DPP/Canon Software: Who is using what and why?

[Jay Gould]

Hi, I read a lot about DPP - Canon's proprietary software. Currently I do not use any Canon software. I use LR 2.3 and I am learning CS4. Is there Canon software that is particularly helpful in the PP workflow? Thanks, Jay

[arash_hazeghi]

Jay,
I use Canon DPP 3.6 for conversion of my 40D and 5D MKII files, IMO colors are way better than LR 2.3 or CS4, sharpness is also better, I usually use 3 for 40D and 4 for MKII. The newest update 3.6 has also some limited high light/shadow adjustment which makes it more useful:). DPP is lightning fast on my PC compared to LR.
I do all my conversion in DPP then use CS4 for minor color tweak or for geometrical correction.

[Alfred Forns]

Arash if there is something you don't like about the conversion in LR you can make the tweak at the time of importing.

One example ... Nikon produces a beautiful shade of blue which is unique .... now I can have it with Canon. Also if you find a certain color has to be added to every image in LR just make a preset and apply at import.

Jay workflow wise I can not imagine anything easier than using LR. Everything is there and you will never lose a raw file. Speed wise I'm not sure what Arash is referring to maybe viewing the image? Database programs like LR do not use the generated jpeg in camera, they make their own and you can specify the quality. I normally set it on the highest since I want to see how good/bad the image is . After importing I select the ones I'm working on and generate all previews ... after is done generating they will appear very fast. btw as not to take more space than needed you can set LR to throw away the previews after 30 days.

No best program just finding the right flow for you. btw if I'm just sorting in the field will use PhotoMechanic since it does use the embedded jpeg and is faster.

[arash_hazeghi]

Al, can you elaborate which option I need to check during import? I have used the camera profiles in develop menu and so far I have not been able to reproduce Nikon Capture or DPP looks for respective NEF/CR2 files. there is always strange color casts and differences in hue I find very difficult to remove, I agree LR has better work flow but the colors are not good:confused:


http://www.stanford.edu/~ahazeghi/Photos/birds/caplr.jpg


Arash if there is something you don't like about the conversion in LR you can make the tweak at the time of importing.

One example ... Nikon produces a beautiful shade of blue which is unique .... now I can have it with Canon. Also if you find a certain color has to be added to every image in LR just make a preset and apply at import.

Jay workflow wise I can not imagine anything easier than using LR. Everything is there and you will never lose a raw file. Speed wise I'm not sure what Arash is referring to maybe viewing the image? Database programs like LR do not use the generated jpeg in camera, they make their own and you can specify the quality. I normally set it on the highest since I want to see how good/bad the image is . After importing I select the ones I'm working on and generate all previews ... after is done generating they will appear very fast. btw as not to take more space than needed you can set LR to throw away the previews after 30 days.

No best program just finding the right flow for you. btw if I'm just sorting in the field will use PhotoMechanic since it does use the embedded jpeg and is faster.

[Alfred Forns]

The LR conversion seems to be lighter which makes the blue look different ... and it seems to be more saturated.

As they appear I would say I don't like either? Again no changes have been made so its normal. To come up with a final image you need to do work on both so its a mater of choice.

btw conversion wise my favorite program is Phase One but I don't use it.

[arash_hazeghi]

The LR conversion seems to be lighter which makes the blue look different ... and it seems to be more saturated.

As they appear I would say I don't like either? Again no changes have been made so its normal. To come up with a final image you need to do work on both so its a mater of choice.

btw conversion wise my favorite program is Phase One but I don't use it.

I agree they look dull need work but this was taken in afternoon light NX2 colors are very accurate and look like what the actual scene was like, :), LR 2.3 looks more like mid day light with cooler tones, also when I look at the originals feather has a yellowish tint in LR2.3:confused: I think the problem is WB, Nikon uses proprietary encoding for WB in their NEF files which Adobe can't read, for example if you use "calculate automatically" for WB in develop menu results are way off. I found this on Adobe website: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/nikonraw.html it's not clear what exactly it's trying to say but to me it's like, yeah kinda sorta Nikon don't tell us all of their tricks:D Not sure if the same is true about Canon but I sometimes get weird artifacts with 5DII files.

[Alfred Forns]

Not the same in Canon and not surprised Nikon is holding back !! btw before LR 2.0 came out I did used NX for the control points.

btw one of the problems I had before using LR was losing RAW files. Two in particular have been painful ... really wanted to enter in the BBC !!!

[Jay Gould]

Arash if there is something you don't like about the conversion in LR you can make the tweak at the time of importing.

One example ... Nikon produces a beautiful shade of blue which is unique .... now I can have it with Canon. Also if you find a certain color has to be added to every image in LR just make a preset and apply at import.

Jay workflow wise I can not imagine anything easier than using LR. Everything is there and you will never lose a raw file. Speed wise I'm not sure what Arash is referring to maybe viewing the image? Database programs like LR do not use the generated jpeg in camera, they make their own and you can specify the quality. I normally set it on the highest since I want to see how good/bad the image is . After importing I select the ones I'm working on and generate all previews ... after is done generating they will appear very fast. btw as not to take more space than needed you can set LR to throw away the previews after 30 days.

No best program just finding the right flow for you. btw if I'm just sorting in the field will use PhotoMechanic since it does use the embedded jpeg and is faster.

Al, I too use LR 2.3. I asked the question partially out of curiosity if there was a better way.

With regard to import settings, perhaps it would be educational if you could list your import settings so we can compare yours to what we are doing. Thanks, Jay

[Alfred Forns]

Jay will need to look over the computer and its in the shop. Cursor freezing ... I think its one of the ram chips.

Most are just convenient things like generating a high quality jpeg to see the best possible image, keep the previews only for thirty days, set color space of your choice, apply the sharpen landscape on import to all images, .... will add if I can think of more.

[Jay Gould]

Al, no rush. When you have the computer it would be interesting to see a list of your settings - mine are very basic and perhaps you can point out a thing or two or three! :-)

Anyone else that believes they are using a good set of import setting can teach too! :-)