Canon DSLR owners...

[Phrasikleia]

LOL... I guess I better go buy another SDHC card <sigh>

Seriously, SD cards are cheap now, and if you're using Lightroom or Aperture, processing your raw images can be just as easy as dealing with a JPEG. But at least with raw you have the option to make your own decisions about the processing when you feel a shot warrants some extra effort--and then you can remake those decisions a year later when you've changed your mind or have learned more. It's nice to have options.

 

[nutmac]

ISO how do you select ISO (Auto or select an appropriate ISO for the lighting)?
Do you use ISO Expansion (6400/12800)? Do you avoid high ISO at all costs?

Mine doesn't have auto, so it's normally set to 400 indoor and at night time (800 as needed) and 200 outdoor.

If it had auto, I would set the range to whatever the range I feel the camera has fairly low amount of noise (e.g., up to 800 for x000/x00/x0/7D series, 1600 for 5D series).

What about White Balance (Auto/Presets/Manual)?
Do you generally shoot RAW and do PP on your Mac or do you let the camera do some or all of the PP?
What in-camera PP settings do you use or avoid and in what situations? In particular:
- Picture Style (Contrast, Saturation, Color Tone (hue shift) and Sharpening)?
- Noise reductions (high ISO or otherwise)
- Peripheral Illumination Correction (on/off)
- Auto lighting optimizer (adding detail to shadows)
- Highlight Tone Priority (keeping highlights from getting blown-out but limits ISO to 200-3200)

I use RAW and post process with Aperture (not the Digital Photo Professional). So none of these settings have any effect.

What post processing do you find you need to do most often after you've downloaded the pics to your Mac?

Exposure compensation (both underexposed and overexposed), cropping, white balance/color temperature, and shadows/black level recovery.

 

[Phrasikleia]

Does Lightroom really have all the same controls? Everything? Even ND grads and brush exposure adjustments at the raw level? (Not including third-party plug-ins?) I'm using Aperture, but am considering switching back over to LR (which I haven't used for years now). I suppose I should try that LR3 beta, if it's still available. My biggest problem with switching is that I have over 50,000 images in Aperture now.

Now that I've downloaded and explored the Lightroom 3 Beta, I'll answer my own question. It does seem to have everything ACR offers, so I'm very likely to buy it when it's released. Aperture is just too buggy and often produces rather grungy results (especially when interpolating files). It's a pity about Aperture because I really like the interface, and as I said, I have a ton of photos in it right now.

 

[iBookG4user]

Now that I've downloaded and explored the Lightroom 3 Beta, I'll answer my own question. It does seem to have everything ACR offers, so I'm very likely to buy it when it's released. Aperture is just too buggy and often produces rather grungy results (especially when interpolating files). It's a pity about Aperture because I really like the interface, and as I said, I have a ton of photos in it right now.

Give it a week or two and you'll get used to the Lightroom interface. It's pretty logically laid out, once you get used to it you'll probably like it as much as Aperture. If nothing else you could always use the 30 day trial and see if you can get used to it in that time period.

 

[firestarter]

Phrasikleia - do yourself a favour and buy/download some of the Lightroom training videos from the Luminous Landscape site. Lightroom is a rich program - these videos are cheap and good, and it's much easier just to sit and watch than to attempt to read manuals etc.

 

[Phrasikleia]

Phrasikleia - do yourself a favour and buy/download some of the Lightroom training videos from the Luminous Landscape site. Lightroom is a rich program - these videos are cheap and good, and it's much easier just to sit and watch than to attempt to read manuals etc.

Thanks for the tip, firestarter. I'll have a look.