Help a newbie pick a RAW editing platform - thx!

GeoGlass

My girlfriend shoots Olympus; I shoot Nikon... the trial period with our respective proprietary software has expired and it would make sense in these economic times to purchase a platform that we can both use. I was getting used to NX2 and am prepared to spend about the $150 that it would cost, but I'm open to anything up to $200. Photoshop CS4 is simply too expensive for our actual editing needs... NX2 did pretty much everything I wanted to do with RAW files, with possibly a few exceptions. What software should I consider; Elements, Lightroom? Which ones do you have reservations about?

Any and all help is appreciated! Thanks in advance!

-George

dlplumer

GeoGlass wrote:

My girlfriend shoots Olympus; I shoot Nikon... the trial period with our respective proprietary software has expired and it would make sense in these economic times to purchase a platform that we can both use. I was getting used to NX2 and am prepared to spend about the $150 that it would cost, but I'm open to anything up to $200. Photoshop CS4 is simply too expensive for our actual editing needs... NX2 did pretty much everything I wanted to do with RAW files, with possibly a few exceptions. What software should I consider; Elements, Lightroom? Which ones do you have reservations about?

Any and all help is appreciated! Thanks in advance!

-George

If you have a Mac, consider Aperture 2, if not consider Lightroom:D

GeoGlass

Thanks!... I'm on a PC.

dlplumer

GeoGlass wrote:

Thanks!... I'm on a PC.

I feel your pain

pathfinder

Lightroom 2

One of the really nice features of LR 2 is that almost every significant digital camera from P&S to medium format digital backs are all supported, so you only have one software package to deal with, and one spot on your Hard Drives where all of your original images reside complete with a separate backup.

catspaw

definitely look into Lightroom. They have a 30 day full trial, so download it and play with it and see if it's worth it for you. Personally I'd say no question at all, but everyone's different. (and if you or a friend is still in college or grad school, you can get an education discounted version)

Mike J

pathfinder wrote:

Lightroom 2

+1 for Lightroom 2. Has just about everything I need.

mercphoto

If I was on a PC I would use Lightroom as well. I'm on a Mac, and after comparing the two I decided to use Aperture rather than LR. Lightroom and Aperture both are more than just raw converters though. And the extra stuff they provide is well worth it.

Why Nikon charges money for their raw converter has always puzzled me. Canon ships DPP for free. :shrug

Pupator

Lightroom 2

GeoGlass

Thanks so much for all of your input! Looks like I will be demo-ing LR2. Have a great day!

-George

slipkid

Try ViewNX

mercphoto wrote:

If I was on a PC I would use Lightroom as well. I'm on a Mac, and after comparing the two I decided to use Aperture rather than LR. Lightroom and Aperture both are more than just raw converters though. And the extra stuff they provide is well worth it.

Why Nikon charges money for their raw converter has always puzzled me. Canon ships DPP for free. :shrug

ViewNX is free and has the RAW converter built in.