Topic: has anyone tried lightzone (Read 4857 times)

Khurram · « **on:** October 02, 2006, 01:21:16 am »

I just wanted to know if anyone has tried lightzone (see http://www.lightcrafts.com/index.php )

I've seen advertising in a number of photomagazines for this product, but not really having a lot of experience with imaging software, not sure if it is good as it sounds or as good as it is being hyped.

is this something that can serve as a replacement for photoshop?? pricewise it seems very attractive.

Hermie · « **Reply #1 on:** October 02, 2006, 02:07:20 am »

Quote

I just wanted to know if anyone has tried lightzone (see http://www.lightcrafts.com/index.php )

I've seen advertising in a number of photomagazines for this product, but not really having a lot of experience with imaging software, not sure if it is good as it sounds or as good as it is being hyped.
is this something that can serve as a replacement for photoshop?? pricewise it seems very attractive.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=78711\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I personally like it a lot, but check it out yourself and see if it works for you. There's a trial version available, or you can download the version 2 open beta.

Hermie

francois · « **Reply #2 on:** October 02, 2006, 03:43:26 am »

I am not a LightZone use but you can find tutorials here. I've downloaded the beta version (2.0) and plan to try.

Khurram · « **Reply #3 on:** October 02, 2006, 09:15:43 am »

Quote

I am not a LightZone use but you can find tutorials here. I've downloaded the beta version (2.0) and plan to try.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=78723\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

thanks for the tutorial link.

I think i am going to try and stick to processing my raw files in DPP and then processing in lighzone or lightroom. I guess i'll have to play with both to see which works better for me.

JLK · « **Reply #4 on:** October 02, 2006, 10:35:28 am »

Quote

I just wanted to know if anyone has tried lightzone (see http://www.lightcrafts.com/index.php )

I've seen advertising in a number of photomagazines for this product, but not really having a lot of experience with imaging software, not sure if it is good as it sounds or as good as it is being hyped.
is this something that can serve as a replacement for photoshop?? pricewise it seems very attractive.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=78711\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Outback photo has quite a few nice tutorials/articles on Lightzone. I personally find it much more intuitive than Photoshop and much faster to get to a finished photograph than I do in any other software. I've quit Lightroom and PS except when absolutely necessary. I do use Sigma's software (SPP) for raw conversion, because Lightzone doesn't support x3f files. It supposedly does a very nice job with Canon raw files, so you might work directly from that.

Lightzone has grown quite a bit in terms of useful functionality over the last year, and if they keep up the pace, I think it will do very well in the market.

Jim

sgwrx · « **Reply #5 on:** October 02, 2006, 06:27:12 pm »

I've used the demo's a lot since whatever version they had in January. I prefer raw conversion in another program, then working with the tif file in LZ. I very much like LZ, but haven't bought it yet. The next version is supposed to have color selection and a better clone-like tool or healing-brush tool. I may just buy it then.

yespin · « **Reply #6 on:** October 02, 2006, 08:21:53 pm »

Hi,
I am not a power retoucher and I much prefer to use LZ for simple adjustments (over PS).
As other posters I rather do my raw conversion (MRW files) with Bibble or Silkypix. I have a hard time getting the colors I want in LZ and highlight recovery is way inferior to Bibble. To make life even easier Bibble has free plugins for selective color adjustment as well as bw conversion and toning.

rwg · « **Reply #7 on:** October 02, 2006, 08:25:32 pm »

I have mixed feelings still about Lightzone 2.0. First I really like the some of the tools , especially the zone mapper. It has good file management for me. And the interface is intuitive for me. However it is sooooooooo sloooooooow when exporting.

It needs some more tools like perspective correction and mirror, but they say that these are coming. When it is actually out of Beta it may be a very powerful program. Right now I seem to like Lightroom better in general but Lightzone is better for me in several tools. I think that among Lightzone, Lightroom and Apeture that we will have a very nice choice by early next year.

David Mantripp · « **Reply #8 on:** October 20, 2006, 01:11:58 pm »

It's as reactive as a dead slug on my 2Ghz MacBook (whilst Photoshop, Bridge & Lightroom manage fine, and Raw Developer goes like sh*t off a shovel)

Seems an interesting concept, but it needs to be coded in something other than Java. Having said that, Noise Ninja, also coded in Java, is quite usable on the same MacBook, so...

Hermie · « **Reply #9 on:** October 20, 2006, 04:45:23 pm »

> However it is sooooooooo sloooooooow when exporting.

> It's as reactive as a dead slug on my 2Ghz MacBook (whilst Photoshop, Bridge & Lightroom manage fine, and Raw Developer goes like sh*t off a shovel)

There are some problems with the beta when exporting. See this thread on DOP http://www.outbackphoto.com/tforum/viewtop...hp?TopicID=2325

Author Topic: has anyone tried lightzone (Read 4857 times)