Camera Advice Would Be Appreciated....

[RedRobin]

And then you need to decide, Aperture or Photoshop...........

I'm not really sure you can compare Aperture to Photoshop.

I'd personally recommend Capture One by Phase One for processing RAW files.

http://www.phaseone.com/en/Software/Capture-One-5/5-Overview.aspx

....Glad to see it's Mac compatible!

What about Adobe's Lightroom? - It's bundled free with the Leica X1:

DP Review of Lightroom3: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/AdobeLightroom3/

[Richn83]

And then you need to decide, Aperture or Photoshop...........

I'm not really sure you can compare Aperture to Photoshop.

I'd personally recommend Capture One by Phase One for processing RAW files.

http://www.phaseone.com/en/Software/Capture-One-5/5-Overview.aspx

Well I guess in professional terms no, as aperture doesnt do everything photshop will, but I am currently comparing and deciding which best suits my needs for amateur corrections, and so far photoshop isnt winning as its too un-intuitive.  I had my first 10 minute play with CS5 last night and it isnt even obvious how to increase the image size to fit the screen, something even iphoto does with a single click.....

[andrewparker]

Yeah, Lightroom is excellent - it's what our in-house photograph swears by.

Photoshop has grown to be (and has been for longer than I remember to be honest) far more than just a image editor. I'd certainly never choose it for that sole purpose. There are three programmes already mentioned here that are far more suitable.

Beauty of Capture One is that you can shoot straight to the software, so it's great for studio work. It's also very intuitive, and actually quite cheap.

[Richn83]

I obviously dont want to get this thread off topic from RR camera discussion, but it looks like capture One is designed for RAW images is this true or are they just advertising it as dealing with RAW?  Andrew you seem to have a professional experience I dont have an SLR (Lumix TZ8) and want to be able to correct and enhance photos, what would you run on a MAC thats going to be intuitive but still have all the features?

[RedRobin]

I obviously dont want to get this thread off topic from RR camera discussion, but it looks like capture One is designed for RAW images...........

....It's all good information as far as I'm concerned and options for using RAW is very relevant to camera choices.  Please continue..

[NeilM]

I have never had a 'proper' camera before and a couple of weeks ago got a Lumix G2, almost immediatley I realised I am a complete idiot and have no idea how to use it, I just use the stupid button (Intelligent Auto) and think perhaps I just liked the colour  

Now obviously I am not going to take any responsibility for my stupidity, this time I'm going to blame Ian, Lee & Co for posting such good photos and making me think it was easy  

 

However your never to old to learn and I'm not one to shy away from a challenge, so next Monday morning at 09:00 I'm going back to school, I've enrolled at a local collage for a course on Digital Photography.

I've had my name stitched onto my clothes labels and got out my old school satchel  

Neil

[chungster]

Neil.....we all have to start somewhere! None of you ever saw the first pics i took with my D40x at Oulton Park (was GT's / VW Cup races).... they were just hilarious to say the least 

but its all about practicing and knowing what ISO/Aperture/Shutter/F Stops etc etc does to pictures. Thing about having a DSLR as you just have to play and practice with it...hence i caught on with Time Attack/EDC (lucky really) and managed to have 2 years of 'Tog passes to use and take zillions of pics.

I have a good friend who also gave me handy tips along the way (he's a semi pro wedding togger now) and it seems there's some serious dedicated toggers on here too who can give good advice and stuff.

and the main thing is, have fun whilst taking pics! The moment u snap a nice clean pic...it'll all be worth it. 

[andrewparker]

I obviously dont want to get this thread off topic from RR camera discussion, but it looks like capture One is designed for RAW images is this true or are they just advertising it as dealing with RAW?

Yes, Capture One is predominantly a RAW file processor, though you can open and process other image file types. I guess if you're serious about photography and shoot with a dSLR then you'll be shooting RAW, and Capture One is what I'd recommend to process RAW files. I haven't worked with a professional photographer recently who hasn't used Capture One.
 

Andrew you seem to have a professional experience I dont have an SLR (Lumix TZ8) and want to be able to correct and enhance photos, what would you run on a MAC thats going to be intuitive but still have all the features?

If you're au fait with Mac software then I'd probably suggest you look at Aperture. The reason it didn't work for us is the way it organises images in libraries, which just doesn't make sense in our studio environment. It's my main criticism of iPhoto too.

I wouldn't rule out Lightroom either. I used the beta version years ago and wasn't impressed but I hear good things about it now. I guess the answer is to download the free trials and have a play - open the same image in each programme and see what you get out of it.

[Richn83]

cheers andrew thanks for the advice. I will be giving as many a trial before I part with my hard earned, I have already got the photo shop trial underway but just finding it a bit challenging to get into from scratch.  And im just discovering the issue with libraries with iphoto and I assume aperture getting the photos out again is difficult.

[andrewparker]

And im just discovering the issue with libraries with iphoto and I assume aperture getting the photos out again is difficult.

That's my experience of it. I see iPhoto as more of a media manager, with basic editing capabilities. Aperture is obviously far more advanced when it comes to editing, but it's still not simple to just open up an image, process it, then save it out where you specify*.



* I have only used Aperture 1 so things may have changed. I may download the trial and see what's new in Aperture 3.

[RedRobin]

^^^^
What about Adobe Bridge which is part of the Adobe Creative Suite? I find it quite a good library system and it can be directly accessed from within Photoshop, InDesign, etc.

Photoshop has developed over 20 years and is now far more than just a photographic editing application. Apps like iPhoto are essentially for non-professionals and are much simpler.

[Richn83]

Im having a play with PS at the moment, im getting on a bit better with the second attempt, does any one have a link to basic instructions of what all the different setting adjustments do?  As in if you want to try and correct shadow in a picture due to the light source being behind the object you would change the exposure, levels or use the curve function.  Seems to be so many ways to achieve different affects  

just having a little play with bridge, first impression seems to be it just indexes your original files rather than merging them into a single large file, but that just an initial impression RR.

[Richn83]

Sorry to add to this again RR, but thought you might appreciate the subject matter of my photoshop experiment, this firendly bird hangs out on the beach between Padstow and Stepper point.......
first is the original camera output and the second is my corrected image using the curve adjustment:




And bridge only indexes your files based on metadata to allow you to search for images more easily so seems completely different to the way iphoto works which seems to take an itunes approach to your photos, taking the file management away from the user.

[Top Cat]

That's my experience of it. I see iPhoto as more of a media manager, with basic editing capabilities. Aperture is obviously far more advanced when it comes to editing, but it's still not simple to just open up an image, process it, then save it out where you specify*.

I have aperture 3, and if i can operate it, then it must be simple. 

You can import straight from your camera to aperture, or just import from iphoto into a projects folder. Then its just one click to start editing the pic. Once you have finished your edit, you just have to drag it into the folder of your choosing.

I have copied all my folders into aperture, which gives me a nice option of a list of folders, were i can simply one click to edit from, or drag and drop to organise.

[RedRobin]

@ Rich:
Huge improvement  . Those Robins get everywhere!

@ TC:
Aperture looks and sounds very typically Apple at its best - Well considered, intuitive interface, and enjoyable to use.