Please: overview of available R-D1 raw convertors

SimonPJ

SimonPJ

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Is anybody able to provide the latest state of play on available raw conversion options for the R-D1, with any experiences and opinions?

Thanks,

Simon.
 
Nothing scientific here (I didn't do any controlled tests or side-by-side comparisons), but my takes:

RawShooter Essentials: My default converter these days. Very good workflow, very good sharpness and detail extraction, very good adjustments of highlights, shadows, and contrast, very good color noise reduction, poor general noise reduction (does a terrible job of preserving edges), occasional patterned artifacts, somewhat unusual color temperature adjustments.

Adobe Camera Raw: Not particularly good or bad with R-D1 IMO -- does a satisfactory job. A little thin on the features side though, especially when it comes to batch and workflow issues.

Epson PhotoRaw: Good for applying "film" profiles and excellent for black-and-white conversions.

There aren't any other converters for the R-D1 that I'm aware of, but maybe others know of some.
 
driggett said:
Simon,
There is RawDeveloper that I use to do batch processing so I can preview the shots for later use in Epson PhotoRaw.
Here is there link.
http://www.iridientdigital.com/products/rawdeveloper.html
Cheers,
Chris
Click to expand...

Wow, thanks for posting about this! There IS a raw file batch converter for MacOS X!

I'm experimenting with the demo version right now.

(Poking around on their site, I also found out about dcraw, a command-line utility for raw file conversion. MacOS X users who are comfortable with the Terminal and want a zero-cost solution should check this out, too...)
 
Thanks Bob and Chris.

I've now had brief tries with RawDeveloper and RSE in addition to PSCR and Epson PhotoRaw. Not enough to get a good sense of which will work best for me, but enough to be shocked by the differences with which their default settings present the files - clipping dymanic range in different ways, and even giving different values for the 'as shot' white balance.

A lot to learn about and explore....
 
RawDeveloper has been upgraded since then. Although I mainly use the Epson plug in with my PS7, I find that sometimes RawDeveloper does a better job with shots taken in difficult mixed lighting situations.
 
tmessenger said:
Don't forget Lightroom try for free, now a beta but will be released soon. Very good with raw and jpeg's IMO.
Click to expand...

I didn't realize that Lightroom supported the EpsonRaw format. Or do you have to use the Epson plug-in with it?

/Ira
 
Capture 1 Pro has had R-D1 conversions for a while. Very good quality files. However, I have just upgraded to a Mac and find I like Raw Developer a lot, especially the separate tonality and toning for highlights, midtones and shadows - that plus curves that operate in both RDG and LAB.

Cheers,
Kirk
 
I'd like to add another vote for Lightroom. It works rather quickly on my apple g4 powerbook, and has become my RAW developer. Lightroom is very flexible in its RAW conversions -- both b&w and color. I've tried several of the other RAW developers, and while they all have good points Lightroom seems to be best for the way I work with my images.

Take care,
Michael
 
kds315 said:
Newest version of ThumbsPlus comes with a converter which also reads Epson files (aside from Nikon, Canon, etc.)
Click to expand...

How quickly does Thumbs index these files? Or is this a painstackingly slow preocess?
 
I am using the Epson PhotoRaw, and find it satisfactory (not that I have tried others!). But I am interested in applying 'film' profiles, and apparently some of you find it easy with Epson's own programme. Could you please lead me to the available profiles, and provide me with some basic instructions?

Thomas W
 
Topdog1 said:
Is there any update on RAW developers available for the R-D1 since the last post here in April 2005?
Click to expand...

RSE/RSP recommended above have been discontinued, the developers went to Adobe where they seem to have had great (but IMO not enough) influence on Lightroom.

2c, /Jobo
 
Here comes the 1.0 production release of Lightroom! Price is $299 with a limited offer at $199 for early adopters. I have absolutely zero patience for the user interface of the Epson software (at least on a Mac), and since Aperture won't read Epson RAW, I've learned to love Lightroom.

See here for more on the upcoming production release: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070128-8720.html
 
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