One stop shopping for image software?

[cliff_gallup]

Until fairly recently I was exclusively a film shooter, but now have a Nikon

D200. I have been shooting jpegs and feel that I am not getting the most out

of my camera. I would like to find user-friendly image processing software

that would work well on a new Mac computer and that would enable me to work

with RAW files. Is there a simple, all-in-one option? I had been thinking

about Nikon Capture NX, but I think I read somewhere that it is very slow with

Mac computers. Are PS Elements or Adobe Lightroom (or Apple's Aperture)

likely to be better? I realize that this comes up a lot, but the state of the

art seems to change every day, hence my otherwise redundant question.

 

I don't need anything elaborate -- just enough to process RAW files and

sharpen, adjust white balance, make nice B&W images etc.

 

One more thing -- do you recommend monitor calibration?

 

Thanks.

[samir]

Aperture will do all you need and more.

Yes you should calibrate your monitor!

What Mac do you have?

[ellis_vener_photography]

Nikon Capture NX doesn't replace Photoshop, but it does do somethings very well. But I

have to say

that even as a seasoned digtial photographer and Photoshop user I find the Capture NX

interface daunting and very far from intuitive. This is a constant complaint I have with

every bit

of Nikon software I've used.

 

I would definitely try Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom --first of all it's free while it is in beta

mode, and has it has moved through the beta development (it is now up 4.1) it has gooten

increasingly better to wok with.

 

Adobe Elements has a lot ot recommend it for most digital photographers. The version of

Adobe Camera Raw used in Elements is not as fully featured asthe one for Photoshop CS2

but as a beginner I'm not sure if you'll miss the features which aren't activated.

 

I haven't tried Aperture -- so far, the reviews I've seen have just been too mixed for me

to invest the time in the learning curveso far. It has potential.

 

So right now my recommendation for you is to try the Lightroom + PS Elements

combination.

 

For Photoshop lightroom see:

 

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom

 

Also there are many free Lightroom podcasts at Apple's iTunes store

 

Also Adobe has just (as withn the past hour) announced price cuts on PsCS2 and Elements

5! See:

 

http://www.adobe.com/special/funoffers.html?trackingid=LVOE

 

And yes, regular monitor calibration is a good thing. Depending on how much accuracy

you need my recommendation are either the gretagmacbeth (now x-rite0 Huey or the Eye

One Display 2.

 

Neither of thise will profile printer output but if you stick with your printer of choices inks

and papers the "canned" profiles fro mthe manufacturer are decent. Not as accurate as a

custom profile for an individual paritner/paper/ink combinatin but they do work.

 

Two last recommendations and they are books: "Real World Digital Photography" second

edition (Eismann, Duggal, and Gray); and "Photoshop CS2 RAW" by Mikkel Aaland

[kevin conville]

I'd look at Lightroom. Aperture is very power hungry, and unless you have the latest

hotrod, may not run well on your machine. Look at the system requirements.

 

Adobe quit making Elements for Mac. You would be buying version 4 if you wanted to go

that way. They are at version 5 for PCs. If you have Tiger, then iPhoto handles RAW files

fine and allows some editing. It's no replacement for Photoshop but it has enough of the

features that many people were using in Elements that Adobe threw in the towel on it.

 

I personally am anxious to buy a Photoshop CS3/Lightroom suite, if/when it is offered.

One more thing, if you are sending your stuff out for printing, Photoshop allows you to

profile your images for specific commercial printers. This, and the virtually limitless

capabilities of which you'll never outgrow, makes a good case for buying Photoshop.

 

Regarding calibration. There's a number of products out there that will do a good job. I'm

using a Pantone Huey ($80.) and it works great for me. Very easy to use. It's not as

thorough as most others but it can be argued it's all most people need. It also monitors

the room's light and adjusts the monitor's brightness continuously.

[kevin conville]

Forgot to add: If you know a teacher, you can get the "educator's" version of Photoshop for

something like $180. or so. It's easy to do as Adobe's not militant about it. Paying full pop

for PS is a turnoff for most, and I don't know anyone who's done it.

[images_in_light_north_west]

Try Bibble Pro, free down load or Capture one free down load, use them for the trial period and see what you like

[godfrey]

The Photoshop CS2 package does everything. Well, mostly everything. I also use iView

MediaPro for cataloging.

 

Godfrey