Quote Originally Posted by Iguide


I shoot both RAW & Jpeg with my 50D, and do most of my editing with the canon software. What programs would be generally recommended to compliment that software mostly for bracketing, removal of unwanted items etc.? I'm still very new to digital after just leaving film & don't even know what it is that I should know to what questions to ask about such matters,


Hey Wayne,


the cheapest way for general stuff: DPP which you got with the camera. I personally didn't like the workflow. I use Photoshop Lightroom for importing, sorting and tonal and quick adjustments of the photos. It's also very easy to adjust one photo and them apply the same corrections to whatever amount of photos you select. I found this very easy when needing to crop all images the same at 16:9 rate for a time-lapse for instance. It also has a clone stamp option which helps out with the removal of most unwanted items. Of course it doesn't have the magic photoshop touch, but it's good for 99/100 times. It's also very easy to use and you could also publish and export with it...


I persoannly also have Photoshop CS4, but I rarely use it. I only use it for real specific needs.


I believe you can also try out Lightroom 3...I personally think it's worth it and it doesn't cost that much either. (Of course there are also free programs like DPP and Gimp) It's a real easy program to learn and it offers you a very broad variety of uses from importing to adjusting to exporting.


As for bracketing images...I assume you mean HDR? I use Photomatix Pro, which is also available as a Lightroom plug-in.


Good luck!


Jan