CAPTURE ONE LE - SanDisk Freebie

Just ordered my second SanDisk Extreme 3 2GB card that came this am and have noticed they have included a key no to acivate a free copy of the Capture One LE, downloadable from PhaseOne.
At the mo' I am using PS CS2 to convert my RAW Dng's.

Should I download this as a better alternative to PS CS2 for converting my RAW's?

Downloading the software doesn't affect the working on the PC, in my experience.....

I have PE 4.0, Pentax Browser, Nikon View as well as the C1 LE and PS 7.0, and RSE, which open when I connect the card reader or camera to the PC...

However, only the Lightroom trial I had was really any good with K10D DNGs... I find PhotoLaboratory a pain to use...

Definitely download
Capture One image quality is better than PS RAW, IMO (and others'). (But not as good as Silkypix IMO!)

The key on mine said it was valid until March... but I registered it fine the other day

There's a guide I did to help you along:
https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1765

Matt

Just been checking the forum and Matts Guide before I downloaded, I have now realised C1 LE still only supports .pef format.
I have read that it is said .pef files are a lot larger in size than .dng, can anyone give me and idea as to how much bigger approx. they wd be?
At the moment my DNG import in at about 16MB and when edited and converted to TIF, 55MB.

Lilly

You've got it the wrong way round. PEF files are a lot smaller than DNG files. They are compressed, DNG are not.

The compression is lossless, so there is no pain, only gain.

G

Oh, thanks for that. Sorry if this a dumb ? so what is the purpose of DNG then?

DNG is meant to be a universal RAW format. If camera manufacturers adopt it, the software companies will not have to waste inordinate amounts of time amending their programs each time a camera manufacturer comes up with a new RAW format.

It is also likely to last longer. If somebody writes new image-editing software in twenty years time, there is no guarantee that it will be able to read RAW files from twenty years earlier.

And it IS compressible. Pentax chose not to compress it, for reasons of their own.

G

HELP!

I have just downloaded C1 LE Sandisk trial, it seems to have downloaded a 15 day version, so went into licence activation to put in key no (which is valid till March 2008!) and it rejects it!
Have I got to wait till this 15 day trial runs out before I can put the key in again, seems a complicated way of doing it, anyone had this problem, all help advice gratefully recieved, Lilly

Lilly,

You no doubt would like to use the best RAW converter there is, provided the cost is reasonable.

Well, the best is Silkypix, and it is available in both a free and a reasonably-priced full version.

I would suggest you go straight to your ultimate destination without wasting time learning something which in time you probably will, and certainly should, abandon.

Silkypix is very much better than all the alternatives, and those who say they don't like the interface simply haven't persevered. It's much nicer than, for instance, Capture One.

G

thanks George,

Would the Pentax CD Software S-SW55, that came with the camera (I never actually loaded it as I went into CS2) containing Browser 3 & LAB 3 be the Silkpix version you refer to or do I need to download from a site for the trial?

Yes, SilkyPix stand alone needs to be downloaded. There is the free version which has a few limitations and the upgraded version you have to pay for to get the unlock code.

I tried it but the lack of JPEG support and RAW support for anything other than DSLRs put me off. Need to be able to process RAF foles from an S20Pro, correct old JPEGs and JPEGs from other people and RAW from my K10D. Lightroom is the only program that does this.

On a different but related note, anyone used Photomatix for HDR and tone mapping?

Silkypix deals very well with JPEG files. I am not aware that it minds where they come from - it deals with my very old Fuji files without a murmur.

Seems a pity to let an old camera dictate your choice of software. This is where DNG is so useful. Convert your S20Pro files to DNG and you have no problem. Lightroom's successor, or its successor's successor probably won't handle your old RAW files either, and probably not the K10D's too.

When the K10D becomes obsolete, a-converting I shall go.

G

Is the DNG converter not a plugin for newer versions of Photoshop? I'm stuck with Elements 2 which is quite basic and has no RAW support at all. Perhaps my memory is going and JPEG was fine but lack of RAW support was the problem. I'm sure you couldn't play with JPEG files when I looked at it.

I am going to be using Lightroom for many years, as long as I've got my K10D in all likelihood. I see no reason to upgrade and if PEF goes away I'll still have Lightroom and a copy of XP. The older RAW files are important at the moment because it is my partner's camera and she needs to be able to develop them. They can be converted if needed now that I have Lightroom but not without.

Either way, I am very happy with Lightroom and how it deals with files. In fact, I am more than very happy, I am exceedingly pleased. I'd buy it again and have no regrets, second best thing I've got for photography (first being my K10D ). The time this kind of software saves

I don't know how many flavours of DNG converter there are, but I certainly have one called "Adobe DNG Converter.exe" which is a small, stand-alone Windows program with a typically unintuitive Adobe interface. But it works.

G

Really, I thought being an Adobe thing it would be a plug-in and not work as a stand alone program (don't they love to rake in the cash). Do they really give you something for 'nothing'?

Good to know, although I don't know how useful it will be.

An other problem is that RAF files from that sensor are interpolated to 6MP, some RAW developers take only 3MP worth of data and the DNG converter may do the same. Not that 3MP is that bad, especially when the 6MP was interpolated to start with.