Topic: Question Phase one P 30 RAW converter (Read 5828 times)

marcmccalmont · « **on:** November 15, 2007, 05:06:39 pm »

I have a demo P30 coming for my Mamiya AFD so in the past I've found the first month the steapest learning curve and would like to pick your brains....
What is your RAW converter of choice and why?
What are your initial settings (in the RAW converter) to get me going in the right direction?
Any operational tips for the P30?
Thanks
Marc

johnkraus · « **Reply #1 on:** November 15, 2007, 11:49:57 pm »

There are many choices, a nice benefit of Phase files. You really have to spend time with them all to get a feeling for what's the right 'brush' for you- whether in general or for a particular set of images.
Capture One Pro is a good place to start. Often the files are quite nice. Processed files look better than the Preview in Capture One, which seems to have a jaggedness to it that's not in the processed files. Like others I'm not a fan of Capture One sharpening and leave it disabled usually.
I often use the Flash Easy Black profile as a starting point.
RAW Converter is a wonderful program for bringing out image quality. Many unique controls- like controlling tint in shadows, mids, and highlights.
P30 files can also be processed through Camera Raw, which many like.
Finally there's Lightroom, a wonderful program particularly for experimenting with the look of a file and seeing where it can go.
Hope this helps-

jpjespersen · « **Reply #2 on:** November 16, 2007, 12:24:58 am »

I personally was very hesitant to use capture one with my new P45+. I am an avid acr user.
Well at the moment I prefer the final file from Capture One over ACR. However I hate the preview in Capture one. It sucks, and doesn't help at all in predicting what the final output will look like.
My new workflow is using bridge to find the final files I want to use and get a good idea in ACR what they are going to look like, I then bring the file into C1 and process it to get the final image which I then open in photoshop.
My 2 cents
JP

DavidP · « **Reply #3 on:** November 16, 2007, 12:59:28 am »

One thing about using Capture One, is if you are working in the studio, it shoot really well tethered to the computer. Most of my clients want to see what we are doing on the computer as we go along. I do prefer the look of Capture One as well. Although sometime if I have been shooting outdoors to the CF card. ACR (same with lightroom for raw) does a really great job bringing in the highlights if there is more contrast. Much better then Capture One in that area.
I also like the sessions in Capture One, It keeps each job separate.
I think these things can depend on the type of shooting and even the type of work you do.

marcmccalmont · « **Reply #4 on:** November 16, 2007, 02:24:59 am »

Thanks
I'll start with Capture One and see how it goes
Marc

JDG · « **Reply #5 on:** November 16, 2007, 10:13:42 am »

ACR and lightroom are nice for the wide range of control, but the output quality just cannot match C1. They do not use Phase's black calibration, so the images can be much noisier.

lance_schad · « **Reply #6 on:** November 16, 2007, 11:31:45 am »

Quote

Thanks
I'll start with Capture One and see how it goes
Marc
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Marc,
I think that you will be very satisfied with the workflow and results that you will get from Capture One 3.7.x . There are wealth of tools that are in Capture One that are are made specifically to allow you to get the most out of the Phase One RAW files. Some of the tools are the noise slider, sharpening controls, styles feature(which allows you to take a variety of settings from within the application into one simple set for application), LCC tool to correct for any abnormal color vingeting cause by ultra-wide angle lenses and of course the Color Editor. The Color Editor is a very strong tool that allows you to modify the pre-loaded Phase One profiles in a visual editor that uses the LAB color space. Once you create an edited profile it then can be used as a default for similar shooting scenarios or to batch modify existing shots.

For example you have a model that is holding a can of Coke and you are trying to hit the red, the rest of the shot is great, but the red is lacking a little in the can. You would open a reference image up in the color editor that has that Coke can in it, go in and visually pick shades of red from the can, make your HSL corrections via sliders, save out the profile then while you are back in Capture One, you batch apply it to all the subsequent shots that have that can in it.
I have seen landscape guys use it to correct their skies, rocks and so forth. It saves a lot of time in post by doing these corrections to the RAWS on the production side of things. I have also seen many examples of this tool being used by room set shooters to better match wood tones, or even in extreme situations using it as a lighting tool to make a certain area of a shot lighter.

From my experience the highest quality export TIFs from Phase One digital backs have come out of Capture One.

