RawShooter Premium 2006

Just a heads up for Pixmantec's RawShooter Essential users on the recent release of RawShooter Premium 2006 for $99 US. There is a $40 discount if you buy before October 31 so that only leaves a few days to try the free demo and buy before the offer expires.
http://www.pixmantec.com/products/rawshooter.html

BTW, I could not open the WORKFLOW link on their website but you can get it from the program when you download the demo.

I have been playing around with it tonight and really like the improvements and to me it seems well worth the $59 price. I have only used the free RawShooter Essentials so I do not know how this new product compares with the other popular raw converters like C1LE and Adobe CameraRaw. It would be interesting to hear how it compares if anyone knows.

Drew

Yes, I've received the email... I'm onto it and will compare against C1LE, PS-CS2, and PS-CS
Matt

Before 31st, please Matt!

G
Just joking.

George - seriously. I've looked at it...

Abbreviations: RSP = Raw Shooter Premium; C1LE = Capture One LE; ACR = Adobe Camera Raw (in PS-CS2)

One of my main tests is the high ISO capability. So I did this first, an image shot at ISO1600 on the *ist-D with the SMC-FA 24-90. And I have to say that Rawshooter was disappointing to say the least...

I processed to 16-bit TIFF in the ProPhoto colourspace and examined the image at 200% in PS-CS2. RSP produced ugly "jaggies" that I couldn't live with. C1LE produced a much more film-like, smooth image with perhaps a little more noise, but definitely a more pleasing result.

However, I have to say that RSP has a nice user interface - I like the ability to tag images with a rating (rather than C1's simple tag/notag facility under Windows... why only the Mac version can do rating I don't know). The workflow is pretty good too, definitely quicker than ACR in the overall workflow. It does produce some very pleasing results for general use, and being able to upsize to 300% linear (that's 9x pixels, so 54mega pixel out of the *ist-D ) is pretty good indeed.

The other nice thing about RSP is saving the output directly in a "Converted" subdirectory. Unfortunately only C1 Pro does this, and C1LE you have to move the images manually.

I was thinking I'd spend the $59 (+VAT) just to have the use of RSP, but having seen the low light capability I'll think about it.... but I'm sure that C1LE is still going to be the backbone of my workflow


I'll try and get some sample shots put on my site today

Matt

Ok, so I couldn't wait...

Forgot to mention: all tests were done without sharpening. I have a very good Photoshop workflow for sharpening that's better than all the RAW convertors, IMHO. I wanted to check the basic image conversion on a common ground

Here's a link:
http://www.pbase.com/mattmatic/image/51393611/original

Excuse the slight differences in colour and exposure. I tried to match them as best I could.

* Copy or save the image
* Open in Photoshop
* Zoom to 200% or 300%

You'll see what I mean about the "jaggies". RSP with full noise reduction is just too smooth, and with none it still looks over cooked to me.

However, I'm not saying that RSP is no good. It is a good program, you just have to try it out yourself to see if it works for you and the images you shoot. Feature-wise it's very good, and colour and exposure settings look very simple to use.

BTW, the colour "vibrance" I can achieve easily in Photoshop.

ACR's auto settings often give surprisingly good results. I tend to produce very muted colour outputs from C1LE, and ACR/PSCS2 gives a quick way to "popping" images. Image quality appears better from ACR than RSP to me, but then I don't much like the workflow in ACR - it's way too slow for me.

But as for me, it's C1... now if only I could justify the Pro price

Matt

Thank you for that Matt. I was relatively happy with RS Essentials and I am used to the interface so your mini review has convinced me to upgrade to RSP. It seems well worth the $59 to me.

Also, your comment about your successful sharpening technique in Photoshop is intriguing and hope you will share it with us some day. I am sure there are a great many digital novices like me out there and your expertise and opinions are much valued and respected.

Thanks again Matt

Drew

Hi,

I'm not an expert user of Photoshop but I found this useful for sharpening images.

http://actions.home.att.net/dSLR_Fractal_Sharpen.html

This software http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=2 is required for the above to work, as is Photoshop. Essentially it allows you to resize your images to enormous sizes (up to 400% I think) with no discernable quality reduction from the correct viewing distance.

Software Genuine Fractals is available in UK from http://www.dcpsystems.co.uk/index.htm .

Moderators: I have no connection with any of these companies other than as an occasional customer.

Regards, Peter Smith.

I've heard good things about Genuine Fractals.
However, IMO you generally don't need it
I will share my sharpening techniques when I've got half a chance to write it up.
In the meantime, check out this awesome free site:

http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com

Look for their sharpening actions & scripts (CS&CS2 only). Also, look out for: saturation masks & Velvia effect in the tutorials.

Matt