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GF1 Raw and Lightroom

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jay Goldman said:
I'm very confused. Can I use some version of Lightroom to process raw GF1 files directly without creating profiles. Silkeypix sucks for me.
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May I know Silkypix "sucks" in what sense? Thanks.
Danny
 
Danny Chua said:
Danny Chua said:
I'm very confused. Can I use some version of Lightroom to process raw GF1 files directly without creating profiles. Silkeypix sucks for me.
Click to expand...
May I know Silkypix "sucks" in what sense? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Confusing, clumsy interface. Weird nomenclature. No image management.

Lightroom v2.6 final is now released and supports all current Micro-FourThirds bodies. I just downloaded and installed it, have been testing v2.6RC for weeks with few if any problems.
--
Godfrey
http://godfreydigiorgi.posterous.com
 
Ednaz said:
I agree with you, but I do have to wonder - if I'd STARTED with Silkypix for raw processing and hadn't had years of photoshop experience, would I have as much trouble with Silkypix?
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You don't need Photoshop experience to work with Lightroom—they're almost completely different programs. Lightroom is very easy compared to Photoshop, too. Photoshop's interface is based around open-ended image transformation operations that the user combines in non-obvious ways to achieve any result that they can conceive. Lightroom is more narrowly tailored to common photographic tasks.

Having used both Lightroom and Silkypix, I'd say you'd be more productive after switching to Lightroom. Lightroom is just faster and easier to use, and gives you quicker feedback on your adjustments, which means you can work faster.

I don't care how technically good of a RAW converter Silkypix or any other niche RAW conversion is. A good user interface means I can get better results because I can work better.
 
Ednaz said:
I agree with you, but I do have to wonder - if I'd STARTED with Silkypix for raw processing and hadn't had years of photoshop experience, would I have as much trouble with Silkypix?
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I don't think my experience with Photoshop had anything to do with it.

I rate Silkypix marginally better than Olympus Studio 2 (one of the worst bits of software I've seen in many years when it comes to organization of a UI). Neither is anything I would choose to use, regardless of whatever else I might be familiar with.

--
Godfrey
http://godfreydigiorgi.posterous.com
 
Working with Lightroom is very much like working in a darkroom. To me it meant a great relief after years of struggling with graphic designer oriented Photoshop. CS just doesn't match with my brain. Lightroom allowed me to go back to darkroom routines and ways of thinking. VERY happy with that.
 
Ednaz said:
Member said:
Member said:
May I know Silkypix "sucks" in what sense? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Confusing, clumsy interface. Weird nomenclature. No image management.
Click to expand...
Member said:
Godfrey
http://godfreydigiorgi.posterous.com
Click to expand...
I agree with you, but I do have to wonder - if I'd STARTED with Silkypix for raw processing and hadn't had years of photoshop experience, would I have as much trouble with Silkypix?
Click to expand...
That's an excellent point, and one I've made to beginners many times over. The Pentax raw software is based on Silky Pix, but has a similar interface that's "non-standard". However, if you start out on it, it's not any more difficult than the other products out there.

That being said, I've moved on to Lightroom mainly for the cataloging, along with the excellent editing capabilities.

--
Russ
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rfortson/
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/russfortson
Even bad photography can be fun :)

 
Aurance said:
Aurance wrote:

I am interested in using Lightroom (instead of SilkyPix) but do you have to use Adobe CS4 with Lightroom to work on GF1 RAW files?
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No, you don't need to use CS4. Lightroom is a standalone software. It can be used "in harmony" with CS4 or any version of photoshop to make other adjustments like special effects outside of Lightroom.
--
Regards,
Karl B.
 
Aurance said:
I am interested in using Lightroom (instead of SilkyPix) but do you have to use Adobe CS4 with Lightroom to work on GF1 RAW files?
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Not at all. It is completely independent of Photoshop or Camera Raw. It integrates well with Photoshop if you choose to use it, and with any other standalone image editing package, but they're not in any way essential.
--
Godfrey
http://godfreydigiorgi.posterous.com
 
Godfrey said:
Danny Chua said:
Godfrey said:
I'm very confused. Can I use some version of Lightroom to process raw GF1 files directly without creating profiles. Silkeypix sucks for me.
Click to expand...
May I know Silkypix "sucks" in what sense? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Confusing, clumsy interface. Weird nomenclature. No image management.
Click to expand...
Logical and progressive interface.

Start with the top image adjustment item in the left column, and work your way down. You can see in real time just what each adjustment does (or doesn't do).

There are 7 major items. I'm not at all confused by them. I don't find the terms/descriptions used to be weird, such as:
  • Exp bias (also shows up as Manual exposure as a subset)
  • White balance
  • Tone
  • Color
  • Sharpness
  • Noise reduction
These descriptions become available as you hover over the icons

Here is what the work panel looks like:



Were you thrown off by the fact that the very first adjustment (which probably could have been called "film mode") is called Taste/Parameter? Simply reading the options provided in that group would have shown that...

I just wish that the otherwise-worthy folk at dpreview, and you and others, would stop slagging a very good product at every opportunity, just because you don't wish to take 2 minutes (that's all it took me) to work out how to use it.

It's easy to rubbish something you don't understand because you can't be bothered to explore it. 2 minutes is not a lot of time...

Oh, and Silkypix uses the same workflow to process jpegs, also. Quite amazing, I thought.

And another "oh" - Silkypix will open a single image or a folder, and does batch processing, and many other things not covered in this brief overview. Good value as a bundle.

--
Cheers

Trevor G

http://www.computerwyse.com
 
Trevor G wrote:

Well loolking at the screenshot, I need a little more convincing. Even judged purely as a RAW developer, the UI seems somewhat lacking.
  • Why is it necessary to have three sliders affecting contrast (Contrast, Contrast Centre, and Gamma)?
  • Where is the tonal response curve? Essential to make any sense of the tonal controls, yet apparently not displayed on the same screen (if at all)?
  • What distinction does the UI make between course adjustments (exposure/highlight extraction/black point/fill light), tonal controls (brightness/contrast), and fine adjustments (paremetric curves)?
  • Can you make localised adjustements within Silkypix?
Thanks
--
Mike
http://flickr.com/rc-soar
 
here is a link to all the features of SP.

http://www.isl.co.jp/SILKYPIX/english/features/

Pretty self explanatory and describe each feature and even illustrate with pics of before and after.

Please note some features are in their latest Pro version. Rest are applicable to the standard prog.

I bought my SP for 2 years ago and been using it since then. I do use to PP jpegs as well. It is pretty systematic just like what Trevor described. Like many I do not bother to compare with others. So I do not have the faintest what others raw converters are capable off.

cheers

ric
 
Just a potential alternative for you . . .

At work I have Photoshop CS3, but did not want to spend that for my home Mac.

Just for fun I purchased Photoshop Elements 8.0 (free trial available).

At least on a Mac, PSE 8 includes the full Adobe Camera Raw and also Bridge CS4. Personally, I really like ACR. Also, for my very amateur use, Elements is equaling my use of the full Photoshop.

PS: Perhaps someone else could chime in on whether or not the GF1 is in ACR yet. I do not have this camera (yet)
 
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