Fuji S2 raw file converter

[arjen van de merwe]

My Fuji S2 came with very limited software (I'm in Europe). So the

raw file converter has no settings whatsoever! It just converts a raw

file into a 8 bit tiff file. (The additional software is like 200

euros.) Under these circumstances, would it make sense to use raw

mode? If I shoot at raw mode at the lowest ISO setting with auto

colour balance, could I then work with the 8bit tiff file with good

result? Visibly better then with jpeg fine? (Even at 200% I cannot

detect jpeg artifacts in my photos) When I shoot at say ISO100 and

severely underexpose, and then adjust the levels, the histogram looks

kind of awful, but I do not detect any problem inthe image? What

should I be looking for to determine image deterioration? (Wow,

that's a lot of questions!)

[garry edwards]

I felt ripped off by this too - the USA customers apparently get the full software.

 

My advice is to get/upgrade to PS CS, which has an excellent raw converter. If you shoot in raw, convert in PS CS and save as tiff you'll get the ultimate image quality, but I'm not sure whether there is much advantage in using raw with the bundled software..

 

If you severely underexpose in JPEG and 'correct' on the computer there will be severe quality loss, it may look reasonable on a computer but you may change your mind when you see a finished print. The best advice I can give is to test it for yourself, identical shots, 1 correctly exposed, 1 underexposed and 1 overexposed.

 

Hope this helps

[arjen van de merwe]

Good idea, but ps cs is quite expensive

[garry edwards]

I agree that PS CS is quite expensive, but IMO you won't get the full potential from your camera without it

[godfrey]

Vuescan, available from <a href="http://www.hamrick.com/" target=new>http://

www.hamrick.com/</a>, also supports RAW file post process from a number of cameras,

including the Fuji S2 Pro. It's much less expensive than Photoshop CS, if you don't want to

spend the money, and does an excellent job. It's not as full featured as Adobe Camera Raw

is and has a more "technical" user interface.

<br><br>

I use both ... VueScan for batch processing, ACR for interactive processing.

<br><br>

Godfrey

[michaelkh]

The very soon to be released Elements 3.0 also has Camera Raw, and more 16 bit support to help make use of it. I also keep seeing adverts for Bibble, perhaps that will be useful.

[k_michael]

I own the extra software as it came with my camera. I'm having problems with it concerning the firewire. Keep in mindthat the raw converter uses a lot of memory.

[paulh]

There are some cheaper options too. Try dcraw, which is free (Irfanview uses this), then there is camera raw in the upcoming PSE v3, and PSP v9 has a raw converter.

 

Do a google, I'm sure you'll find some more free or cheap options (there are several for Minoltas for example).

[larry h-l]

I am not sure if it will help, but Adobe has something called DNG (digital negative) that is

available for free on their site. It converts raw files somehow so that they can be opened

in Photoshop.