Squeezing the juice of M8 DNG how?

[pizzahut88]

Dear all,

Hi, & happy new year
I have been decoding my DNG files with Photoshop CS2 raw plugin.
I have also tried Capture One LE.

Anyone using PS-CS here?
What's the best workflow for squeezing out very bit of data, resolution, color from the DNG?

Also I wish to reproduce film like - rustic, real life, not so vivid, but more M6 scan colors.

You know where the blue isn't exactly the TV vivid blue but that kind of real hue of blue on an afternoon daylight if you know what I mean.

I am after the kind of colors you see when you look at the samples in the Leica M Catalogue, those photos from MP, M7 etc.


What I am after is workflow suggestions, settings etc. Tips.


Thanks everyone.

My Capture One LE isn't working properly in Vista,
don't think it ever will on my notebook if not without some proper update.
I do also have Lightroom.

 

[kuzano]

My Capture One LE isn't working properly in Vista,
don't think it ever will on my notebook if not without some proper update.
I do also have Lightroom.

First, to get the most out of your Photoshop, drop Vista and put XP back on your computer. Vista requires the first Gigabyte of your RAM to run the Operating System, and current feeling is that Vista is not going to get fixed. Still no SP1 available, and talk about the beta is that the current results of Service Pack testing is not going to enhance performance. As another indicator that Vista may never get finished, a few months ago, Microsoft announced the support life of XP is now extended to 2014.

Much of my work for the last few months has been upgrading computers "back" to Windows XP.

I've run Windows Vista on one of my bench computers... a 3 Gh P4 with 2 Gb of RAM and I did a clean Vista install. My other (XP) computer similarly equipped running CS3 is fine. The Vista/CS3 machine performance is in the dumper.

Vista is a dog. The good manufacturers are giving an option of XP, in order to try to boost lagging sales of computers for the year 2007.

Vista may be OK with CS3 and 3 or 4 Gb of RAM, but remember that at least half to three quarters of a Gigabyte are being robbed by Vista, and not running CS3.

I bought a new Toshiba laptop to test Vista... Three months later I sold it at a loss, and thankful to do that.

And for the Smug... Leopard is not out of the chute to a good start, either, but seems to be working out the bugs a bit faster. They are at least committed to that OS, while Microsoft is planning the replacement for Vista as fast as they can.

Technology has faltered once again. The replacement for Vista is to be coordinated with the announcement of the "new" M9

 

[Gid]

Do a search for Lightroom presets - there are loads that give you everything from Velvia to cross processed. I use Lightroom for all my basic tweaking and only use PS (CS3) when I want to be more creative. If you want film simulations check out the Alien Skin plugin for PS - there are other plugins (some free) for PS, particularly for B&W simulations (incl grain )

Have fun.

 

[xihalife]

I'm using Adobe LightRoom with Photoshop CS3. The workflow is pretty straightforward and fast. LR can read the DNG files straight in. You can adjust the exposure, white balance, etc., and then send the file to Photoshop. The LR adjustments are sent to CS3 in 16 bits per component TIFF file, so you are getting the best possible quality (in other words, adjusting the colors or exposure will not reduce quality). CS3 lets you do anything you want to the photos, just get the correct filter for the job.

The only problem is that LR is really heavy tool so I sometimes get laggy performance. I have the fastest MacBook Pro laptop you can get with 2GB memory and OSX Leopard, so there is really nothing I can do about it...

 

[johnastovall]

Take a look at Alien Skin's Exposure II with the various film stock emulations if you really want it to look like film.

 

[boilerdoc2]

Lightroom is awesome. Took me awhile to learn it (and i still am) but the B&W conversion are incredible. Of course CS3 has this as well but CS does not. Nor does CS2. Invest in LR now and use CS2 for creative issues. Get Kelby's book re Lightroom and memorize it.
Steve

 

[Bob Parsons]

My local computer shop has warned me that Microsoft is increasing the price of XP in an effort to get people to switch to Vista - no thank you!

I'd second the comment about AlienSkin's Exposure Photoshop plugins - the results I've seen have been very good, but the program is pricey.

Bob.

 

[kuzano]

My local computer shop has warned me that Microsoft is increasing the price of XP in an effort to get people to switch to Vista - no thank you!
Bob.

I'd be looking for a new computer shop. I have two wholesalers and I just called them both. Neither has heard anything about a price increase. I buy XP Home for $96 and XP Pro for $143. Vista is priced considerably over XP in all of it's 4 variation. XP Home is less code and has all the features anyone needs.'

I can understand the position of your camera shop, because after they charge you up for the Vista, the next purchase you will be making is a few hundred dollars worth of memory, more powerful CPU. etc.

Vista is Microsoft AND the computer industry of saying "Hey, we're behind you all the way. NOW could you bend over just a bit further.... We promise this won't hurt a bit!"

 

[kuzano]

I'm sorry. Let me say that correctly>>>>

I'm sorry. Let me say that correctly>>>>

Vista is Microsoft AND the computer industries way of saying "Hey, we're behind you all the way. NOW could you bend over just a bit further.... We promise this won't hurt a bit!"

Only in the wallet.

 

[Bébèrt]

Perhaps spending your money on Steve Jobs instead of Bill Gates would solve your Vista and XP problems ?
But I think we are not answering the question posed here;

how do we squeeze every bit out of our M8-DNG files.

For me Lightroom is my favourite together with CS3. Tried Apperture but was not that convinced and use it now only as replacement of iPhoto
for my small pocket cam.
Capture One gives nice results in converting the DNG. I still need to testdrive BibblePro and see if these "convertors" squeeze out more than LR.
The big advantage of LR is its catalogue witch keeps track of all your files, even on different locations.
So a possibility could be to use one of those "convertors" and then ad the processed file to your LR library.

http://lightroom-news.com

 

[kuzano]

But I think we are not answering the question posed here;

I appreciate your comment, and the added comments for the OP regarding specifically the DNG.

But, all the tools in the work flow need to be running at optimal performance. A computer running at half it's hardware configured capacity is a huge impediment to "Squeezing" all you can from any of your RAW files, JPEGS and all other work.

There are no easy answers and there will be differing opinions regarding the best editing software to use for the best results. I could also care less whether Bill Gates or Steve Jobs deserves to become more wealthy at our expense. Frankly I respect both companies for bringing excellent products to the market place, as a rule. It would be a different world (and not necessarily better) regarding computers if neither of those companies existed. They just both reached a bit beyond good on the two current operating systems. Vista stinks and the stink is not quite clear on Leopard at this sitting.

But in this post, the most important question posed relates directly to performance. Anyone who is still running, or considering, Vista is not listing to the rumblings of the market place.

 

[RingoHung]

Dear all,

Hi, & happy new year
I have been decoding my DNG files with Photoshop CS2 raw plugin.
I have also tried Capture One LE.

Anyone using PS-CS here?
What's the best workflow for squeezing out very bit of data, resolution, color from the DNG?

Also I wish to reproduce film like - rustic, real life, not so vivid, but more M6 scan colors.

You know where the blue isn't exactly the TV vivid blue but that kind of real hue of blue on an afternoon daylight if you know what I mean.

I am after the kind of colors you see when you look at the samples in the Leica M Catalogue, those photos from MP, M7 etc.


What I am after is workflow suggestions, settings etc. Tips.


Thanks everyone.

My Capture One LE isn't working properly in Vista,
don't think it ever will on my notebook if not without some proper update.
I do also have Lightroom.

Check out the following link. It will give you some lights!

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/prophoto-rgb.shtml