RAW Software + A900/A850 files

Hello.

I currently use Adobe Photoshop & Bridge CS6 with whatever ACR version (9?). It has been 10 years since CS6 was release and looks like a lot has changed in RAW development. I used PhaseOne + PS back in 2003 ~ 2006 but have pretty much stuck to ACR since then.

Can anyone who processes a900/a850 RAW files in the newer RAW software provide some feedback? Is it worth upgrading to say PhaseOne 22 for these older cameras? I also have A99 cameras but never use them...

Here is what I currently do:

I do not shoot JPEG.

In RAW development I use: shadow and highlight recovery, contrast, clarity, and a touch of basic sharpening (90% of the time it is set to default ACR setting). I do not use any of the lens corrections, color correction, B&W editing or whatever else there is.

In Photoshop I only use the most basic tools: sloppy hand drawn masking, dodge, burn, levels, curves, contrast, the erase tool for dust removal, some shadow/highlight recovery, etc. I do not use layers, I do not add, remove, or move content around.

End result is 100% B&W mostly for print.

Any input would be great :-)

Thanks

Adam

Agree with xkaes.
Your needs are SO simple that pretty much any good quality RAW and JPG editor would be more than enough for your needs.
RawTherapee would probably work very well for you for RAW development. Gimp would work well for JPGs. I've been using these two for many years now and it really is more than what I need.
DarkTable is also quite good and is an open source alternative to LightRoom, just like Gimp is an OS alternative to Photoshop.

Ok, have you compared a900 files processed thru older software and the software you mention? If so I would love to hear if you see any difference in the processed file.

skm.sa100 wrote: Agree with xkaes. Your needs are SO simple that pretty much any good quality RAW and JPG editor would be more than enough for your needs. RawTherapee would probably work very well for you for RAW development. Gimp would work well for JPGs. I've been using these two for many years now and it really is more than what I need. DarkTable is also quite good and is an open source alternative to LightRoom, just like Gimp is an OS alternative to Photoshop.

Very cool! Question: Do you ever process your high ISO files (1600+) with no noise reduction? If you do... have you seen any difference in the characteristics of the noise between the older Aperture and ON1?

lomitamike wrote: I shoot mostly with both the A900 & A850 although I do use a A6000 for a small travel kit. My current raw processor is ON1 Photo RAW 2022. I'm satisfied with it for the most part. I came from being a longtime and probably one of the last Aperture users. I can say with certainty that the raw engine in ON1 is far better than Aperture was. I notice that after becoming familiar with what ON1 can do as compared to what Aperture could do that ON1 handles the raw files much cleaner, sharper, better color adjustments and all the basic adjustments with a more accurate easier to get to feel. I'm sure most of the newer RAW processors can do the same.

LOL, I didn't realize ON1 has a feature called "NoNoise"... what I meant was, have you ever processed high ISO images without applying noise reduction? I am curious if there is any difference in the structure of the digital noise between old and new software. I love the noise structure of the a900/a850 when printed.

lomitamike wrote: Yes! NoNoise is a huge improvement with high ISO 1600 and above. I have had a problem with after converting the folder of RAW edits to JPEG. I like to send the processed raws to a converted jpeg folder. The converted jpeg being processed in the batch come out unacceptable. Ive had a lengthy back and forth with ON1 but they couldn't figure it out. Bad communication, no fix, I don't know. But if you convert a single raw to jpeg no problem. The problem is only with batch conversions. I have had some good results with some 6400ISO photos that Aperture couldn't handle.

I just went on to their site... Bit confused, I guess you need PL to do full image editing while PR is just for noise/sharpening?

Rssweetman wrote: I use DXO Photolab 4 (couldn't be bothered to upgrade to PL5) for all my initial raw processing ie a580,a700,a900,a77ii,a99,a7s) images and it works a treat, especially with the Deep Prime function which utilises the GPU to reduce noise.   Whilst not ALL old minolta lenses (eg 100mm soft, 500 mirror) are in PL, enough are and the automatic lens corrections and pre-sharpening work well enough for me. If I need to then I will export a tiff into eg Luminar 4 and then - if needed - export THAT image in Affinity Photo but that's becoming rarer and rarer as time becomes more pressed. DXO Photolab's Deep Prime (from PL4 onwards) is incredible for older cameras at higher ISOs (which are low iso's now but you know what I mean). HTH

Yep!

Rssweetman wrote: Kinda: Pure Raw is purely a (Adobe Photoshop?) plug-in for noise removal and optical corrections. Photolab 5 is a full raw editor and image processing software but is somewhere between Adobe Lightoom and Adobe Photoshop in terms of abilities/scope (ie more capable than LR, less powerful than PS but dare I say it likely 'good enough for most', certainly to begin with). If you buy Photolab 5 then you can still use it with Photoshop and Lightroom (maybe not as a direct plug-in but as a "1st step" ie run the raw through Photolab and export it into Lightroom or Photoshop) but you can't go from Pure Raw to Photolab 5 if that makes sense....