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Adobe Camera RAW thoughts.

+philcUK
01/20/08 9:40 PM GMT
Ok – so I’m still waiting for the Pro release of version 4 of the PhaseOne RAW software I use. Time not standing still and all that, I’ve been tinkering with other RAW solutions in the meantime to see how they compare. The past few days I’ve had a lot of shots to process for a commercial job so for expediency I decided to do it all just using Adobe Camera Raw 4. A few hundred shots later I thought I’d pass on some thoughts/advice on it for any interested parties.

ACR has a BIG trump card in its favour in that it’s free. Sort of. Free as in it is downloadable for use within adobe products such as Photoshop, Lightroom and the current version of Elements.

It’s also very fast. Processing a RAW file to raster data takes just a few seconds. Certainly as fast as any of the big pro RAW processors. The level of detail it extracts from the data file is also very impressive. Significantly higher than version 3 – a very real noticeable improvement rather than just a perceptual tweak. I compared similar shots from the same camera but processed in different apps and the adobe one beat it hands down. This is mainly down to its clarity improvement option.

Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends. Many of its other enhancement tools appear to be very good within the RAW preview but when it is processed the results can be terrible – almost like the program can’t cash the cheques it’s writing for itself. These can be very destructive to the detail if they are over used. The fill light function for instance is practically redundant as anything over 10% value begins to posterise the image – badly. The afore mentioned clarity function works better but again – if it’s used heavy handed the results won’t stand up to any close scrutiny. They do appear optically ok but that’s about it.

The conclusion from all that preamble being then: if you have a lot of images to get through fast or just the odd occasional shot then ACR could be just the ticket. Just use it with kid gloves and keep in mind the preview in RAW may not translate that well to the finished product. If you are wanting a more consistent and polished quality result, probably best to look elsewhere and, unfortunately, splash some cash.
0∈ [?]
A smart bomb is only as clever as the idiot that tells it what to do

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=ppigeon
01/21/08 8:23 AM GMT
Interesting analysis.
Some questions:
1) which PS do you use? CS3 isn't needed for ACR4?
2) I didn't know that ACR was used in Lightroom. Could you explain?
Thanks :-)
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-Pierre-
+philcUK
01/21/08 1:04 PM GMT
yes using CS3. Camera RAW is the basic technology that drives all of Adobes RAW processing in all three aps as far as I know - it's just a bit more transparent in Lightroom.
0∈ [?]
A smart bomb is only as clever as the idiot that tells it what to do
+trisbert
01/24/08 11:47 AM GMT
I have tried ACR 2.4 a few times and it’s certainly quick to get results. I always end up back with Capture One for the Canon shots. The results from Phase One are more detailed and have cleaner noise control.

For the Kodak I use Silkypix Developer Studio, which I think is the best all rounder converter and the most versatile converter that I have seen so far. It’s so good that I bought two licences for it (his and hers).
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There are three colours, Ten digits and seven notes, its what we do with them that’s important. Ruth Ross
+philcUK
01/24/08 12:05 AM GMT
I only just realised that as an existing PhaseOne pro customer I was entitled to a free upgrade to the new version 4 so I've put that on too - pro isnt out yet, but i'll try the regular version to see how it goes. can probably live without the pro features for now. (tethered shooting, HDR etc etc)
0∈ [?]
A smart bomb is only as clever as the idiot that tells it what to do
+trisbert
01/24/08 12:44 AM GMT
I downloaded version 4 then discovered that it needs the net framework 3, which is a 90MB download. So version 4 sits unused on my hard disk.
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There are three colours, Ten digits and seven notes, its what we do with them that’s important. Ruth Ross
+philcUK
01/24/08 2:21 PM GMT
serves you right for using a PC ;-)
0∈ [?]
A smart bomb is only as clever as the idiot that tells it what to do
+trisbert
01/25/08 10:00 AM GMT
:-)
0∈ [?]
There are three colours, Ten digits and seven notes, its what we do with them that’s important. Ruth Ross

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