LightZone, anyone?

[Ted Witcher]

Anyone using this? I just DL'ed the trial and am working through it. I think it's simpler and more intuitive than PS, but I wish it came with more supplemental materials (e.g., a damn manual). It's a keeper, though.

 

[P C Headland]

I've been having a play round with it (Beta 3, haven't tried it since upgrading to Beta 4) and I quite like it. More photographer focused than PS it seems. Seems easy to process a bunch of files, and I actually like the interface.

I'm not sure that it offers me enough to pay the extra over PS Elements though, at least for what I need to do right now.

 

[AusDLK]

Heck, I was just going to post this same question.

Learned about LightZone at Photokina. I have installed the eval but haven´t had a chance to do much with it.

I´ve gotten pretty good with PS CS2 so I dunno if LZ is going to offer me much but I am curious about what other people think of it.

 

[tomtodeath]

i downloaded the free trial, but knowing that it will only last 30 days, im gonna wait to install it until i feel i need it..

 

[Bryan Lee]

Is anybody using this now? I have heard some things but have no direct experiance. How does it compare to Elements 5.0 if one were mainly using it for very basic black and white editing? I was considering downloading the trial version but I would like more information before I do. It sure does sound cool but does it deliver any of what it promises?

The heart and soul of the program is the ZoneMapper. Based on Ansel Adams' Zone System, the ZoneMapper gives you exacting control over the amount and location of contrast in your photo. Represented by a black-to-white gradient, it works like this: Points on the gradient correspond to a smaller, grayscale representation of your image called the ZoneFinder, and when you mouse over the gradient, the corresponding zones in the ZoneFinder light up. To brighten or darken those tonal areas, simply click to create a handle, then drag it up or down on the grayscale to expand or contract the zones of the scale. Much more intuitive than Curves, you can make minute or grand adjustments very quickly.


http://www.popphoto.com/photosoftware/3684/software-hands-on-in-the-zone.html

What is Lightzone?​

Drawing on principles behind the photographic Zone System and traditional darkroom film photography, LightZone 2.1 makes it simple and easy to bring out the true tone, color and contrast often hidden in digital images. Designed by photographers for photographers, LightZone 2.1 offers a rich set of powerful, yet easy to use digital editing tools. LightZone's editing tools help reduce the noise often found in high-ISO digital images, correct color shifts and white balance errors, selectively sharpen or blur images or parts of images, remove dust spots and boost overall color to create beautiful, breath-taking images, letting the true talent of the photographer shine though.


http://www.lightcrafts.com/index.php

 

[Simon Larbalestier]

I've had the full version about 6 months - it took a while to get use too and i use it alongside Pixel Genius's very neat PhotoKit plug in. I found Richard Mckeethen very helpful with technical inquires as my TIFF files from my Nikon 5000 were not opening up but the Imacon ones were? I sent him a TIFF file from both and he got the bug ironed out in the V2 release. Very cool of him. I like the way the Zone Mapper works but like all things computer based ( 😱 ) its going to take me a while to understand all its functions and be able to use it to it's full potential..........