Thoughts and Opinions on Canon Packaged Software

I purchased my 40D earlier in the summer and have debated installing any of Canon's pre-packaged software such

as ZoomBrowser, DPP, the drivers and util's that let me do remote shooting, etc. As soon as it was available on

Amazon I purchased Lightroom 2 and am in love with it and just don't see a need. My question, or rather topic idea,

is to see what everyone thinks of the pre-packaged stuff.

 

 

I will not be using DPP for anything myself as I like LR2. I may use ZoomBrowser, and I'm not sure how handy the

rest would come in. Personally having no experience with it I can't really comment on anything.

 

 

But ... how do all of you like ZoomBrowser? Have you every found the util's for doing remote shooting and capture,

memory card transfer/importing, converting, the wireless transmitter, etc. useful for anything but hard-core studio

work? I don't know many a photographer that even has them and the ones I know of are all studio owners who do

model shoots and take 1000 photos a day.

 

 

Just looking for thoughts and feedback. I'm loving photo.net! So happy to have such a wonderful resource.

DPP is by far the most useful component of the Canon Software Suite. It's the only part I actually use.

Never bothered to use any of it (except EOS Utility to download the images, since I've never owned a card reader), and

instead favor Aperture and Photoshop.

 

I can't see any "real" studio photographers using any of it, either....but maybe I'm wrong. There's much better workflow

solutions out there, as you know.

I use EOS Utility for tethered shooting direct to Lightroom. DPP is a pretty decent RAW converter, but it doesn't offer much beyond that and certainly doesn't offer the kind of integrated workflow that Lightroom and Aperture do.

 

<Chas>

DPP is better than ACR, LR or C1. the rest of the package is not so useful

I use the EOS utility for downloading, and DPP to process my pictures. After watching the available tutorials (http://www.usa.canon.com/content/dpp2/index.html) I managed to set up a ok workflow to process my pictures.

DPP is a very good Raw converter for Canon Raw files.

DPP works very well in certain stuations, worth a try

Eos utility is good for tethered shooting, which is even better now with live view on the 40D.

 

I've never installed zoombrowser, I prefer bridge CS3, and lightroom's browser is better (if you have CPU horsepower)

 

Photostitch isn't half bad for basic stitching, not the greatest for complex matrices of high resolution images :)

 

DPP is actually very good... it excels in noise removal and lens corrections, good WB picker, but not the greatest contrast and exposure adjustment tool out there.

 

Lightroom is definitely better than DPP for a lot of things, but not everything. There are times I prefer DPP's interface and lens correction.

G`day, been using Zoombrowser over 7yr now, quick access to libraries and download via card readers all general monthly and studio work for each client so can view quickly with direct access into Photoshop. ZB brings them up instantly on screen after D/L to view, All images are on the HD can see all thumbnails and full size easy. DPP is only started using since 40d as my other s/w was gona cost more to upgrade, Still use Breeze for 20d and other cameras, ACR has more options but DPP seems better for RAW, which I rarely shoot. Have lightroom but not tried it yet, just use to using PS to long. I have used the stitching program tho, not bad for up to bout 6 pix :)

I use the supplied software extremely infrequently: the tethered shooting component (forget the name), the component for putting your name in the camera (Picture Window, Camera Window?). I looked at DPP once or twice but never use it. I use a card reader so never use Canon software for file transfers.

 

The stitching program (again, forget the name) is definitely not as good as the similar function in Photoshop CS3.

It's too bad that Capture One Pro is so expensive. At $400 I just cannot justify it at this point. After reading the blog "Death

to Film", I use EOS Utility and Lightroom over DPP. These are digital techs in LA that work with it every day. I cannot

believe that Canon hasn't made it more attractive. It looks like DPP was designed alongside Tetrus. I'd love to see Adobe

develop a utility for Lightroom that allows tethered shooting. Yes, there is a reason why Canon gives their software away for

free, it's worth exactly that much.

After trying a number of other RAW converter products (not LR), I've settled on DPP, and use it because it really streamlines my workflow. Now, I rarely have to use PSE 5 to finish my images. As for stitching programs, Photostitch is far superior to the one in PSE 5. The best part is, this software is free - at least once you've bought a Canon camera.

