Lightzone vs Lightroom?

[Colin Southern]

So far where PS has something Colin has used I have found GIMP can do the same.

Shake Reduction?

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/creative-c...e-reduction-2/

[ajohnw]

Yes there is a movement correction plugin. However this one was shot through dirty glass at about 45 degrees and the bird was swaying in the wind rather vigorously. It's interesting that it seems to have tried to correct blur in the out of focus part but I believe the more recent version has movement direction capabilities. I was playing with my camera and along came the bird. I feel that the glass had the biggest effect.



Actually if you look on Youtube you will find at least one video demonstrating a new PS plugin that GIMP has had for years.

Where do you think they get their ideas from! The problem with GIMP plugins is knowing what is available and also in some cases finding them. I have used one that displays a pallet of the colours in an image, can't remember what it was called but it can be a big help selecting based on colour. Lost it now due to a new machine. I should have saved all of the plugins I found really.

John
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[ajohnw]

Colin this is the plugin I used for that - it refocuses as well. Helped with the glass but the plugin has moved on since I used it. Last time I looked some one had been working on it to resolve car number plates in low light whilst moving.

http://refocus-it.sourceforge.net/

Also this one

http://refocus.sourceforge.net/

Automatic deconvolving has been around freely for around 13 years at least. There was a windows/linux application about that made a wonderful job of it and did nothing else but it seems to have gone off the web. I believe it can also be done with ImageJ but that is really a much used free open source application for image processing professionals not photographers. On the other hand there may be some easy to use plugins available for it. It's interesting to note where it is hosted.

http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/

John
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[Alan G]

Well, just got back from Delhi, Shimla and the Golden Triangle with 750 pictures. Tried some RW2 files in Lightzone which made them appear flat and washed out. So, I looked on the Adobe website and there was a tempting offer, PhotoshopCC and Lightroom 5 for £8.78 a month! Seems an excellent deal to me. Rang the 0800 number and tried to buy it speaking first to an American lady and then an Indian call centre for another 40 minutes. Eventually found a Maidenhead number and spoke to an English bloke, 5 minutes later success! So I am now an Adobe wallah...

[ajohnw]

Well, just got back from Delhi, Shimla and the Golden Triangle with 750 pictures. Tried some RW2 files in Lightzone which made them appear flat and washed out. So, I looked on the Adobe website and there was a tempting offer, PhotoshopCC and Lightroom 5 for £8.78 a month! Seems an excellent deal to me. Rang the 0800 number and tried to buy it speaking first to an American lady and then an Indian call centre for another 40 minutes. Eventually found a Maidenhead number and spoke to an English bloke, 5 minutes later success! So I am now an Adobe wallah...

If there is anything significantly wrong with the photo's Adobe will do the same things as well. Getting to grips with PP is more of an undertaking that clicking the shutter. Perhaps Adobe offer some specific raw conversion tone curves, I understand they do in some cases. Just postpones the inevitable when you take a shot that wont fit into them. I've been lead to believe that lightroom does some things automatically. May not be true but again doesn't help in the long run.

One aspect with Lightzone is that you may need to check that it has the correct ICC file for your camera. The other is that in some ways it's a difficult package to use. I'm always inclined to think weddings and portrait work when I use it. Rawtherapee is a better option.

Out of interest I just opened one of my shots from raw with Lightzone and even though it most definitely hasn't got the correct colour profile for my camera tonal wise it's made a better job of it than the camera jpg. Rather hard to see any colour differences either. I did make sure all of the filters were turned off.

Maybe you should post some of your shots for CC

John
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[Alan G]

Following Johns suggestion here is a few of my Indian shots, many of which I have edited with Lightzone http://www.flickr.com/photos/alyrpal...7638084200365/ All these were .jpgs. I am amazed at the tiny files Light zone produces. Any comments gratefully received...

I am presently grappling with making a camera specific RAW thingy for Lightzone. I watched some Light room videos and I got the impression that Light room is better for colour adjustments whereas Light zone tackles exposure and lighting better. Now I have both there is lots of learning to do.