Bottom line is, why spend £1500 - £2000 on a camera body and decent lens, but balk at the thought of spending another £100 on decent RAW editing software. It doesn't make sense to me.[/quote]But when you've only spent £450 on a twin lens kit and a further £15 on your favourite general purpose lens it DOES make sense to try to get the best out of the software provided for the purpose (of RAW conversion), and I AM convinced that shooting RAW IS the way to go.

If, with a bit of help and experience I can manage to achieve results which I am happy with then that is really a satisfactory solution. Possibly not the BEST, but we can't all afford to spend £1000's on our hobbies. We all have different outlooks on what we do and that is the value of the interchange that comes from this Forum.

For those that can afford a bit more, I'm happy for you and wish you well. Meanwhile, each to his own and I shall continue pursuing the best I can get with what I have.

Best regards

Peter

"I believe it's true, I believe, I do
I believe exactly what they tell me to,
I believe it's true, I believe, I do,
I'm a simple guy, I believe !"
Tom Paxton

I just want to make an addition to my comments on Cropping (above) :-

If you have problems trying to locate the black 'handles' or if you should otherwise move off the image the dotted 'crop to' box may disappear !

Don't worry - simply dragging the cursor over the image will re-draw the crop to box and it can be re-sized or moved as indicated above !

Peter

But NOT as cheap as PDCU4 !!!

Peter

I should like to add my personal thanks to Nigel for his excellent Guide.

I posted a thread just over a month ago asking for help using PDCU4 as I had found the user interface and help file extremely difficult to understand.

Nigel responded that he liked the program and would like to share his knowledge to help others so gave me some personal tuition via PM's which he used as a test run. I found his advice easy to follow and have used my new skills to process several .dng files from my K-r.

One point I feel people should appreciate is that the only way to learn how to use PDCU4 is 'Hands-on', i.e. follow the guide with a RAW file open in front of you and try out the various controls as instructed. You will then appreciate what is happening "Before your very eyes" (Arthur Askey !!!)

I should just like to add a few points that Nigel has not been able to cover so far (he has agreed to me doing this !)

1) I use a 2 monitor set up and find that when I open a .dng file by double clicking it in the Explorer window I get the image displayed in the Preview window only and if I make adjustments these do NOT appear to happen on this preview ? However, by Right clicking on the file icon below the main control panel window and selecting 'Display image on tab page' I get the 'work in progress' image which changes as I make adjustments.

This might be just me or it might apply to you ?

2) I have found that PDCU4 is so powerful that generally I do not need to export the processed image to any other program (Nigel recommends saving as a tiff file for subsequent use) so save directly as a jpeg. The only further change that you may want is to do some cropping ?

This looks a bit daunting at first as there are so many options ! However, I have found that simply ticking the 'Apply' box and selecting the 'Undefined' button at the foot of the panel brings up the usual dotted box around the image with small black handles in the mid point of each edge which can be dragged in to wherever you desire. You can also 'Move' the box or re-size it at this stage.

Note that the RAW file is NOT cropped and the cropping only applies to the Saved file.

Using Nigel's guide has awakened me to the use of the Histogram which was something of a mystery beforehand.

I hope others will now also be tempted to use the FREE program that Pentax provided for us specifically for the purpose of processing Pentax RAW files !!!

Many thanks again, Nigel

Best regards

Peter

[quote:3496ace15f="3Peaks"]Any advice out there for using the PDCU supplied software for processing RAW files for someone like me, who does not use or owns any Adobe software ? Thanks in advance.


Hi there,

I posted a thread with a similar request just over a month ago (Digital Camera Utility 4 Tutorial) and Nigel (McGregNi) was kind enough to take up the challenge which has resulted in the 'Guide' which he has now posted elsewhere on this Forum.

Nigel has posted comments here (on this thread) as well so I will NOT go further on THIS thread but refer you to HIS posting where I shall add some further points about my experiences and some additional features which he has not yet covered.

All I DO want to say here is that once you get through the unfriendly user interface and unhelpful 'help' file you will discover a very powerful program !

Good luck

Peter

You can download the pdf of the X5 User manual from the link below :-

http://www.pentaximaging.com/support/download-details/930

Note that this is the USA site - Pentax UK are NOT so helpful !!!

Good luck

Peter

The cunning Japanes have only put the file for v4.40 on the JAPANESE language page ! As you said, the English language page gives you v4.35 again !

I found the following help posted by 'AUDIOBOMBER' on the US Pentax Forums :-

"The Japanese version is correctly loaded with 4.40. That's the one you want. You will find it here. PENTAX Digital Camera Utility 4?Windows???????????????????????????????????PENTAX RICOH IMAGING
Don't worry about the language, it allows you to choose. Mine defaulted to English."

From PentaxForums.com: http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-processing-articles/206286-pentax-digita...#ixzz2DMeaLI6S

Scroll down the page from Nigel's guide to the posting by 'Audiobomber' and you will find the link !

I followed this and if you scroll down the Japanese language page as you did on the English page and then hit the LEFT button it all works OK and I am now running v4.40

Good luck

Peter

The latest version of PDCU4 is 4.40. You need to go to the Pentax Japan website to download it and whilst is is referred to on the English language page hitting the 'DOWNLOAD' button there gives you version 4.35 !!

However, if you change the language to the Japanese page and, ignoring the writing you won't understand (unless you speak Japanese !), just scroll down as if it were the English page and hit the LEFT button it will download an ENGLISH version of PDCU 4.40 (which is 1 byte bigger than 4.35 !)

I did this today, it installed perfectly and I've just uploaded a RAW file converted using it to the gallery.

Incidentally, my files are from a K-r.

Peter

"PDCU and me never got along .."

That is exactly how I felt and why I posted a thread looking for any tutorials.

Fortunately, Nigel has taken up the challenge (using me as a guinea pig to test his guide) and I am now a convert !

Once you get into it (and that was the problem) it is actually quite easy to use and at the same time very powerful.
For general use it does all you need to get the best out of your RAW files and no other program may be needed ?

Watch out for the 'Guide' and then give it a try !

Peter