Software Recommendations

[Kayaker72]

Hi Everyone,

I just noticed that Amazon has Lightroom 3 for $150 again. I currently only use DPP to process my photos but have been planning on upgrading. Based on what I have heard people say, I have been leaning toward DXO Optic Pro 6 or Lightroom 3.

Any thoughts or recommendations?
Thanks,
Brant

[Daniel Browning]

Any thoughts or recommendations?

I like DxO Optics Pro, especially if it has profiles for all the lenses/bodies you use. I use LR3 because it's faster (for me). For some shots I use Raw Therapee 4, which is very flexible, high quality, but slow and still a bit buggy.

[Sheiky]

Hi Brant,

I have been using Lightroom for a few years now and I think it's absolutely great.
I personally love the library mode where you can easily access and manage all your photos and do very basic things.
And when you want to do more specific edits on a photo you go into the developer mode, which sounds like a big deal, but it's just clicking a button
I do pretty much everything in Lightroom exept for HDR and very demanding stuff. That's where I use CS5.
But since you have used DPP I'm pretty sure you'll love Lightroom. I had to switch back to DPP a few times and each time it felt as a pain in the butt
I would suggest downloading the trial and see if you like it.
As far as DXO concerns. I have no experience nor knowledge about it so I can't tell you anything about it. If it would be 100x better I probably would have heard that already and I didn't so...

Good luck,
Jan

[neuroanatomist]

I use and really like DxO for RAW conversions. It's pretty bad at library management, I use Aperture 3 for that.

[Sean Setters]

Am I the only person who likes DPP better than Lightroom 3? Don't get me wrong, Lightroom 3 is very capable--but I find its interface to be unfriendly and complicated. I've tried using it several times, but I simply can't do the simple tasks I want to do as easily as I can in DPP.

[bob williams]

Brant, I am a big fan of LR3 and use it almost exclusively when editing. Occasionally, I will go to CS5 or HDR EFX pro, if I need something really specific, but for normal editing, library management and output I really like LR3.

[andnowimbroke]

Huge LR3 fan. Still took an hour to process a couple hundred pics, but that was my fault. I tend to use a set WB and then tweak in LR. When I have one set, I sync the other pics that were shot in the same condition (iso,sharpening,ect).That takes seconds. It's because everything adjusts so quickly, I find myself screwing around with pictures that are already done just because.

[Kayaker72]

Thanks for the suggestions and comments everyone.

Jan...good tip....I just downloaded the trial version of Lightroom 3 and will download the trial version DXO Optics Pro soon to compare.

Thanks,
Brant

[neuroanatomist]

Brant, not sure how you have notifications set up, but I sent you a message.

[HDNitehawk]

Am I the only person who likes DPP better than Lightroom 3? Don't get me wrong, Lightroom 3 is very capable--but I find its interface to be unfriendly and complicated. I've tried using it several times, but I simply can't do the simple tasks I want to do as easily as I can in DPP.

I just use DPP and sort with Adobe Bridge. I own Adobes Master Collection CS5. Every time I think I should buy LR I just open a few of the programs and mess with them. There a pain to learn, I guess that is why my son got an associates degree using them they aren't the easiest programs to learn. I keep thinking if LR is that big of a pain it wouldn't be worth it, I prefer DPP over Adobe Camera Raw and I just can't bring myself to believe LR would be any different. But I have looked at LR's options, for a while I had the kids wound up over making stop action animations, making those the best workflow was using bridge to sort and pull from. It just doesn't seem like I would get enough out of it to make it worth while.

I tried DXO 2 years ago, I might give it another look one day soon.