Opening T6s Raw Files and Improving Dynamic Range

So there is no confusion, let me start by saying that I have long considered Adobe to be a home for blood sucking, monopolistic pigs.  Their latest stunt is no exception.

Rather than pay a monthly fee, I long ago settled on Photoshop Elements.  For those not familiar, Elements is easy to use and has almost the full capability of the cloud version of Photoshop.  I am using Elements 11.  I have some additional plug ins and have long ago established a workflow that is quick and provides the results and options I am after.

Now that I have a T6s, I was disappointed to find that Elements 11 would not open the raw files.  I was disappointed but not surprised.  First I tried to see what I could do for a manual upgrade to Elements 11.  I found there were no options.  Next I decided I was again going to have to pay Adobe for another upgrade.  So I checked the current version, Elements 13.  Apparently it will not open the raw files either.  So it appears Adobe will require replacement of even the most recent version.  OK, so eventually I guess I will again have to pay more to the blood suckers.  But in the meantime I found no options.

Then I remembered that Adobe has long been pushing their "DNG" format.  Sure enough I found that they provide a free DNG converter that will convert T6 files.  It will even do a batch conversion.  So I can batch convert a day's work, post process the DNG files with Elements 11.  After post processing, I always save in TIFF format so I am no longer dependent on the blood suckers.

I also realized there is another option.  Canon provides DPP software for free.  I had not tried this for many years so I gave it another try.  I found that DPP is very easy to use and is much better than Adobe ACR.  It is very similar to Lightroom.  After opening raw files with DPP, I can make WB, sharpening, noise reduction, shadows/highlights, curves, and a host of other adjustments with DPP and then convert and save as TIFF files.  If needed, I would then do additional processing with Elements.

While playing with DPP, I quickly discovered that the noise reduction tools were very good.  This has gone a long way toward fixing my criticism of Canon sensor dynamic range.  I was able to use DPP to greatly lighten and pull details from the shadows.  Normally this introduces unacceptable noise, but the DPP tools were very good at reducing the noise while still retaining details.

I highly recommend giving DPP a trial.