For image processing what is better Aperture or Lightroom ?

[brosenz]

Which tool is better to perform image processing, like WB adjustment, color corrections, Noise adjustments, I have a Mac and the 2 tools that come to my mind are Aperture and Lightroom, I've read also that there are some tools from a company called Topaz ?, any previous experience ?, suggestions will be welcomed, thanks

NOTE: I noticed there is no Lens correction information for Olympus Lenses, why ?

What Image Processing software has the greater support for the Olympus System, Body and ZD Lenses ?

[Greg Chappell]

There are also no presets in Adobe Camera RAW for Olympus cameras like there are for Nikon and Canon because...well....Nikon and Canon have a much bigger user base so there's not as much a need to cater to Olympus users. It's not like a boycott of Adobe products by Olympus users will cause them much loss of business!

Aperture is an Apple-only product. Like most windows-based users, I know little about it and what it can or cannot do other than it does me no good.

Topaz is like other third-party companies that make programs to meet a specific need. It's not a full-blown product you use to process files. It's something you buy extra to fill a need Lightroom or Photoshop does not meet. Before Lightroom 3 or Photoshop CS5 that both use the current version of Adobe Camera RAW, Topaz produced a noise reduction program that was superior to the noise filters Adobe included in the Adobe Camera RAW converter. With Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5, the newest version of Adobe Camera RAW includes a much improved noise filtering that, for me, rendered all third-party noise programs as no longer needed so I do not even think about or look at them anymore.

Take a look at PTLens as a plug-in for Lightroom or Photoshop as a lens correction tool. It is probably the best third-party program for that specific purpose.

http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/

[zig-123]

Hi,

I'm also have an IMac. Up until last year, I was a longtime window xp user with Photoshop Elements 6, 7 then 8 as my primary editing software. After buying the IMac, I tried Aperture but found that Photoshop was too ingrained in my mind, simply found Photoshop more comfortable and didn't find anything in Aperture that would cause me to switch.

Today, I use Photoshop CS5 and find that the Adobe Camera RAW plug-in that is supplied with CS5 performs all the editing functions that you mentioned - except lens correction for Olympus lenses.

Frankly, ADC raw does such a good job of adjusting WB, noise, clarity, exposure, etc. that I find that 90% of my editing is done with that program.
I should point out that it works just fine with jpeg files as with RAW.

As for plug-ins such as Topaz in-focus and others, I've been a long time user of Neatimage, Tried NIK sharpener, recently purchased Topaz In-Focus.
Adobe's Camera RAW capabilites, IMHO, provide equal to or superior results
that I no longer use any of them.

As for Lightroom, I can't comment because I've had no need to go beyond
CS5.

Zig

One point I failed to mention, I have not found any reason to use a lens correction tool with any of the images I've taken with the 12-60mmSWD, 50-200mm ED, 70-300mm ZD, 40-150mm ZD. Your experience may differ.

[piXelatedEmpire]

I use and love Lightoom 3.

[tkurkowski]

Originally Posted by Greg Chappell

There are also no presets in Adobe Camera RAW for Olympus cameras like there are for Nikon and Canon...

There are lens profiles available for Oly lenses, stored on the Adobe servers. You can download them from within CS5:

http://forum.fourthirdsphoto.com/sho...696#post532512

but not from within LR - Adobe hasn't added that functionality to LR yet and apparently it's way way too much trouble for them to add a link to them from within their web site so you can download them and add them to LR yourself.

Be advised however that those profiles are not created by Adobe but rather by Oly users. Using them, YMMV.

Ted

[JimC]

Originally Posted by brosenz

Which tool is better to perform image processing, like WB adjustment, color corrections, Noise adjustments, I have a Mac and the 2 tools that come to my mind are Aperture and Lightroom...

Try 'em and see how they work for you. Most products like Adobe Lightroom have trial versions you can download to test.

I'd also give Bibble Pro a spin. It's available for OS X, Windows and Linux based operating systems.

http://www.bibblelabs.com

[boBBrennan]

....I use Bibble Pro (currently version 5.2) for MAC 10x and highly recommend it. As Zig pointed out for ADC, BP also works for .jpg files too and, as with RAW processing, will not overwrite the original. BP does include noise reduction & lens correction (including Olympus) applets in a list of BP plug-ins.

I had used Bibble Pro (Windows) for several years, then when I set up the MAC it was simply a matter of downloading the MAC version and applying my already owned license code, one of the authorship features from Bibble.

Finally as Jim C suggests, I recommend you try the various test-run downloads and go from that...... besides it is fun to learn what is offered.

Again, here is the BP site URL http://www.bibblelabs.com

Have fun,
____
boBB

[-=edge=-]

Originally Posted by piXelatedEmpire

I use and love Lightoom 3.

this

there is no Lens Correction software for Olympus lenses because they are superior and show very little distortion, CA or vignetting....at least that's the way I see it

[gjtoth]

I had completely forgotten about BibblePro! I have been using DigiKam and for the most part I am well-satisfied. However, BibblePro is certainly an excellent piece of software.

[fldspringer]

Lightroom for me, almost to the exclusion of anything else. Was running 2.7 until I needed v3 for compatability with the E-3. I like the way it works, seems to get a bit more from the files before bad things happen, and you can save presets to make things quicker and easier.

Don't run a Mac (yet) so Aperture isn't something I'm familiar with.