Raw Converter

Are there any good raw converter programs other than the ones

that come with digital cameras? i have a canon 20D and find the

software for raw conversion difficult to use.

I use breezebrowser...it is better than Canon's software for the 10D, but I wish it had other features:

 

e.g., logging of settings used to convert a raw image so that if you have to tweak it later you can quickly recall the starting point and tweak from there.

I use <a href="http://www.pixmantec.com/index2.html">Raw Shooters Essentials</a>, better than anything I'vew tried so far, including the Photoshop software.

I use Capture One LE, from Phase One. For $99 bucks, you get a program with an excellent user interface, and total control over your RAW images. I'm able to do about 90% of my image processing using Capture One (levels/curves, sharpness and white balance), and then only perform some minor tweaks in Photoshop. You can download either the LE or Pro versions and test them out with a 15 day trial.

I tried many and adopted Raw Shooter Essentials as well. It's the best one out there, at least IMHO. Certainly better than DPP that comes with the 20D, both from a user interface standpoint as well as the output it produces. It's more intuitive than Adobe's Camera Raw, with output quality on par. Better and faster than CaptureOne. Of course, Raw Shooter Essential being free is very helpful as well. Windows only, though.

With Canon files: I've used Bibble Pro, Adobe Camera Raw (in Photoshop CS), and C1

(Capture One). All of them are very, very good and each has advantages.

I've been very happy with Capture One LE as mentioned above. Another reason to like them- I saw in a recent article on the Luminous Landscape website that next year Capture One will support the Adobe Digital Negative (DNG) format, which makes all digital negatives "Equal" as far as only needing one type converter, whether the original RAW format was Canon, Nikon, etc.