neilt3
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Posts: 134
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Post by neilt3 on Nov 19, 2023 0:00:51 GMT
I've got the Pixl-latr now and I'm happy with the results for black and white, but I still need to source a better back light. Colour though is another kettle of fish entirely. The only decent software I'm aware of which might make things easier has a lifetime price of $200 or a monthly subscription that costs far far more in the not even very long run. Sigh. I believe Dark Table is quite good for negatives conversion . I've been meaning to install it myself partly for this reason , and partly because the last two newish cameras I've bought ( a Sony a7Riv and a6600 ) RAW's aren't compatible with my current software , the standalone Adobe Lightroom 5 . Not the CC rip off . When I've shot RAW with them , I have to import them onto my hard drive via Adobe DNG , before importing them into Lightroom . It's free to download and install , so you've nothing lose if you don't like it . www.darktable.org/ |
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neilt3
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/neilt3/
Posts: 134
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Post by neilt3 on Nov 19, 2023 0:03:26 GMT
I'm so excited! Saw some software on Kyle McDougall's YouTube channel called 'SmartConvert'. They have a free demo version. It's *just* what I was looking for - one time purchase, standalone software, opens my raw files directly, and the results are 1000000000000000000000000x better than what Vuescan or darktable output, with just a few clicks. It is also an affordable 99 Euros, so I think I have just found my Christmas prezzie to myself.  I missed this post . So you've already tried Darktable then ? and not happy ? |
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Post by zou on Nov 19, 2023 7:12:01 GMT
I'm so excited! Saw some software on Kyle McDougall's YouTube channel called 'SmartConvert'. They have a free demo version. It's *just* what I was looking for - one time purchase, standalone software, opens my raw files directly, and the results are 1000000000000000000000000x better than what Vuescan or darktable output, with just a few clicks. It is also an affordable 99 Euros, so I think I have just found my Christmas prezzie to myself. I missed this post . So you've already tried Darktable then ? and not happy ? It makes conducting open heart surgery whilst high on amphetamines seem straightforward. As is often the case with open source stuff it appears different modules/features were programmed by different people so there's no consistent logic or workflow, and various modules duplicate functionality so you've no idea which is the best/right one to use. I've got Lightroom 5.7 and unless it's a massive file over 100MB any changes are immediately reflected in the image, whereas darktable doesn't seem able to respond without putting a kettle on and enjoying half a pack of digestives first. So yeah, potentially powerful, but deeply flawed. |
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neilt3
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/neilt3/
Posts: 134
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Post by neilt3 on Nov 19, 2023 9:17:52 GMT
I missed this post . So you've already tried Darktable then ? and not happy ? It makes conducting open heart surgery whilst high on amphetamines seem straightforward. As is often the case with open source stuff it appears different modules/features were programmed by different people so there's no consistent logic or workflow, and various modules duplicate functionality so you've no idea which is the best/right one to use. I've got Lightroom 5.7 and unless it's a massive file over 100MB any changes are immediately reflected in the image, whereas darktable doesn't seem able to respond without putting a kettle on and enjoying half a pack of digestives first. So yeah, potentially powerful, but deeply flawed. The improvements for negative conversion is more recent , I seem to remember installing an earlier version on my computer . IIRC I struggled to even import an image into it . I certainly didn't manage to import by batch . I don't know if it can do it , but I like lightroom as you can import everything off the memory card in one go , organise and edit easily . I presumed it was my unfamiliarity that was the problem , not the software . Nice to hear it's not just me having a problem with it ! |
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Post by peterob on Nov 19, 2023 10:17:57 GMT
It makes conducting open heart surgery whilst high on amphetamines seem straightforward. As is often the case with open source stuff it appears different modules/features were programmed by different people so there's no consistent logic or workflow, and various modules duplicate functionality so you've no idea which is the best/right one to use. I've got Lightroom 5.7 and unless it's a massive file over 100MB any changes are immediately reflected in the image, whereas darktable doesn't seem able to respond without putting a kettle on and enjoying half a pack of digestives first. So yeah, potentially powerful, but deeply flawed. The improvements for negative conversion is more recent , I seem to remember installing an earlier version on my computer . IIRC I struggled to even import an image into it . I certainly didn't manage to import by batch . I don't know if it can do it , but I like lightroom as you can import everything off the memory card in one go , organise and edit easily . I presumed it was my unfamiliarity that was the problem , not the software . Nice to hear it's not just me having a problem with it ! Lightroom (or ACR) isn't that great for converting colour negatives because the negative base has to be treated as a tint rather than a colour that should be subtracted before the inversion. Thinking back I seem also to remember difficulty selecting the peak brightness of the colours in curves with the mouse in order to align on the white point. One difficulty with doing the inversion "properly" is getting an accurate and consistent reading for the base. I found a photoshop tutorial on this back in the day but I'm not photoshop capable when it comes to creating layers and subtracting them. I was also doing this on copied 110 negatives where there is a lot of light spill onto the edges and between frames making the base colour a guess. Presumably Epson Scan 2 treats the base colour as a tint because the negative holders mask off most of the frame, though I guess it could use the gaps between frames. Vuescan asks for the film type so presumably it has a library of base colours. I got a copy of Silverfast with the scanner but I haven't used it. Epson software worked well enough for me. |
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