Canon Software

[neuroanatomist]

I'm going to be shooting high ISO speeds (indoor volleyball), so I'm thinking about the high-ISO noise reduction. Do I need the Canon software to do that?

Different software handles noise reduction differently. Processing the RAW images on your computer will certainly yield better results than in-camera conversion to JPG - NR is a processing-intensive function, and your computer has a lot more processing power than your camera, plus the computer can take more time than you'll tolerate when your out shooting.


I started off shooting JPGs, and I can echo the previous comment about regretting that for some images now that I've switched over to RAW shooting entirely. Start in RAW from the beginning. I've used both CS and PS Elements with Adobe Camera Raw, and DPP. The ACR for Elements is limited compared to the ACR for Photoshop CS. I settled on DPP and used that for quite some time - I liked the lens-specific corrections that it offers (which are provided by Canon; ACR has a version but it's not as accurate or comprehensive). But more recently, I switched to DxO Optics Pro. They test camera+lens combinations and develop specific corrections (the 60D is supported, you'd want to check that your lenses are supported for the 60D).


In particular, I find that it does a really good job at reducing high ISO noise. I previously tested DPP and DxO head-to-head on the same RAW images: Mini bake-off: DPP vs. DxO(noise reduction is toward the bottom of the post).


DxO has a free trial version, and the Standard version (what you need for the 60D) is on sale for $99 through Jan 15th.


Good luck!


--John

[MikeA01730]

All,


Thanks to everyone for taking the time to provide so much information. You

[neuroanatomist]

So, let me make sure I understand this. If I want I can use PSE8 to manipulate my raw files and not install any other software.

Not quite. PSE cannot open RAW files - you'll need to download and install the appropriate version of Adobe Camera Raw to open the RAW files - that software converts them and hands them off to PSE.

[HDNitehawk]

So, let me make sure I understand this. If I want I can use PSE8 to manipulate my raw files and not install any other software.


Not quite. PSE cannot open RAW files - you'll need to download and install the appropriate version of Adobe Camera Raw to open the RAW files - that software converts them and hands them off to PSE.

DPP is very basic. Adobe Camera Raw will do a few other things but to me the two are more similar, not like comparing DPP to photoshop or PSE8. DPP just gives you the basics to make your picture really.


But if your saving in RAW. You can always go back and reprocess in one or the other. With DPP if you shoot RAW, you can just click and select the same settings your used to seeing in your camera and change it however you want.


You could process both side by side, Adobe Camera Raw will not read the changes you made with DPP in the RAW file. Likewise DPP will not show the changes Adobe made of the same file. So you could process it one way in DPP then do the same in Adobe and convert both and see what you think. DPP is free and it isn't hard to use, not nearly as difficult as any thing Adobe puts out. Thats what I did to decide which I wanted to use. I processed several of each in each program then compared the different pics.

[neuroanatomist]

I'd rather not learn yet another application.

One more thing to add - if you're going to shoot RAW (and I think you should), no matter what you're going to have to learn a new application. PSE is photo editing software, and that's not something that ACR,DPP,or DxO perform, really. Some RAW converters - Adobe Lightroom and Apple Aperture - add image library management to the RAW conversion package. However, those are all primarily RAW converters - they are capable of global adjustments to exposure, contrast, color, etc., and have very some limited local editing ability (cloning out dust spots, for example). If that's all you use PSE for, you can substitute one of the others (except that with ACR, PSE will still save your jpg). But, if you do selective editing with PSE - layer masks, combining the heads from 4 different group shots so everyone is smiling and has their eyes open, etc. - whichever RAW converter you choose will be an adjunct to PSE, not a replacement.

[MikeA01730]

All,


One more question. If I use DDP or DxO to process my raw files and then use PSE8 to edit the files, how do the non-destructive adjustments to the raw files get into PSE8? I know the adjustments can be recorded in sidecar files, but it looks like different products use different sidecar file formats. Does PSE8 know how to read each format?


Also, once I edit a raw photo in PSE8, is all the information from the raw and sidecar files stored in the psd file?


Thanks,


Mike

[tkerr]

All,


One more question. If I use DDP or DxO to process my raw files and then use PSE8 to edit the files, how do the non-destructive adjustments to the raw files get into PSE8? I know the adjustments can be recorded in sidecar files, but it looks like different products use different sidecar file formats. Does PSE8 know how to read each format?

Most likely not! I really don't know for sure. But I do know when you open a RAW file into Photoshop via Camera RAW, it creates its own sidecar file.

Also, once I edit a raw photo in PSE8, is all the information from the raw and sidecar files stored in the psd file?


Thanks,


Mike
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I haven't used Photoshop Elements in almost a few years now, since version 6. And when I did use it, I only used it to try to post process astroimages which is a different world when it comes to processing and editing pictures.


But I think the answer to that question is that depends on exactly what you do and how you do it.
When I work on a file the first thing I do is duplicate that layer and make it a smart object so I am never really making adjustment directly to the original. Then everything I do is in additional layers or Adjustment layers. Working with Adjustment Layers and Smart Object Layers are non-destructive editing/adjustments.


Don't merge layers down and don't flatten the image layers. That way when you save your work as a PSD it saves all your work and all the layers, and then when you want to re-open the file it will load all your layers so you can continue from where you left off.


A great web site to learn more about all this kind of thing is Adobe TV.


http://tv.adobe.com/channel/how-to/elements-tutorials/

[neuroanatomist]

If I use DDP or DxO to process my raw files and then use PSE8 to edit the files, how do the non-destructive adjustments to the raw files get into PSE8? I know the adjustments can be recorded in sidecar files, but it looks like different products use different sidecar file formats. Does PSE8 know how to read each format?


Also, once I edit a raw photo in PSE8, is all the information from the raw and sidecar files stored in the psd file?

Photoshop cannot work with RAW files - that's ACR's job. ACR converts the RAW file into a format that Photoshop (CS or PSE) can work with, and in the process, it 'bakes in' certain adjustments (e.g. demosaicing, white balance, etc.). RAW files are edited non-destrucively, assuming they're saved as RAW - DPP just adds more metadata to the file, whereas other programs create sidecars to store those data. Photoshop can be made to edit non-destrucively, but that requires you to take the appropriate steps, e.g. creating adjustment layers as tkerr described. If you open a RAW file with ACR, then edit in Photoshop, just making changes to the background layer directly, then save as .psd or anything else, that's a destructively edited file (although the original RAW file is still intact).


If you are converting RAW images with something other than ACR, you can convert them into a lossless file type that can be opened in PSE - a 16-bit TIFF file, DNG, etc., do your editing using the full bit-depth of the original file, then save it as an 8-bit jpg if you like.