I think this may have been a good one for last months challenge! "Too late!" he cried ;-)> Canon PowerShot G5 Shooting Date/Time 8/7/2003 2:40:04 PM Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE Photo Effect Mode Off Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/320 Av( Aperture Value ) 2.0 Metering Mode Evaluative Exposure Compensation 0 ISO Speed 100 Lens 7.2 - 28.8mm Focal Length 7.2mm Digital Zoom None Image Size 2592x1944 Image Quality RAW

Photoshop doesn't view RAW, my Canon software utility "ZoomBrowser" has to convert the RAW file to preview it. This one I took as a TIFF into photoshop and post worked it a bit ~ minor selective smart blur and unsharping before tritoning it and adjusting contrast a teeny bit. My RAW question is...how does everyone else view/convert for viewing their RAW images? Do you have any preferences for doing so...any hints as to the best format to convert them to for postwork? TYIA.
:-)>

Took one look at the supplied ZoomBrowser and I went searching for alternatives.

Reviews of some RAW image processors (Breezebrowser, YarcPlus, Capture One and Camera Raw) can be found on Luminous Landscape web site. Not sure if all of them are compatible with the G5.

I use a program called Breeze Browser (which is G5 compatible, not Mac compatible - Windows only) to convert image from my Canon 10D. It also doubles as an image library browser, EXIF viewer, contact sheet creator, web gallery creator and probably more I haven't discovered yet.

I'm hoping that PhotoShop 8 - whenever that comes out! - will be fully RAW capable from the beginning, and support better editing of 16 bit images.

As far as format, I would recommend 16-bit Tiff, as this is lossless, and the 16-bit colourspace gives you finer control when editing curves and levels in PhotoShop. You will need to convert the image to 8-bit in PhotoShop before you can do some of the other editing. For a suggested workflow see the article An Image Processing Workflow on Luminous Landscapes.

Hope this helps.

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Mark

Thanks Mark, this is all really helpful...I will check out these options now. I had heard it rumoured that an announcement about the next version of Photoshop should be coming soon, as Adobe are reaching their 18 month development cycle for that product. Thanks again for your advice. :-)>

Mark, I have downloaded the freeware Breezebrowser and can see that registration to the full version will be the next step, thanks! Also the workflow link at Luminous Landscape is extremely useful...that site is a great resource (as this forum is too! waves and blows kisses to Michelle & Jovan) I only discovered it the other day when the discussion about noise reduction came up (btw, I downloaded "neatimage" too and I am very impressed with the results so far, I sense another registration upgrade from the freeware there as well) Much gratitude flowing your way from Australia! :-)>

I thought there was a plugin for Photoshop 7 that reads RAW. I don't have the RAW option on my Sony but when I upgrade to a Nikon D-SLR... Magick Michael

Attached Link: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html

I really like BreezeBrowser. One of the coolest features is that with the EOS 10D you can show the focus points superimposed over your image and it shows which ones were used to take the shot. Became really helpful on some of my seafair shots that didn't look focused quite right and I could see that the focus had locked on the water trail and not the boat itself. My main way of bringing RAW files in though is Adobe's Camera Raw & JPEG 2000 (see above link). Integrates directly into Photoshop (I believe PShop 7.0.1+ only) - you just open a RAW file just like any other image file and it brings up the dialog box. It's $99 I think. BreezeBrowser was...ummm... $45? I love both. -=>Donald

Thanks guys, Donald I will definitely be registering Breezebrowser as it is very handy and even provided me with EXIF data such as the shooting distance from subject that the Canon software couldn't/didn't!....as for the plugin...hmmmm...I think I will wait to see what ne features the next generation of Photoshop has, and upgrade to that....maybe! :-)>

Great link Mark... thanks so much!! /me parks in the newbie section and reads, reads, reads~