Hyper-Utility worth it for Fuji S5 users?

[dzeanah]

I'm a wedding and portrait photographer, and for the most part LR/ACR do what I

need. There are times though (like when the client is looking for a 30" print)

where squeezing maximal image quality from a RAW file is important.

 

So, I'm considering Hyper-Utility but as there's no trial version I can't make

any decisions about the quality of the software.

 

Does anyone here use it with the S3 or (preferably) S5? How does it compare to

the other converters you've used? At what point is the difference in output

quality evident versus what you get from other RAW converters? Is the

difference mostly on color and highlight rendition, or is there something about

the algorithms HU uses that brings a bit more detail into the image?

 

As an aside, I'm tempted to stick with ACR/LR because if/when I move to a

different camera and different RAW files the tools will still be familiar. If

there's a difference in quality though, I should give it an honest shot...

[t_feltus]

Hi Derek,

i have used it with my S3, but foolishly not since i got my MacBook Pro, so i cannot really

comment on its speed on a decent machine. i used it on my older windows machine, which

despite a 3.2ghz p4 was tedious to use. they hyper utility does seem to be able to draw

more resolution and bit depth out of the raw files than Aperture, as for some reason it

regards the raw files as 6mp, rather than giving the option to open the resolution to

12mp. but HU came with my S3, did it not come with your camera? i guess you could send

me a raw file, and i could export it from HU for you, though i am not sure if that would

help. well, you could send a jpeg of what you want it to look like, and then compare

quality or something.

 

let me know.

 

t

[twmeyer]

Back when I used an S2, I thought Fuji's software gave a much better conversion than PS CS, even though the interface was like threading a needle with a brick and just as fast. Things may have changed, with Lightroom and CS3. <p>I take it Fuji doesn't provide the Utility with their $1900 camera? My sympathies. I use NX, which also did not come with my $1600 camera... t

[angkordave]

Fuji RAW files have a native resolution of 6mp; the camera upsamples them to 12mp for JPEGS.

ACR will only work properly with the S5 on CS3 or lightroom. I'd like to know how Hyper utility worlks too as the Fuji bundled RAW Software is appalling.

Interestingly The Fuji Software was bad with my S2 but ACR works brilliantly and gives results with the S2 which are significantly better than the S5 as the RAW converter dosn;t work properly