This is my first post in years. I, for reasons unclear, lost the passion for the art and I am now jumping into the scary world of digital.
I shot a Minolta Maxxum 7 system for years and had a tidy investment of lenses built up so I purchased the Sony Alpha a900 body to complement them.
My question is regarding the RAW processing that I hear so much about. The Sony system comes with RAW software which I understand is not all that good. I run a Photoshop 7 image processing system as well. Is the PS7 able to handle the RAW files? Is a complementary download/purchase in order. How much of a learning curve is there to this?
All help would be apreciated.
Tim Hale
Concrete, WA
Posted by Buck Ward on January 22, 2010 at 8:15 PM
PhotoShop 7 is an older version, surely older than your Sony Alpha. Even newer versions of PhotoShop, other than the current version CS4, can't be updated to the latest version of ACR which supports RAW files from the latest cameras. I think you are probably out of luck for RAW conversion using PhotoShop 7. But, using the Sony Software, once you have converted the Sony RAW file to an image format, TIFF or JPEG, you can edit it in PhotoShop 7, no problem.
I prefer Adobe's RAW conversion to Canon's, but the Canon software gets the job done. I haven't heard anything pro or con about Sony RAW conversion, but it almost certainly is up to the task.
Posted by David Bostedo on January 23, 2010 at 1:13 AM
I haven't used any of the camera companies converters other than Canon either. But from what I hear, the results you can get out of the included software are generally good. What you give up is the power and flexibility of the workflow in the more common tools. And, especially regarding Adobe tools, a vast wealth of knowledge and tips online.
I'd suggest trying the Sony software for a little while (it can take a while to get used to raw processing) shooting both JPGs and raw so you can do some comparison. Then download the trial version of Lightroom or CS4 and give that a shot (Adobe Camera Raw, or ACR - the raw developer part -- is the same in both). Some other popular programs are Capture One, Aperture (on Mac), Bibble, and Lightzone (I'm sure there are others as well).
At first, I didn't like developing raw because I struggled a bit to get good results, and generally preferred the camera JPGs. After a few days though, I've settled in and now almost always shoot raw.
And if you like CS4, Photoshop Elements comes with pretty much the same raw converter (it might be missing a few features), and is a lot cheaper -- and you don't give up too much in terms of functionality.
Thanks guys! You can't imagine how intimidating all of this is for me. I've no training and trying to learn as I go. It seeems that I might be getting in above my pay grade with the RAW. Hope not. I fear it to be a problem now to go forward in the medium w/o a complete understanding of all that it encompasses.
Tim Hale
Concrete, WA
Posted by David Bostedo on January 23, 2010 at 1:42 PM
Well Tim, if you're looking for more info, you can certainly ask here. A really good online reference is the Cambridge in Colour tutorials. It covers just about everything in digital photography in a pretty compact and very nicely done form. The Photoshop stuff is great background if a little rudimentary. The color management section is particularly useful for getting your feet wet there. And the imaging section is probably most useful for someone just getting into digital, but that understands photography in general.
Discussion
4 repliesI shot a Minolta Maxxum 7 system for years and had a tidy investment of lenses built up so I purchased the Sony Alpha a900 body to complement them.
My question is regarding the RAW processing that I hear so much about. The Sony system comes with RAW software which I understand is not all that good. I run a Photoshop 7 image processing system as well. Is the PS7 able to handle the RAW files? Is a complementary download/purchase in order. How much of a learning curve is there to this?
All help would be apreciated.
Tim Hale
Concrete, WA
I prefer Adobe's RAW conversion to Canon's, but the Canon software gets the job done. I haven't heard anything pro or con about Sony RAW conversion, but it almost certainly is up to the task.
I'd suggest trying the Sony software for a little while (it can take a while to get used to raw processing) shooting both JPGs and raw so you can do some comparison. Then download the trial version of Lightroom or CS4 and give that a shot (Adobe Camera Raw, or ACR - the raw developer part -- is the same in both). Some other popular programs are Capture One, Aperture (on Mac), Bibble, and Lightzone (I'm sure there are others as well).
At first, I didn't like developing raw because I struggled a bit to get good results, and generally preferred the camera JPGs. After a few days though, I've settled in and now almost always shoot raw.
And if you like CS4, Photoshop Elements comes with pretty much the same raw converter (it might be missing a few features), and is a lot cheaper -- and you don't give up too much in terms of functionality.
Tim Hale
Concrete, WA