It's madness I know but I'm considering taking a new 7D with me to Antarctica for 6 weeks (I'm a staff member on an expedition cruise ship there). I leave on Saturday. Problem is I'm a happy Photoshop CS3 user and don't plan to upgrade anytime soon.
What are the options for processing RAW 7D files right now? I assume Canon's Digital Photo Professional will process the images (but it's not my favourite software). Are there any other options?
Your best option would be using DNG converter to convert 7D RAW into DNG format, then process it in CS3. But current Adobe 7D RAW processing engine is flawed IMO, DPP has much better noise control and color rendition. I always use Bridge->ACR->Photoshop workflow, but now have to use DPP for 7D files till Adobe fixes its 7D RAW engine.
I use DPP to convert to tiff and then open in CS3. The use of DPP once you've selected your image is very simple. After cropping in DPP(trim tool) I then use the raw tab only. I adjust the curves and WB if necessary(seldom with 7D). I then convert to 16 bit tiff sized to my final print size. I then open the tiff in CS3 where I do all other work necessary, including sharpening and noise reduction if necessary. So I normally spend about one minute per image in DPP. I find DPP does the best conversion of the raw images vs. any other program I have tested. I find DPP converted images show more detail and better color then other conversion programs. The differences are more easily seen in printed images, rather than veiwing them on your monitor.
Last edited by Michael Eckstein; 10-28-2009 at 03:56 PM.
Reason: can't spell first try
I am using DPP to produce my TIFFs and then process in CS3. But DPP is really slow and prone to crash. I have a MacBook Pro update coming up so I will take that opportunity to upgrade to CS4. Reluctantly - but Adobe seem set on only accommodating new RAW formats on CS4, not CS3. A successful, if extremely user-unfriendly, business strategy.
The new update of Capture One 5.0 supports the processing of 7D files. It isn't supporting the tethered option yet, though. I spent 5 hours figuring out how to process an image yesterday. I stopped using Capture One a few years ago and so had to relearn the new version as it has changed completely.
Note that the info on PROCESSING an image is actually near the end of the 140 page user guide. Too bad they don't have a quick start version!
There is 30 day free trial version. I find it more user friendly than DPP.
I prefer Breezebrowser and then to Photoshop and hope they get theirs done soon!
7D processing question
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