using Breezebrowser because it's fast and efficient. For printing I prefer the flexibility afforded by Qimage.

The non-destructive editing of RAW files and the ability to do local corrections does make LR2 a winner.

Silkypix has fans too among M8 users. Nice gray scale output.

J. Borger · 10-08-2008

Capture 1 ........ for raw conversion (MUCH better than ACR/LR)
Cs3 for everything else

kipkeston · 10-08-2008

I'm using LR2 and the new adobe standard profile

JPSuisse · 10-21-2008

Hi all,

I think this is a good question. Unfortunately, there are many aspects to consider. Here's another opinon:

Bibble seems to be the winner for non-destructive work on files. It always writes a side car and makes NO changes to the RAW file. Alas, Bibble 4, soon to be replaced by a much more comprehensive program Bibble 5, has no real organization tools. I'm really hoping it will add the needed organization features.

Lightroom 1 is a great organizer and very easy to use. BUT, it does not write side car files for DNGs from M8, and if you save the changes made in Lightroom to the DNGs, Lightroom writes a bunch of stuff into the EXIF data of the RAW files. So, something is going on... Will other programs be able to read this? Given Adobe's track record, soon they will introduce complicated upgrade procedures and licensing, etc. Basically, Adobe, IMHO, is not to be trusted for the long-term. I did buy Lightroom 2, by the way, but am still using Lightroom 1. On big advantage with Lightroom overall others is the ability to read DNGs created by VueScan. This is really cool for people like me who still love film.

Capture 1 is a program I looked at, but it never really floated my boat. It seemed like a kind of advanced iPhoto, in which everything is imported into a proprietary database. Also, the EXIF support was insufficient for real sorting like in Lightroom it seemed. Albeit the pictures looked good like the other RAW converters.

Aperture would be my last choice. Apple tried to tie interpretation of the RAW data to the operating system. This meant mandatory upgrades just to deal with new cameras! Come on Apple usere!!! Don't be so stupid!!! At least enough people complained that they issued an "update." I use a MAC but I would never TRUST APPLE with my RAW data.

Basically, I'm hoping for Bibble 5, which I have good experiences with for the conversion.

That's my 2 cents.

JP

Nikon FM, Leica MP, Nikon D100, Leica M8
Mac OS X 10.4.11

tom.w.bn · 10-21-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPSuisse

Capture 1 is a program I looked at, but it never really floated my boat. It seemed like a kind of advanced iPhoto, in which everything is imported into a proprietary database. Also, the EXIF support was insufficient for real sorting like in Lightroom it seemed. Albeit the pictures looked good like the other RAW converters.

Oh. You spent max. 5 Minutes with Capture 1, didn't you? The comparison to iPhoto is...ehm...funny.

JPSuisse · 10-21-2008

Yes, well, it was my impression. I've spent much more time with Lightroom and Bibble.

What I forgot to point out, is that you will need a good EXIF editor, if you want to take advantage of Lightroom's organizational features.

The only one available on the MAC seems to EXIFTool, which requires use of the command line. But it works really well. Capture 1 didn't seem to recognize the info nearly as well as Lightroom.

JP