Best software for editing Fuji Raws

I know this question is repeated more than 1000 times but honestly i am confused. The reason I am asking here because every comparison is filled with 100 pages of detailed comparisons and it gets really confusing. I am lightroom user but just got a Fuji X-E3, so what should I go for? Capture one or lightroom with some tool for developing?

Would appreciate a concise and easy to understand answer.

From my experience:

Adobe's Enhanced Details - The best in terms of image quality and sharpness.  Also allows you to use Lightroom. Downside is the processing time per image and the increased file size.

Irrident X-Transformer - Very good image quality but requires an extra software package and isn't as sharp as Adobe's Enhanced details.

CaptureOne - A popular choice for those who don't want an extra step. In my experience it does not produce as good image quality as the above options as you still get some water colour effect but it works without an extra step and your file sizes stay the same.

Overall Adobe's enhanced details makes the most sense. It allows me to use Lightroom (which I much prefer over CaptureOne) and it also results in the best quality image. No watercolour effect.

I sold my X-E3 as I couldn't stand X-Trans anymore but now Adobe's Enhanced Details is available, I have genuinely considered returning to Fuji and buying an X-T4. It's that good.

Hope this helps. What I will say is prepare for a lot of conflicting answers.

I use darktable. The two main reasons is that it runs on linux (and macos and windows too) and that its free. Specific features that are nice include:

• choice of demosaicing algorithms
• lens correction with a large database of lenses
• profiled denoise. This uses per camera / iso noise profiles and does a really good job of matching the out of camera jpeg.

This is going to be an interesting thread where responders will advocate their preferences (which is a good way to respond). Personably, if you want the best for Fujifilm RAW I suggest Capture 1/20.

teenaxta wrote:

Would appreciate a concise and easy to understand answer.

Capture One has a free version for Fujifilm...TRY IT.

You can also try Iridient Transformer for free before buying a license...try that too.

After trying all these free options, compare to LR and you decide. Easy.

R_U_Q_R_U wrote:

teenaxta wrote:

Would appreciate a concise and easy to understand answer.

Capture One has a free version for Fujifilm...TRY IT.

You can also try Iridient Transformer for free before buying a license...try that too.

After trying all these free options, compare to LR and you decide. Easy.

This is why there is a 1000 threads on, it's a daily thing and something with no true right answer.

Lr, c1, it's, daektable, rawtherapee  and others all have free trials, so try yourself, see what YOU like, not the internet.

When you factor in FB groups, this forum, others, reddit, youtube comments, this get answered, debated and argued about daily, all over the world, in every language, so do what's good for you.

I agree with everything listed here but also wanted to throw in Fuji's own Fujifilm X RAW Studio. It's a bit wonky because it uses the camera's own processing engine so you have to tether it to your computer while having the files on memory card/computer hard drive.

But it's great if you want your files to look exactly the way they do in-camera. All of the in-camera adjustments are available there as well (WB adjustments, Film Simulations, Highlight/Shadow/Color Chrome, etc). I feel like I can never get the sharpening algorithms quite right in C1 while the OOC JPEGs are consistently to my taste.

I use this plus C1 if I want to do anything heavier but finding I rarely need or want to as long as I get things mostly right in camera!

Capture 1 Fuji Express for RAW + Affinity Photo for Jpeg.

For me it's Lightroom with Iridient X-Transformer as a plug-in ($36). It adds literally 2 or three mouse clicks to my workflow. Enhance Details is fine too, but with the right settings, IXT is usually at least as good in the IQ department and produces smaller file sizes to work (faster too).

Capture One is also fine and has some great tools (especially for color control). I don't think it produces better results than LR, but the final result really comes down to the skill and experience of the photographer moving the sliders etc. I personally find LR to be faster and more intuitive to use, and produces more natural results but that's me, and I've been using it forever which I'm sure has a lot to do with my preference for it. I'm sure there are C1 people who can say the same thing.

Bottom line, there isn't one clear choice for everybody. Some folks will say that C1 is WAY better than Lightroom in every way, sorry, but that just isn't true, even without any demosaicing help from IXT or Enhance Details (with most images), those folks don't know how to use Lightroom. C1 is absolutely a great alternative, but if you're already experienced with LR, it's not like you MUST change to C1 for working with Fuji RAWs. For a new person with zero experience with either, I would definitely recommend they try both.

"I am a Lightroom user"..."Would appreciate a concise and easy to understand answer."

So get a trial version of C1, view the introductory tutorials on C1's YouTube channel, then try C1, compare images processed using both LR and C1, ask yourself :"Do I prefer using LR or C1; which images do I prefer?".

And then make your own mind up!!!!

teenaxta wrote:

I know this question is repeated more than 1000 times but honestly i am confused. The reason I am asking here because every comparison is filled with 100 pages of detailed comparisons and it gets really confusing. I am lightroom user but just got a Fuji X-E3, so what should I go for? Capture one or lightroom with some tool for developing?

Would appreciate a concise and easy to understand answer.

For me Lightroom is the best. You can use the Enhanced Details on Fuji files or Iridient X-Transformer but the best reason for me to use Lightroom is all the great plug-ins I have like Luminar 4, Exposure X5, Topaz B&W Effects, Topaz DeNoise AI, Silver Efex Pro 2, etc.

Lightroom seems fine until you try almost anything else.

The current best software for Fuji raw files is Capture One

You can download the free version for Fuji and play around to get a feel for it.

Gwenbeth wrote:

I use darktable. The two main reasons is that it runs on linux (and macos and windows too) and that its free. Specific features that are nice include:

• choice of demosaicing algorithms
• lens correction with a large database of lenses
• profiled denoise. This uses per camera / iso noise profiles and does a really good job of matching the out of camera jpeg.

Same here. I used Darktable for a large print and it came out great.

For me, it’s capture one.

I switched from LR to C1 after a lot of exploring and experimenting. I used LR with Canon and was happy, but when I moved to Fuji, I just was not thrilled with the files. I had tried C1 and loved the results but found it so difficult to adjust to. But then I came back to it and spent many hours playing and watching their excellent webinars. It’s a learning curve but SO WORTH IT. the files are wonderful and there are a lot of features that make it much more robust than LR.

THAT SAID, while I am thrilled with C1 for my raw editing, LR has a few advantages for me from a catalog perspective. I really prefer to have all my personal work in ONE HUGE catalog. For pro jobs, I have no issue with each job in its own session and one catalog per year, but for my personal work, I like t be able to do a global search of all my images from all the years. I often don’t even remember when a photo was taken or know what I’m looking for. For example, I might search for five star photos with tags portrait, street, NYC, smoking; taken with my gfx. I know I have a few photos like that taken over the years. In C1 I can’t grow the catalogs that big. In LR, I can and they have better integrations with my publishing and printing tools. (In addition I really like LR’s mobile apps for easy sharing on the go.)

I am now using C1 for raw editing and LR for catalog management. It’s lousy to have to pay two subscriptions, but I ended up deciding it was worth it for me personally. Let me know if you want me to share my workflow and process for using the two tools in conjunction with each other.