Camera Labs

Hello,
As a self-confessed n00b to photography, I'm looking for some advice on what software is good for me to be able to have a decent level of processing power and artistic flexibility. Any help gratefully received!

I've seen Photoshop described as a must. However, the full version seems prohibitively expensive... especially if you're wanting add-ons to do HDR etc.

What are the main differences between the regular and student versions of CS4? £400 seems quite the difference!

Could someone provide a pretty basic run-through the different bits of software, and what you'd use them for? Sorry its such a n00b question, but its difficult to find a concise intro to this stuff!!

Many thanks

The photoshop student version is for students, that's all the difference I believe.
I recommend either photoshop for editing, or Lightroom (which I use) for the whole importing cataloguing processing archiving printing workflow

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Photoshop is a must - but when I first started using it 7 years ago I found it hard to get into. Now, it's a doddle.

I'm not familiar with Lightroom, but also heard that's just as good for processing images.

There is a free option out there for users. It's called GIMP. Heard a lot of good reviews on it to say that it's free, but I've personally never used it.

If you want to get Photoshop, you may find that you can pick up an older version for less money in the shops or on ebay. In my opinion I always found Photoshop 7 to be pretty good!! The newer CS versions are good, but oldskool is always better. I've been using CS4 for the last few months and I don't particularly like it compared to earlier CS versions.

If you've not got any editing programs, try GIMP first for free. See how you get on, if its not fulfilling your needs then start to look into Paid for programmes.

http://www.gimp.org/

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Phil Diggle - Freelance Graphics Designer, Full Time University Student and Novice Photographer!

Camera Kit - Sony A200K 18-70 DT | Minolta 70-210 AF 'Beercan' | Sony 50mm f/1.8 | Jessops Flash Gun

http://www.phildiggle.co.uk | Flickr Photo Portfolio - Working Progress

You could always pick up Photoshop Elements, which can be had for under £60. I'm using it right now, and it contains a lot of useful features and the controls are similar enough to full blown Photoshop that you should have no trouble transferring your skill set over should you choose to upgrade.

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PhilipGoh.com

As mentioned already, the student edition is the "full" version at a very low price. If you qualify as a student, it is worth looking at.

If the above doesn't apply, then as pgtips suggests I'd also recommend Elements as a value option. It is a cut down version, but yet has plenty of features for general image tweaking.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Cool. Thanks for all your help guys.

I've only been a member a couple of weeks, but this seems like a really friendly and helpful forum (and the main website is pretty good, too!)

I think I'll probably try out elements as something to learn on. I've also got a copy of Paint Shop Pro somewhere (its a couple of years old, and pre-vista, methinks, but worth a shot)

Thanks, again. Will hopefully post some results in the not too distant future!

I have and still occasionally use Paint Shop Pro 7, which is way out of date but it's the one I have and know well. Since I started photography I got Elements 7 and that is more useful for photo tweaking.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Before you go out and buy Photoshop (Elements), also have a look at Paint.NET if you're on Windows. It's a very decent program, with a lot of plugins that make it far more versatile than Photoshop Elements.

Only downside to me seems that the author is trying to make a statement by writing the program in .NET which makes it hog more memory and run slower than native Photoshop.

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PhilipGoh.com

From Adobe's website:

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RESTRICTIONS ON USE

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You may purchase only one license of any Adobe Student Edition product. This license may be used only on your privately owned computer. Student Edition products may not be used for commercial gain.