Darktable 2.2.0 released • Hacker News Board

Re: Darktable 2.2.0 released

#81

Post by cookiecaper » Wed, Dec 28, 2016, 1:04 AM UTC

fbleagh wrote: post #71

cookiecaper wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I regret that I haven't really had the opportunity to explore Darktable very thoroughly. Every time I would try to point it at my library folder it would choke to death. Perhaps I should re-organize around Darktable, but right now I have other components of my workflow that are hard to imagine replacing, primarily DxO -- this was the main driver that got me to switch to a Windows host running a Linux VM and doing all…

http://www.fastrawviewer.com/ or On1 Browse are good fast raw viewers on windows. I use them to 'manage' my library as I use a mix of raw processors and don't want to be tied to them for my workflow.

Took 5k pictures today so I'll try them out now. Thanks!

Re: Darktable 2.2.0 released

#82

Post by aorth » Wed, Dec 28, 2016, 2:31 PM UTC

I use Darktable to do basic edits to RAW files from my Nikon D3100 and it's incredibly satisfying to understand and adjust exposure, lens correction, perspective, and a few other things. Darktable has module presets for many cameras, which helps. I still don't understand levels, color correction, and other more advanced modules, but there are many great videos on YouTube, and my final JPEGs often end up looking better than the camera's (I shoot in RAW+JPEG just in case).

Re: Darktable 2.2.0 released

#83

Post by cookiecaper » Thu, Dec 29, 2016, 5:28 AM UTC

Veratyr wrote: post #79

slantyyz wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me chime in with another vote for DxO. The entry cost is reasonable for the base version (discounted every year around Xmas) and it's not a subscription model like Adobe. The lens/sensor RAW optimizations are fantastic (provided your camera has a bayer type sensor -- sorry, Fuji X users) and it can definitely make your photos punch above their weight. Depending on what you do, it might be worth spending more on t…

I find that while most alternatives produce better quality output than Lightroom, none come close to it when it comes to organising and managing your photos. I also find that when I process with Capture One Pro, I nearly always get better results than when I use DXO, RawTherapee or Darktable. Maybe it's just me but it is consistent.

I gave Capture One Pro a try due to this comment. There are definitely things to like about it. It is much faster than DxO at everything I tried and appears to include some very convenient features, like an effect clipboard that makes it easy to pick and choose which alterations should be copied between images instead of being forced to use the all-or-nothing approach of DxO's "Copy Correction Settings" / "Apply Correction Settings".

However, IMO DxO's output is leaps and bounds better. I'm sure it's due to the profile of the image, and specifically DxO's PRIME noise filtering since this was a handheld shot at nighttime, meaning high ISO (3200). The noise filtering from DxO is hugely superior to that from Capture One. Without PRIME (i.e., marking "high quality" noise filtration instead of PRIME), the noise filtering is at least in the same ballpark, but DxO maintains a very sizable lead with far less color damage. I did try to set the filtering configuration settings to similar quantities, though the options are a little different in each program.

I may make a blog post with images on this subject soon.

Re: Darktable 2.2.0 released

#84

Post by Veratyr » Sat, Dec 31, 2016, 3:26 AM UTC

cookiecaper wrote: post #83

Veratyr wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that while most alternatives produce better quality output than Lightroom, none come close to it when it comes to organising and managing your photos. I also find that when I process with Capture One Pro, I nearly always get better results than when I use DXO, RawTherapee or Darktable. Maybe it's just me but it is consistent.

I gave Capture One Pro a try due to this comment. There are definitely things to like about it. It is much faster than DxO at everything I tried and appears to include some very convenient features, like an effect clipboard that makes it easy to pick and choose which alterations should be copied between images instead of being forced to use the all-or-nothing approach of DxO's "Copy Correction Settings" / "Apply Corr…

Ah yeah, I definitely found that in the past, especially with noisy sensors.

Since getting a full frame camera though, I find noise isn't nearly as much of a problem and Capture One's noise reduction is fine. Certainly not as good as DxO but I don't do much low light shooting.