K10D RAW file processing

I am curious. Is anyone using the software that came with the K10D instead of

for instance CS2? I ask because I know from experience that at ISO's over 500

Nikon Capture or NX do a better job with noise/detail and color than CS2. I've

proven it to myself several times and the extra time it takes NX to do its work

is worth it. Now I wonder if the (Silkpix?) that comes with the camera could be

said to do the same for the Pentax files as NX does for Nikon files. I'm not in

anyway dissatisfied with my K10D images. What I don't want to do is to load and

learn yet more software if I can help it.<div></div>

I have been using it, but only for the last three days, so I am hardly an expert. It isn't that hard to learn, it is really the similar to the one that came with my PSE3. Except it does more like an easy histogram, a little closer to the Lightroom histogram. It also has a curves function with the histogram. This is like the PS curves, not as slick as the Lightroom curves/tone. There are some really nice little things like: a good straightening feature, noise reduction that seems to work, as well as sharpening. There is a lens distortion correction, and something called spurious color reduction. All in all, it has a lot of stuff that can be done to the RAW file.

Someone did a comparison of different converters recently; you might find this useful:

 

http://ok1000.blogspot.com/2007/03/comparing-raw-pef-and-dng-converters.html

Thanks for that link. I'm going to load the software and do some back to back comparisons. If all I do is use PPL3 for TIFF prep before taking it into CS2 for printing then that is fine. I did that alot when I first used NX for my Nikon. Turns out printing from NX is also very good and in some ways better than CS2 for result. But so much of what I do is B&W that I must rely on the Plug-ins I use with CS2 for output, B&W conversion and dare I say it, adding grain with Alien Skin Exposure.

As I said if the PPL3 gives me a cleaner image maybe with less noise or possible better sharpness that is all I ask for. Thanks<div></div>

Actually, because the original ist D software stunk I never used Silky Pix (pentax bundled software) I downloaded the latest version this week and a works amazingly well.

 

I am used to the CS(1) interface but I feel over time the SilkyPix will be just as easy. In terms of control, initially it seems to have less but as you delve into it, all the control is there and then some added features.

 

As John said it's really a good program once you get used to it. I feel PSCS is slowly but surely loosing it's grip on my computer. If the GIMP offers color management in the future I will be Adobe free.

 

I now use FastStone Image Viewer as my browser, SilkPix as my RAW editor, and then final edit in CS (or eventually GIMP).

Well I downloaded the PPL CD. I shot some PEF's and had a look. First off PPL is really slow compared to CS2/Bridge. Every change takes ages to show on screen. I then opened the same images in Bridge RAW. I had shot Easter flowers and in ACR they red warnings were on big time. Combination of saturation and exposure brought them into line. The PPL colors were very smooth, natural looking, the ACR had more POP or contrast. I did some at ISO 1600 and in both programs noise was very very minor. So maybe I'll use PPL to open and make minor adjustments and then save them as Tiffs and reopen in CS2. Here's question, if for some reason I saved them as DNG's and opened them in ACR I bet that anything I did in PPL would NOT show up in ACR. It would be as if I hadn't ever had them in PPL in the first place.

RAW edits are platform dependent. They don't save into the file so openning a raw in CS2 and then PPL will only yield the original file.

 

PPL is a bit slower but not tremendously slower. It depends on the action used.

 

Curiously is it that much slower then lightroom? Or aperture on an older computer? I've used lightroom and it was slow and heard how slow aperture is without the newest machine.