hcoley
Senior Member
I listened to all the negative reports here about the Pentax Photo Laboratory software and did not use it at all until recently.
It is a very easy and useful tool. Of course it does not have the power of Photoshop CS2 which I also use, but it is quicker and easier, and the results are quite acceptable. Very much so. It is extreemly useful for converting to 16 bit TIFF. With the Pentax software and even the in-camera JPEG, I'm getting better images than I ever did from film most of the time. I do not have my own color film lab like most of us don't. Now I have one on my PC!
In my opinion the Pentax software has not been given a fair shake. Another interesting thing I learned was when applying the Camera Mode settings in the software it applies the same post processing the camera does in those same modes. The software manual does say how each mode adjusts the image settings, but the camera manual does not tell you that the JPEG processing is different in each mode. I confirmed via email with Pentax this week that the Camera applies the same JPEG post processing that the software does. Each mode post processes the image according to that modes purpose. Sharpness, contrast, and saturation are adjusted differently in each mode on the camera. This is why you cannot change those settings on the camera when in those modes.
The software will help you see what the camera will do when you use the modes processing a RAW file.
I really think the JPEG from the camera is way underated too. I've been reviewing some images I took on a trip to Boston when I first got my DS and they look great! I didn't know I had any problems till I started reading posts here. Now that I look at those first images, I had far less problems than I thought I did.
It is a very easy and useful tool. Of course it does not have the power of Photoshop CS2 which I also use, but it is quicker and easier, and the results are quite acceptable. Very much so. It is extreemly useful for converting to 16 bit TIFF. With the Pentax software and even the in-camera JPEG, I'm getting better images than I ever did from film most of the time. I do not have my own color film lab like most of us don't. Now I have one on my PC!
In my opinion the Pentax software has not been given a fair shake. Another interesting thing I learned was when applying the Camera Mode settings in the software it applies the same post processing the camera does in those same modes. The software manual does say how each mode adjusts the image settings, but the camera manual does not tell you that the JPEG processing is different in each mode. I confirmed via email with Pentax this week that the Camera applies the same JPEG post processing that the software does. Each mode post processes the image according to that modes purpose. Sharpness, contrast, and saturation are adjusted differently in each mode on the camera. This is why you cannot change those settings on the camera when in those modes.
The software will help you see what the camera will do when you use the modes processing a RAW file.
I really think the JPEG from the camera is way underated too. I've been reviewing some images I took on a trip to Boston when I first got my DS and they look great! I didn't know I had any problems till I started reading posts here. Now that I look at those first images, I had far less problems than I thought I did.
