Camera Labs

Since getting my D80 I haven't processed a single photo. I have uploaded some resized JPGS to Flickr but these were as shot. I have been using Photoshop Elements 5 as a database and editing program. I also have Phase One Capture One which came free with a Sandisk memory card. I have used this to process one NEF file where the white balance was way off in the JPG.

Now that I'm getting happier with my D80 I want to make more use of raw. I don't really like the way PSE5 handles raw in the database module. It also seems to have performance issues with my 10000+ photo database. This set me looking for a new photo database package. I looked at a number before I looked at Lightroom.

I've been trying out the trial version of Lightroom and have been very impressed by it. I'm not someone who wants to edit photos. I want to have a database of my photos and be able to assess them, rate them then process the ones I like. Lightroom appears to do this really well. I like the way the database works with an easy system for comparing and rating photos. The ability to have multiple exposures on the screen at the same time for comparison is really useful. I also like the way the Develop part of the software works. It is so much more friendly that other packages. I have yet to really scratch the surface of Lightroom but have been so impressed by it that I'm going to buy it before the end of the month (when the price goes up). Gordon, maybe you could create a link to it on Amazon.co.uk so I can buy it from there via the site.

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Nikon D80, Nikkor lenses: 35mm f1.8 G AF-S DX, 50mm f/1.8 AF D, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR, SB800 flash
My photos on SmugMug

Hi Phil, glad to be of service! The links below go through to Amazon and support the site (so long as you buy something of course!)

Adobe Lightroom from Amazon UK

Adobe Lightroom from Amazon USA

I've been meaning to try out Lightroom myself... let us know how it works out!

Gordon

I developed my first photo in Lightroom today. I've been watching the excellent video tutorials here which is why it has taken me a while to get to this stage. Bear in mind that this is the first raw file I have properly processed.

Here's the unprocessed raw file (converted to jpg):



and here's the processed file:



So far I really like the database part of Lightroom. I also like the persistent edit history in the Develop module. The program saves your photo edits on a photo by photo basis and maintains this between sessions. I also like the shadow copy facility that creates a duplicate entry in the database for a file allowing you to experiment with different processing settings without duplicating the original image.

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Nikon D80, Nikkor lenses: 35mm f1.8 G AF-S DX, 50mm f/1.8 AF D, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR, SB800 flash
My photos on SmugMug

Nice example Phil!

Did you take a JPEG at the same time as the RAW? It would be interesting to see which of your two examples it was closer to. If the upper example, then it proves how much exposure latitude you get with RAW files, which can be especially helpful with tricky situations such as large expanses of snow.

The important thing is you got a nice, well-exposed result. Does this mean you're now converted (bad pun) to the joys of RAW?

I'm also very envious of your Mount Cook glacier landing!

Gordon

Hi Phil,
I was just wondering how you're getting on with Lightroom?

The reason I ask is because, once I get my new camera I really interested in shooting in RAW and doing all my own post processing...within reason of course. I've used Lightroom a bit for playing around with jpegs, but still really haven't explored it that much and I don't really understand how it all works. At the moment I'm just moving sliders here there and everywhere not really sure what I'm trying to achieve!

Have you tried any other Raw converters or do you think Lightroom is good enough? I'm planning on getting the Canon EOS 30D so I know it's compatible with Lightroom and with Photoshop CS3, which I have, but haven't used yet.
Thank,
Mark

p.s. How do you include pics in your post? I've got a comparison I wanted to post, even though it's not from a Raw image, but it was done using Lightroom.

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Mark
Nikon D300 / Sigma 10-20mm / Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 / Nikkor 18-200mm VR / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 / SB600 Speedlight
Mark Amy Photography
My Squidoo lens - Images of China

Hi Mark, to post a photo in this forum, simply make a copy, resize it to around 500 pixels wide, save it as a JPEG, then upload it to your own webspace or to a sharing site like flickr.

Then take the URL (web address) for the photo including http:// and in your post on this forum, type [img]immediately%20before%20the%20URL%20and[/img] immediately afterwards. Don't use any spaces. You can then preview the posting before submitting it to make sure it's worked.

Any inappropriate images will be deleted.

Cheers!

Gordon

Here's my experimental session with Lightroom. I was at Shanghai Zoo and I had to zoom in quite far, but the colours came out really flat:



Then I had a play around in Lightroom and produced this:



I resized the pictures to the same dimensions 448x336 but they're not the same size, why's that?

Anyway, the colours in the second shot might be a bit OTT and they're not the sharpest of images, but I'm sure once I got used to Lightroom more and learned how to use it properly and worked with RAW files, I could get some really good images.

Mark

p.s. I was having trouble with the image sizes, but I've fixed it now.

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Mark
Nikon D300 / Sigma 10-20mm / Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 / Nikkor 18-200mm VR / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 / SB600 Speedlight
Mark Amy Photography
My Squidoo lens - Images of China

I've been getting on well with Lightroom, when I've had a chance to use it. I've done some limited amount of processing with it. At the moment I'm using it to rate and select my photos I took in New Zealand. This is a reasonably quick process with the software. On the whole I'm happy with it.

As for other Raw converters, I have tried Phase One Capture One and Capture NX but they didn't offer the all in one solution that Lightroom does. I want a single piece of software that catalogs and processes Raw files. Lightroom does that very well.

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Nikon D80, Nikkor lenses: 35mm f1.8 G AF-S DX, 50mm f/1.8 AF D, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR, SB800 flash
My photos on SmugMug

Thanks Phil, when I've got some spare time I'll go through the tutorial you linked to and see how I get on with it.

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Mark
Nikon D300 / Sigma 10-20mm / Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 / Nikkor 18-200mm VR / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 / SB600 Speedlight
Mark Amy Photography
My Squidoo lens - Images of China

Excuse my ignorance, but would there be any (license/zone) issues with buying software in another country? I'm thinking of getting LR in the US later this year.

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Canon EOS 400D, Canon EOS 30V, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, EF 70-200mm f/4L USM, Speedlite 430EX, Kenko & Cokin filters

I don't believe so. You might get hit on import duty though.

P.S. Nice job on that plane Phil.

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My Flickr

I just got from the library:

The Adobe PhotoShop LightRoom Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers.

The downside to a purchase is that it is based on the beta version LR.

See: http://tinyurl.com/2bhlmc

My mate uses PS CS2 and LR. He says that LR is amazing. In 15 mins you can be up and running.

I hope to be of assistance once I have gone through the 320+ pages.

It's all new to me too. Camera's even more so.

Hi Phil or Chinamark, I am currently using photoshop . I find it is good for editing at a general sense. Im thinking of trying lightroom, and am a bit confsued by the product description. Adobe says it is an organization as well as editing tool, then eludes to editing with another PS product such as elements or CE. The question is how are the editing features when compared to elements?

Lightroom is not an image editor, it is an image developer. It allows you to manipulate things like colours, image sharpness and noise. It does not allow you to do all the things you can do in Photoshop and to a lesser extent Elements. Personally that's what I want from a program. I want to get the best I can from the original photo I took without changing it in the way you can in Photoshop.

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Nikon D80, Nikkor lenses: 35mm f1.8 G AF-S DX, 50mm f/1.8 AF D, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR, SB800 flash
My photos on SmugMug

Thank Phil. Does it do exposure, color saturation, white balance and that sort of thing? those are really the only things I like to play with to (and sharpeness etc..) Im not using the color or text tools in elements and I find the color option a bit frustrating to use (i don do layers either.)