raw converters for S5 Pro - hyper utility vs others

[RichardSeah]

Would like your views about raw converters for S5 Pro.

My experience so far has been between Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) 3.7 on Photoshop CS2 vs Fuji Finepix Studio. The Fuji software is a PAIN to use but produces far far better results in most instances.

I find especially when I shoot at +400% dynamic range, pixs appear very dark on ACR 3.7 and when brighten, colours become strange.

Some questions:

1. Is Fuji Hyper Ulility much less of a pain or almost just as painful? Also, how much it costs and where to get?

2. How is quality of conversion on newer version of ACR? ie should I upgrade my Photoshop to CS3 or get Adobe Lightroom that can use newer ACR?

3. Any experiences with other raw conversion software like Silkypix, Bibble, S7Raw, etc?

Many thanks

[Viewpoint]

Agreed. Fuji still knows their sensor better than any others out there, including Adobe. Many users in other foums have come to the same conclusion: if you want the best IQ, stick to the Fuji converter. I don't use the HU-V3, but it is said to be only slightly faster in operation than the Finepix Studio freeware.

You can buy the HU-V3 from MS Colour, or CP, etc. I believe it costs about S$150.

No, there is no advantage in using higher versions of ACR (CS3 or LR 1.3 vs CS2) -- no difference in IQ as far as I can see (same internal engine).

[RichardSeah]

Originally Posted by Viewpoint No, there is no advantage in using higher versions of ACR (CS3 or LR 1.3 vs CS2) -- no difference in IQ as far as I can see (same internal engine).

Thanks :-) for prompt response. At least this saves me from Photoshop upgrade or buying Lightroom.

Hope some people who do use Fuji's HU-V3 can share their experiences. Or those with other 3rd party raw software.

[photobum]

Originally Posted by RichardSeah Thanks :-) for prompt response. At least this saves me from Photoshop upgrade or buying Lightroom. Hope some people who do use Fuji's HU-V3 can share their experiences. Or those with other 3rd party raw software.

Personally, I have both the HS-V3 and Lightroom 1.31. I find myself using Lightroom more often. The HS-V3 I used mainly for tethered shooting.

[RichardSeah]

Originally Posted by photobum Personally, I have both the HS-V3 and Lightroom 1.31. I find myself using Lightroom more often. The HS-V3 I used mainly for tethered shooting.

What I like to know is.... is the HU-V3 significantly faster / more user-friendly than the Fuji Finepix Studio. Or just as bad or only slight improvement?

Thanks for sharing

[photobum]

Originally Posted by RichardSeah What I like to know is.... is the HU-V3 significantly faster / more user-friendly than the Fuji Finepix Studio. Or just as bad or only slight improvement? Thanks for sharing

I don't use Fuji Finepix studio (I find it useless). However when compared to Lightroom, I find HS-V3 slightly slower.

By the way, it is HS-V3, not HU-V3. And it costs $195 at MS Color.

[RichardSeah]

Originally Posted by photobum I don't use Fuji Finepix studio (I find it useless). However when compared to Lightroom, I find HS-V3 slightly slower. By the way, it is HS-V3, not HU-V3. And it costs $195 at MS Color.

Thanks again. If only "slightly" slower than Lightroom I suppose it is ok.

Yes, the Finepix studio is useless. Slow like hell and cannot see what you are doing, have to try try, wait few hours (seems like hours) for results, then if not happy, try try again. Argh!

But wah, so expensive ah? I thought about $150?

[photobum]

If you think the HS-V3 software is expensive, Nikon sold their Capture NX and Camera Control Pro separately. Capture NX itself is about S$190 (not the bundled software with D300 or D3 of course)

[RichardSeah]

BTW I just downloaded Bibble to try out.

Eeeeeee! Don't like it at all. Lucky have trial. Almost paid US$60+ for it.

[cheersjy]

I have both Silkypix and CS2. I find the former is better in recovering highlight details, but i am more used to CS interface. So what i do is i use Silkypix to recover the details, save the file as 16bit tiff, and then do further editing using CS

Then again, i dun shoot raw very often, only under high contrast situation, so this clumsy workflow does not affect the processing too much.

[photobum]

Originally Posted by cheersjy Then again, i dun shoot raw very often, only under high contrast situation, so this clumsy workflow does not affect the processing too much.

Yap... I agree.

I am one of those who shoots in JPEG and get over with it. Therefore, fast workflow is very important to me. This is also why I choose Fujifilm S Pro series DSLRs.