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which RAW converter do you use for portraits?

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shady1991

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I have a57 and can't find any good RAW converter.

ACR details are excellent and it's great for landscapes but has terrible skin tone rendering, and color correction is a big trouble.

IDC has perfect colors and skin tones but lacks detail and bunch of necessary features.

I used capture one for portraits on a35 and it was really excellent the way ahead of the other converters but it lacks a57 support.

I wonder what raw converter do you use for portraits? DXO seems OK but has no big edge on jpeg details.
 
LR 4.2 seems to be a good one for portraits too, has a few more tools to correct photos...give it a try
 
Aperture works great (need to be on a Mac). (nt)
 
tnagy said:
LR 4.2 seems to be a good one for portraits too, has a few more tools to correct photos...give it a try
Click to expand...
I know, I like all the tools of LR and using lightroom is a pleasure but if you compare output of LR to IDC you'll see LR output that shadows on the face and colors are unnatural (too pink imho) and correcting WB doesn't help.
anyway it's my opinion and maybe my taste's fault. Thanks for reply.
 
Have you calibrated your monitor?

Seems that this type of issue would be well complained about and fixed if it was a general problem, or even one limited to Sony raw work... Yes, LR does apply a certain style to it's rendering, for other options the sony raw to dng converter would not apply any style and allow flexibility to use any program that you preferred.

Also all this depends on your output plan, is this for screen, web, printing.. the destination would alter the 'look' of your work too.
 
shady1991 said:
I wonder what raw converter do you use for portraits?
Click to expand...
I use Capture One mainly because it is the best I have seen for skin tones. Supports my Cameras (A850, D800E, GX1).

What version did you try? Maybe a newer version will support your camera.

--

The greatest of mankind's criminals are those who delude themselves into thinking they have done 'the right thing.'
  • Rayna Butler
 
shady1991 said:
I know, I like all the tools of LR and using lightroom is a pleasure but if you compare output of LR to IDC you'll see LR output that shadows on the face and colors are unnatural (too pink imho) and correcting WB doesn't help.
anyway it's my opinion and maybe my taste's fault. Thanks for reply.
Click to expand...
Well, it's a new thing to me, that shadow color. I've had color troubles a few months ago, reinstalled LR and everything is OK from that time, but never any pink shadows...

I did some wedding photos and nothig as what you're talking about. I have Eizo, calibrated system.

But there are many other ways to work with raw files, one have to find his own...
 
GodSpeaks said:
I use Capture One mainly because it is the best I have seen for skin tones. Supports my Cameras (A850, D800E, GX1).

What version did you try? Maybe a newer version will support your camera.
Click to expand...
of course, I agree that C1 is the way better for skin tones than the others. I downloaded last demo version from official site but no a57 support :(
 
shady1991 said:
I wonder what raw converter do you use for portraits? DXO seems OK but has no big edge on jpeg details.
Click to expand...
Have you tried correcting lens softness using the slider with the same name? Usually that recovers fine detail that you would otherwise not use to your advantage. If your camera and lens combination is supported (which should be if you're using the A57), you can use that function to your advantage.
 
Phase one will msot likely include a57 support soon - I would wait and see what their a57 raw conversions are like

Or why not use LR4.2 and color profile using something like an XRite ?
 
Try Photo Ninja. Free trial and if you email support, they will give you a key good for two weeks to try the unlocked version so you can actually render a jpeg from RAW.
--
http://razzledazzleart.com
 
shady1991 said:
of course, I agree that C1 is the way better for skin tones than the others. I downloaded last demo version from official site but no a57 support :(
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, C1 can be slow to update their support for new cameras. All I can suggest is to keep checking the site.

Happily, they do support the cameras I use. :-)

--

The greatest of mankind's criminals are those who delude themselves into thinking they have done 'the right thing.'
  • Rayna Butler
 
shady1991 said:
of course, I agree that C1 is the way better for skin tones than the others. I downloaded last demo version from official site but no a57 support :(
Click to expand...
I haven't tried this (and I'm in a rush right now), but does C1 support DNG? If so, you could automate the conversion and use that. And do send feedback to Phase One about your desire for A57 compatibility.

--
Rich

http://philosurfer.zenfolio.com/
 
Is LR4 really that bad with a57 skin tones? I color profiled with x-rite and find skin tones fine even for pro work, in LR4 with my a700 and a57
 
Another option is to sample the commercial plug-ins that are available for portrait photography. This way you can continue with one editing system but get the extra advantages of a product geared towards portraits; these functions go far beyond what any current editor provides. (e.g. Portrait Professional, OnOne makes a product, and I'm sure there are a few other very capable ones.) This is probably the route I'd take for features and learning curve (it's much easier than learning a whole new editing package).

--
Rich

http://philosurfer.zenfolio.com/
 
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