Walter Borchenko of Knowledge Integrated has documented this tool extensively in his Capture One guide that is available through Phase One Partners (us) and direct on his website. Also on his website is a wealth of information on this topic and others. Here is the url: [a href=\"http://www.k-i-inc.com/]http://www.k-i-inc.com/[/url].

Here is also a link from Phase One's site on using the color editor: http://www.phaseone.com/upload/customizing...ure_one_pro.pdf

Hope you find his useful and as always I am available on the forums and off to answer any questions.

Best Regards,

Lance Schad
Capture Integration - MIAMI
lance@captureintegration.com
www.captureintegration.com
305-394-3196

hubell · « **Reply #7 on:** November 16, 2007, 12:10:41 pm »

Quote

Thanks
I'll start with Capture One and see how it goes
Marc
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=153259\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I went through the demo process last year with a P45 and would offer one piece of advice based upon my experience. If you are already familiar with Capture One software and comfortable working with it, great, use it to assess the files. I personally found the Capture One software very confusing to use, and I did not want to invest the time and energy learning it. I hated the whole folder structure. ACR with Bridge is way more intuitive and powerful in its feature set. You may sacrifice a a bit at the margins in terms of absolute quality compared to C1, but I think you will still be way better positioned to produce really good files from the P30 and assess them critically.

marcmccalmont · « **Reply #8 on:** November 16, 2007, 07:24:49 pm »

I have had such good luck with DxO and my 5D I figured I would try C1 Beta 2 with my 5D files (for familiarity) and I cannot get anywhere close to the image quality, which is a bit unnerving since C1 should be the RAW converter of choice (for the P30). I'll wait until I have the P30 and judge it based on those files.
Marc

DavidP · « **Reply #9 on:** November 16, 2007, 08:05:24 pm »

I have been using Capture One Pro for both my P+ back and my 5D and have been very happy using one software for both. You need the pro version to add Canon support. When I got my back, there was some sort of deal where I was able to upgrade the DB license to Pro by joining the Phase One owners club, I don't know if they are doing that anymore.
I would not go by the beta version, that may turn out to be great software eventually but it is in a very preliminary stage right now.

TechTalk · « **Reply #10 on:** November 16, 2007, 09:51:09 pm »

Quote

I have had such good luck with DxO and my 5D I figured I would try C1 Beta 2 with my 5D files (for familiarity) and I cannot get anywhere close to the image quality, which is a bit unnerving since C1 should be the RAW converter of choice (for the P30). I'll wait until I have the P30 and judge it based on those files.
Marc
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=153427\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

The limited time that I've spent with DxO software has left me impressed with the file quality and automatic lens corrections.

EricWHiss · « **Reply #11 on:** November 17, 2007, 03:02:53 am »

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The limited time that I've spent with DxO software has left me impressed with the file quality and automatic lens corrections.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=153443\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Too bad that DxO is so slow to add cameras and lens modules. It's a little like Apple Aperture. If you shoot anything non main stream prosumer you'll never get your camera supported. I doubt that DxO is ever going to support my P20 for example forget about the rollei lenses. Their software does produce superior conversions when you have the camera/lens combination in their set, but even then its about as speedy as a old volkswagon bus.

marcmccalmont · « **Reply #12 on:** November 17, 2007, 09:01:24 am »

I find myself selecting lenses for my 5D based on DxO support
Marc

eronald · « **Reply #13 on:** November 17, 2007, 05:30:41 pm »

I think Capture One and Raw Developer are the best tools for the Phase backs.

Edmund

Chris Livsey · « **Reply #14 on:** November 18, 2007, 10:55:26 am »

Quote

Walter Borchenko of Knowledge Integrated has documented this tool extensively in his Capture One guide that is available through Phase One Partners (us) and direct on his website. Also on his website is a wealth of information on this topic and others. Here is the url: http://www.k-i-inc.com/.

Lance Schad
Capture Integration - MIAMI
l
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=153344\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hi

This book certainly caught my interest and with the $/£ ratio looks a steal at $249 plus shipping. But NO, USA only, we on this side of the pond must apparently buy from our phase distributors. And for this pay a special offer price of £195 ( $400 approx) full price is £250 ($500) suddenly not so great at all.
Seems to be some excess margin in there somewhere.

Any other feedback on the book that might tempt me to part with this larger lump of well earned cash ?

Author Topic: Question Phase one P 30 RAW converter (Read 5828 times)

jpjespersen