Post processing of shots taken with EOS R6 M2

bmninada wrote:

Hello - after getting my EOS R6 M2 and taking some test shots - portraits, action, landscape, etc. I am a bit torn up. Let me explain please.

I find Canon's own free offering - DPP and its latest version to be pretty good. It has a decent set of post processing tools and has in-built support for some Canon specific stuff like HDR PQ, Dual Pixel and what not.

Frankly - after testing those "exotic" parameters or even just plain vanilla RAW captures I am okay with the outputs DPP is generating.

This is where you can start from. If the output, worklflow and functions of DPP are okay for you, then you have your questions answered .

Question 1: Am I am exception in assuming DPP is good enough?

Good enough for what? What means enough? I would approach it the way that if the final output format quality is fine for me, then it is good enough. If not, then I would look elsewhere.

Area where I found DPP is a bit lacking is noise and sharpening especially in general, low light or specific areas only of a photo. Thus, its here I am a bit torn up. On one hand, I can go for Capture One or Lightroom and use that only OR I can just get some specialized tools which are especially good for noise / sharpening like Topaz AI products. What I don't want is to opt for Lightroom / Capture One only to realize I still need Topaz AI (or similar). LOL. That's a double whammy in terms of $$.

And also from the workflow ease point of view.

Regarding the noise and sharpness, with the R6II you can forget any noise issues up to ISO6400 if your common output are A4 or smaller prints or 2.7k 32'' or smaller monitor.

Just don't fall prey to a wrong conviction that ISO12800 image has to have zero noise.

Question 2: Is my thought process skewed? i.e. DPP is good enough and don't need anything else OR just get LR / Capture One and call it a day?

My objectives: I am not doing photography to generate income. So I don't need 200% tone match, etc. All I am looking for is decent exposure, good to excellent sharpness and de-noise....

As above, if the workflow, functions and output quality of DPP suits you, then it is very fine. You can always take a look on videos describing assets of other SWs and see if anything from what they offer would be handy to your usage. You may or may not find them more useful. Also you will see if you prefer one SW to do it all or if you will set up your workflow on multiple SW. I personaly find more SW to process my photos as very unconvenient, especially in terms of batch processing and automated preset actions.