Photoshop vs good glass

[Steplim]

Hi digital darkroom experts,

I guess I will get alot of boos to ask a question like that in this forum, but this is exactly what I am facing now.

I have upgraded some L-Glass and I am planning either to upgrade my body or to wait entirely till next new replacement of 30D or to look into a good investment on Photoshop CS2 or CS3.

I have read about the Camera Raw and Adobe bridge which can help to refine some of your shots which DPP V3, Zoombrowser or Canon software can not possible get close.

Hope to get some feedbacks from all you guys/gals.

[zac08]

Get good glass and refine nominally only...

You should look at PS only to help in certain ways, such as minor touch-ups and level's and not use it to correct major problems which poorer quality glass may bring up.

[htthach]

get 5D better color
it will upgrade your glass
don buy Photoshop, you can touch up using other cheaper software.

[enivre]

As many other photographers in here will tell you, it's the photographer not the equipment that matters.

No amount of glass or photoshop will clean up a lousy photograph.

But if you really must choose between photoshop and glass, I would say glass. Photoshop is a very time consuming affair. Get it right the first time round (i.e. when the shutter is pressed) and you'll save yourself a lot of time.

[hazmee]

I'd say get both. Good glass + Photoshop CS3. The ultimate combination for aspiring photographers. The only limit is your imagination.

[Yatlapball]

Yeah... You can get it right. Spot on. 100% correct and all. But what the camera captures may still not be what the photographer has in his mind's eye when he took the photo. That's when image manipulation comes in.

The darkroom has always been part and parcel of the photography workflow. Just that now with digital, you can sit in front of your computer.

Now that you have the good glass (if you truly believe that as long as Canon marks it an L, it is truly top of the line unbeatable optics), get the tools needed for your digital darkroom (i.e. photoshop or some other software). You didn't mention what body you're using now, I assume its the 30D since you mentioned a replacement. That body is good enough to serve most needs.

[zoossh]

i would say all is impt, whether user skill, good body, good glass, good tools, good pp software.

the crux is where is your bottleneck?

all the above serve different purposes. good glass will not help you do selective area touchup, photoshop will not restore defects to the raw quality. and a good photographer will know what equipments to use, and what he cannot do without certain equipment limitations.

[Steplim]

Thanks all for your valuable comments.
It is valid that all are impt. in respect to what you want to do.

I thought posting in "digital darkroom" will get more yeah than nay.
Would like to make sensible decision soon.

[khai]

Chances are, the good glass will outlast your copy of photoshop