Wow. Some excellent throughts on the matter.

 

 

I may give DPP a run just to give it a run. I would like to think that Canon's software handles Canon's files best. My worry is what several people pointed out and that's DPP not be as ... robust ... as Lightroom. I'm not making fantastic corrections and changes but I do appreciate having the details available and the simpler tools (dodge, burn, etc) available if I need them.

 

 

Thanks for some of the feedback. I've got some extra hard drive space and might just try it! :) On a side note, I completely forgot that the Photostitch applicatino was in there. Heh. Until I can cough up the $700 for PS I may try that for some larger compositions.

I use DPP as a raw converter, and especially like the quick edit mode (alt-Q) where I quickly cull out and delete the rejects, which with "ute" soccer lately has been quite a bit.

 

I have set my wife up with zoombrowser on her notebook to process her own point and shoot files, now I dont have to do any more re-sizing for email for her, etc. and she manages her own files - as it should be.

DPP is <b>the</b> best (note the emphasis...) RAW converter for Canon cameras, esp. those with 14-bit color,

nothing else comes close IMO: the quality of reds and yellows one can get from DPP is just unmatched by any other

RAW converter (esp. not by ACR or CaptureOne.) The new(er) versions of DPP also handle peripheral ilumination

(vignetting), CA and lens distortion adjusments very well. I hope that the software that ships with 5D2 will also be

significantly updated: I don't expect DPP to ever replace other editing software, but some rudimentary options (say,

resize then sharpen...strip EXIF data, etc.) would be nice.

Okay, this might be a stupid qustions but ... when we are taking about RAW conversion is that the process of setting white balance and colors then saving to JPEG? Or is there somethig I'm missing. I mean I process photos frequently and save them all the time so I'm not sure if that's what was being referred to....

Well, in RAW conversion you do as much as necessary to obtain an editable (or otherwise usable image.) That may include anything - from doing nothing (i.e. accepting the default settings on your conversion software and saving the image as TIFF or some othe loseless file) to adjusting WB, vignetting, CA, colors, contrast, sharpening, etc., i.e. doing as much as your conversion software allows. And of course everything in between. To me getting an usable image means adjusting WB, CA, vignetting (if necessary), accepting other default settings of DPP (including the picture style tags) and sending the image to photoshop for further processing. If I do a lot of adjustments in DPP I save them in a "recipe" file for future reference.

Install it. Some software might not see the latest raw extentions and some might not rotate your images.

I use DPP as a RAW converter. I don't have Lightroom and prefer DPP to ACR.

 

I used ZB for some time, but now use Bridge for most of the functions like keywords, captions, ratings etc. I

find ZB still useful for "Classify into folder" as I don't think either DPP or Bridge can do this.

 

I find best use for tethered shooting is checking sensor for dust when cleaning!

Michael, that makes more sense. I wasn't sure exactly what was involved. If I may, does it count when I simply save JPEG's that do not require editing in PS and just get archived and uploaded?

 

 

I think when I get home this evening I'll be taking J. Harrington's advice and just trying it. I mean, it's only a couple hundred megs of HDD space and can't hurt to try. I think after all the looking into I've been doing ZB will be a nice tool. Better then Windows PhotoGallery even from the look of it.

 

 

Chris JB, I think I'll be trying the tool for importing from my mem cards. From what I gather it'll send it to a specified folder and rename it by date! Totally awesome to do on import rather than deal with after the fact.

 

 

Thanks for keeping the lively discussion. It's nice to get some feedback. :)

Sometimes I get frustrated when trying a new program, ZB was a pain the 1st couple yr but now its better without its database. The library is set up on the main drive usually `C` this allows any other software access, mine XP and I use explorer for this as it is quicker and more stable. For some reason if I do it in ZB the other PC`s can`t see rotated files (weird)<div></div>

when the card is pushed into reader select camera window<div></div>

Next, I chose `select images to D/L`<div></div>

Then all thumbnails on the card are displayed, all folders on the camera on one screen. previous downloaded images are tagged top left corner. select and hit download.<div></div>