franbires

I have just started post processing my photos. My question is, which is a better program, Canon's DPP 4 or Above Lightroom. Thank you. Fran Bires

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Adobe Lightroom has more features and is also a catalog. You may download a 30 day free trial of all Adobe products.
http://www.adobe.com/downloads.html
Mark

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

There are way more books and tutorials on Lightroom than DPP but DPP does have it's uses but ultimately what do you think is an all round better software package, one you can download free from Canon, or use the disc that comes with a new camera or one that costs...

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

This question, concerning which software is better, comes up day after day. For some people, the software package you own and use is better because it is available and you know it. Comparing software is not necessarily about "better." It is more about your needs and desires as a photographer. Do you want a program that can manage your digital assets or just one that simply processes an image? Do you want a program with a lot of presets or one that allows you to manage the conversion of the image to what you want? How deep do you want to go into processing an image and what do you want to do with your images? Do you want a one-time buy the package or are you willing to do a monthly fee sort of approach? I don't use Cannon but my Nikon came with software. I found it to be lacking for my personal needs. I use LR and find it to be a program that allows for personal growth in processing, helps me to manage all of my images, and allows me to access other programs directly from within the application.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Although I use DPPv4 for nearly all my RAW processing, for the most part, it's a luxury where Lightroom is more efficient when starting from the CR2 raw file. Also, my work coming out of DPP goes into LR for finishing. DPP is free with your EOS camera. The two softwares are no where near the same thing. You can get started with DPP, whether you shoot RAW or JPEG. This will get you started while you evaluate whether you want to pay for another software with more features.

LarryFitz Loc: Beacon NY

There are several software packages that are available. Most have a free trail period. I suggest using the Canon DPP learn about the basic setting and discover what you really want to do in post processing. Then start trying the different programs, one at a time find the one that best suits you. Some are easier to use, but are less flexible, other more flexible with long learning curve.

jwn Loc: SOUTHEAST GEORGIA USA

the in camera settings like white balance, lens corrections, iso noise reduction, picture styles are lost if you use third party software for raw conversion.

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

I’m not sure where this poster got this information but it’s wrong. When I started out using post processing software I used the DPP program that came with my Canon camera and it was a decent one to learn with. My understanding is that there is a better version now but I’ve moved on to Lightroom and have been happy with it. Whichever you choose you will need some help understanding how it works. There are plenty of on-line free tutorials on Youtube or if you choose there are fairly low cost courses you can take on-line. Good luck

Walt

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

If you do your raw conversion in DPP, the in-Camera settings (like sharpness, etc) affect not only JPEGs, but raw as well. I can’t speak for every other 3rd party SW, but In ACR (Adobe Camera Raw), they do not affect the raw image. I’ve tested to confirm this.

LarryFitz Loc: Beacon NY

The CR2 file is changed, but the image area is not. If you First make a copy of your CR2 file, the edit one with DPP and save. Then open both the unedited and the edited with a character editor, you will see that several lines have been added to the bottom of the file. I believe these are the edit instruction for DPP. They did not edit the image area of the file. If you open the CR2 with another RAW processor, you will not see the changes made with DPP.

A Canon engineer should be able to verify this

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I agree with your description of the mechanism of propagating the information, but the fact is if you open a raw file in DPP and view it and then export it (as a TIfF for example), the in-camera settings do show up in the exported or viewed image. It’s easy enough to test (which I’ve done) - just make a change or two in the in-camera settings, open in DPP, export the files, and it will be clear that the image has changed. It’s the reason that raw files imported and processed with DPP look almost like the JPEG, and if your settings are correct, you may not need additional sharpening or correction (which is not the case with ACR where raw images often look “flat”) This is a well-known phenomena by those that use DPP to process CR2 files.