Darktable 5.0 released

[Gompie]

Hi,

Darktable 5.0 is here.

news

darktable is an open source photography workflow application and raw developer

www.darktable.org

Ruud

 

[Ineound]

good news, thanks for sharing!

 

[bastibe]

Always the Christmas present I look forward to the most!

 

[Winterfrost]

Hi,

Darktable 5.0 is here.

https://www.darktable.org/news/

Ruud

Good to see a new major release before xmas.

Have it since many years, but not currently using it always, only from time to time,

since the beginning. I'd wait for 5.0.1 at least, perhaps 5.1....

Good light.

--
"The Best Camera is the One That's with You" ~ Chase Jarvis

 

[grcolts]

Thanks for sharing...an early Christmas present!

 

[Pov2]

Can anyone comment why and what you use it for? I assume you have other RAW development software. And its change log is very technical.

 

[backtrack]

Can anyone comment why and what you use it for? I assume you have other RAW development software. And its change log is very technical.

For some people it’s their main pp app—especially those disillusioned with paying for subscription plans or endless updates. It’s an immensely powerful and flexible app (that I have never mastered) with a passionate fan base, but the learning curve is steep.

 

[bastibe]

Can anyone comment why and what you use it for? I assume you have other RAW development software. And its change log is very technical.

It's my main raw developer.

I've used several others in the past. But Darktable is what I enjoy using most. Its tools are a bit different from others, exposing more low-level control, which tickles my scientist brain. For example, I don't like Capture One's highlight rendering, but my only option to fix that was to switch to another program. Darktable includes multiple tone mappers so I can tweak my highlight rendering to the way I like.

It has very comprehensive automation tools, such as a parametric auto-settings feature, i.e. for activating denoising automatically for a particular camera if the ISO is above a certain value. But also a profiling tool for creating LUTs and camera profiles, which I've used to implement Fujifilm film simulations and fix colors on my awful smartphone camera.

And then it has a crazy flexible keyboard shortcut system, and built-in Lua scripting that can automate tasks and add custom UI. And if course there's the ultimate option of changing the source code itself to make it behave the way I want. I have used all of these options to customize Darktable to the way I like to work. These things are just not possible with Lightroom or Capture One.

Overall, this makes Darktable a very flexible tool that I can mold to the way I like to work.

 

[FujiJon]

Can anyone comment why and what you use it for? I assume you have other RAW development software. And its change log is very technical.

I use linux, and for me it's the best there is for that OS. I use no other raw developer.

 

[Breakfastographer]

Petapixel covered this - if anyone's interested:

https://petapixel.com/2024/12/23/powerful-free-raw-photo-editor-darktable-just-got-a-big-upgrade/

They also linked to this video, which I'll include here directly:

 

[bastibe]

Petapixel covered this - if anyone's interested:

The petapixel coverage was weird. It read like an AI summary of the last three releases. It certainly did not correctly summarize the latest release.

It said, for example, "Darktable set out to disrupt the dominance of proprietary photo-editing software. As a RAW editor, it’s grown from an experimental project to a viable choice for budget-conscious photographers", which is just blatantly wrong. Darktable is not in any way trying to disrupt any market, nor is it concerned with budgets or markets. That's creative writing, but not journalism.

Then there's "At the heart of this update is the new Diffusion module." and "Another standout improvement is the overhauled Color Balance RGB module.", which were introduced in earlier versions, but not were not changed in 5.0.

 

[manusz]

The list of supported cameras on the Darktable website states explicitely that Apple Pro Raw is not supported: https://www.darktable.org/resources/camera-support/

Is this still so in Darktable 5? It is the main reason holding me back to try DT….

--
Enjoy!