Bibble Lite or Lightroom--Opinions?

My 30-day trial for Lightroom is running out. The $299 is not in my budget.

My main requirement is the lighting/exposure adjustments, specifically the

Highlight-Recovery, lights, darks, and shadows sliders which have been such a

big convenience in Lightroom.

 

Bibble lite has this functionality with similar sliders, and I guess the core

of my question is: Is there a significant difference in whatever algorithm used

in these two apps to do the tonal changes that would make a real difference?

 

I'm obviously leaning towards Bibble-Lite, but if the general consensus is, for

example, that the bibble software won't do as accurate and true a job of

recovering blown highlights, then I'm really not money ahead if I go with

Bibble-Lite.

 

Also, I'm not wanting to trust my eyes to compare the difference (which I've

done), because I'm too new at the current moment to render a professional

eyeball-opinion of what may be subtle differences in the way each software app

does these tonal changes. Yet I want to invest in something that, as I get a

better eye or as my photos are viewed by those with a better eye, will stand

the test of a very critical eye.

Thank you,

 

--Jim

I think Bibble can do those things well. Unfortunately I do not have Lightroom so I can not compare them.

Bibble doesn't support DNG format so I have no experience using it. However, you can buy

Lightroom at academic discount for about $100 if you qualify. That's certainly an avenue I'd

explore.

 

Godfrey

1. I'm quite pleased with Bibble Pro for its easy RAW batch conversion and excellent image quality. Bibble Pro is also the fastest RAW converter:

 

 

http://www.bibblelabs.com/products/bibble/speed.html

 

 

2. Eric Hyman of Bibble has told me that Bibble does DNG conversion.

 

 

3. Bibble has a swell Highlight Recovery feature:

 

 

http://www.bibblelabs.com/products/bibble/highlights.html

 

 

4. If you're on the fence, you can get a full version of Bibble Pro for a free 30-day trial:

 

 

http://www.bibblelabs.com/index.html

Thanks all,

It looks like Bibble-Lite for now. I don't use DNG, so that's not a dealbreaker, nor worth going up to Bibble-Pro.

 

My wife works at a college, I asked her about the discount option for Lightroom, and her thought was that it would be pushing the ethics if she were to try to get it even for herself--as she's not an instructor there--even more so for me, still even more because they don't have any digital photography courses at all there. However...maybe to justify it as a way to explore the possibility of adding such a course to the curriculum...but I doubt it, she keeps me honest...

 

--Jim

I see no ethical conflict with purchasing on academic pricing as long as you meet the

qualification terms. A friend of mine was able to purchase the full Adobe Creative Suite

package on academic discount because he is home-schooling his son: Adobe was fine

with that. Another friend gets academic pricing because she is enrolled in accredited home

study courses with the local community college ... again, Adobe seemed perfectly

comfortable with that.

 

You should do what you feel is right for you, but understand that academic pricing is

available as a way to sell more product to a 'special circumstances' community of users

that generally cannot afford the full retail pricing. They make money on the software

regardless, and don't offer the upgrade discounts, and those users usually go on to

purchase the software at retail pricing after they finish their studies, and others use it

because of their word-of-mouth recommendations, so it all works out fine for the

vendors. This is business, not philosophy... ;-)

 

Godfrey

I agree, if your wife qualifies, do it. That is a "perk" of the job and meant to be used by those who are employed, it's just like any other benifit, tell her not to sweat it, if she qualifies, buy it through her. I done use bibble, but I do use lightroom and I dont know how I ever got along with out it. it's the best I've used for processing lots of shots. It's got some great tools, but if you shoot your stuff as close as you can to nailing the shot in camera, you done need all that extra tool. . .

Well, I'll try to nudge her on the discount option...it's she that has more of an issue with it. I really got addicted to Lightroom, it's a first-class product. Bibble seems to do a great job too, the interface is a bit outdated but if the end result is the same I suppose I could deal with the older interface,

 

--Jim

Jim, it's not unethical to ask ahead of time if you qualify. Educational discounts are given because companies want to increase their sales and get their products in the hands of people who are in a position to favorably influence other buyers. It's not a gift; it's a business. So, just ask and I'm sure she'll qualify.

Jim:

 

What brand/model of camera do you use? The RAW software that is included with cameras today is easily as good as Bibble-Lite. Canon's Package is superb as an example.

 

I own Bibble-Lite, but don't use it at all. The interface is a mess IMHO.

 

I also own Lightroom. I bought it when it was first out and have done the upgrade to 1.1.

 

The huge differences between the two packages are the beauty of the Lightroom interface, the fact that is it s true photo database, and its ease of use.

 

Lightroom allows you to organize you photo in unlimited ways, keep track of them no matter where they are on your system. Move your catalogs around, batch rename photos,etc.

 

As far as image processing, Lightroom is head and shoulders above Bibble. Easy to use, but powerful.

 

If you have used it for the 30 trial you have seen all this I'm sure. Bibble offer a free trial as well. Download it and you will quickly see the differences.

 

Your wife's discount will let you have the far better product.

 

--Tom Loeb