Noob to digital photography; which software ps CS2 or phase one c1 PRO ?

[andrewmoore]

Hi,

 

Id like to get software for my soon to be arriving 1dmk2, I like the

look of the phase one c1 pro, and p.s cs2.

 

Id like to be able to do blending for high contrast photos, Does

anyone know if phase one will sort this out for me ? Because i cant

seem to find this out.

 

Or is p.s cs2 better for this ?

 

Should i get both or do i only need one or the other ? If so which

would you reccommend ?

 

Many thanks to all your views !

[._kaa]

You will need Photoshop. Period. Some people use C1 as an addition to Photoshop (as a RAW file converter), but you will need Photoshop regardless.

[ellis_vener_photography]

Phase One's Capture 1 is simply a raw image processor. It does not have the image

manipulation capabilities of Photoshop CS2.

 

You may needed both but ACR 3.1 ( Adobe camera Raw v3.1) is the "raw" image processor

in Photoshop Cs2) can directly handle your files. Whether one is better than the other at

converting "raw' image data into the TIFF or jjeg (etc.) formats is something worth testing

for. becasue Capture ne doesn't have to support as many different cameras (all have their

own f;avor of "raw") as ACR does it "might" be better as it can take a more

mathmatically nuanced approach to those cameras it does support.

[finepics]

Hi Andrew,

 

Phase one C1 Pro is an excellent RAW file converter only (I use it for my RAW files) but it's not an editing program. PS CS2 is a full industry standard editing package that also converts RAW files.

 

So the answer to your question is that you do not need C1 Pro (but at a later stage you might like it in addition to PS) but you definitely do need Photoshop CS2.

[paul -]

<i>"Id like to be able to do blending for high contrast photos, "</I><P>PSCS2 has added High Dynamic Range (HDR) support, making blending much easier.

[erickpro]

I posted a question some days ago and I guess it was deleted by the moderator.

 

I asked about why can't photoshop be more like phase one?

 

The speed and capabilty for processing RAW files in phase one are awesome!

 

I have both phase one and photoshop cs but I wish photoshop could handle raw files as phase one that way I do not have to do my work in two different programs.

[clauder]

Calderon,<br><br>

 

Maybe try the demo version of CS2, apparently the speed has been greatly improved, and it allows better batch processing now as well (I don't have it though... so take this with a grain of salt)

[vincent_j_m]

C1 is very good, and there are alternatives such as the free rawshooter essentials from pixmantec, which is excellent. As for photoshop, unless you have a hugely powerful and fast machine, CS2 will crawl compared to PS7 or even PS-CS. If you have the file browser (bridge) and PS-CS2 open at the same time, you can have dinner and get back before PS-CS2 opens a file. Unless you have some really bleeding edge requirements, PS-CS or even PS-7 are excellent choices. You may also want to consider Corel paint shop pro 9 which is a very good piece of software at a much lower price.

[paul -]

<i>"unless you have a hugely powerful and fast machine, CS2 will crawl compared to PS7 or even PS-CS.</i>"<p>I haven't noticed that. In CS2 the new file browser/"Adobe bridge" itself takes an extra few seconds to open, but that is the extent of my speed issues with PSCS2. My system is P4, 2.6 GHz, 1GB ram, 40GB & 200GB hard drives. Adequate, but not "hugely powerful and fast" for photo editing purposes.