[filorp]

.... above has just been released.... added support for DA 40 mm f/2.8 XS and DA 645 25 mm f/4 AL [IF] SDM..
URL

[hcc]

Thanks

[audiobomber]

Thanks filorp.

[jeffshaddix]

I've never tried Pentax's software, how well does it compare to Lightroom for raw development?

[Na Horuk]

I've never tried Pentax's software, how well does it compare to Lightroom for raw development?

It doesn't. I mean, not that one is better than the other, just nobody ever compared the two. I don't think anyone uses the Pentax software

[Caat]

I've never tried Pentax's software, how well does it compare to Lightroom for raw development?

I've used previous versions of the Pentax software so my comments may not be applicable to this version. Essentially the Pentax is more a straightforward RAW convertor and Lightroom is a RAW convertor plus workflow tool. It has more conversion options and makes it easier to process multiple RAWs and generally manage your workflow.

The output from the Pentax software is good though.

[JinDesu]

It doesn't. I mean, not that one is better than the other, just nobody ever compared the two. I don't think anyone uses the Pentax software

Well, I'll try then..

I've never tried Pentax's software, how well does it compare to Lightroom for raw development?

I often feel that Lightroom is a much better RAW processor than PDCU. Some examples below...:

-Lightroom allows for comparisons of before and after changes very easily

-Lightroom has quite a lot more controls for highlight recovery and shadow fill compared to PDCU

-Lightroom allows for a much more in depth manipulation of color saturations, color brightness, and color balance than PDCU. This was especially important during some pictures of mine that included LCD lighting - LCD lights sometimes wash out and super saturate in my k-x pictures, and I have to tone down the saturation and brightness of those specific colors. PDCU makes it pretty difficult.

-Lightroom's noise reduction is pretty good, but PDCU's is good too

-Lightroom makes rotating very easy, but PDCU gives more fine control over cropping

-Lightroom makes for sorting and keeping track of files very easily. PDCU doesn't. On the other hand, I don't like to keep a library of all my photos in Lightroom, so this doesn't matter to me.

-I believe that Lightroom allows for exporting of photos much more easily than PDCU - this may be important after working on 300 photos and wanting to export them.

-Lightroom and PDCU both sharpen pretty well, but Lightroom has a lot more variables you can modify to get the right amount of sharpness.

-Lightroom can support some photoshop plugins (I believe) like the Topaz series.

-Lightroom makes HDR toning very easy. I don't think I can do that as well in PDCU.

My conclusion
I use PDCU whenever I do snapshots that I don't think I need to do much to fix. Usually my day to day shots are run through PDCU because it's pretty quick, and PDCU does have some unseen improvements to pictures from Pentax cameras/lenses. I will use Lightroom for my "important" shots like a photoshoot of a friend or an event.

[audiobomber]

I've tried Lightroom, Elements and CS3. I get better results with DCU4, but the cropping tool does suck. I crop and sometimes fine tune my jpegs in another program.

The statement above that no one uses DCU4 is quite wrong. A lot of people prefer conversions done with Silkypix/Pentax over Adobe software but I admit it's not as powerful as softwares that allow layers. I try to get the picture right in the camera, so I don't have to do heavy processing.

[Blue]

I've never tried Pentax's software, how well does it compare to Lightroom for raw development?

I just use the Pentax software to scroll through raw files to preview them and look at the exif data bar. In otherwords, I use it as a thumbnail viewer for dng or peg files. The 4.x is better at that than previous versions.

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

I use PDCU as my RAW converter. I mainly do plain conversions using the camera settings (plain settings too) and just rarely I touch WB or exposure. It is very easy to use and I see no reason to try something else. Any other processing, I do it straight on the JPG files, using gimp.

[alspe]

From where I can download Pentax camera utility software? I've MacBook Air w/o optical drive so I must get by downloading.

Update file I've found but not the software itself.

[monochrome]

From where I can download Pentax camera utility software? I've MacBook Air w/o optical drive so I must get by downloading.

Update file I've found but not the software itself.

It should be on a CD that came with your camera

[wowtip]

[Main changes from Version 4.34]



...

• Updated library for reduction of tone jumping.

Anyone know whatever that is supposed to mean?

[RXrenesis8]

It should be on a CD that came with your camera

I've MacBook Air w/o optical drive

I'm sensing a problem...

[ogl]

Well, I'll try then..


I often feel that Lightroom is a much better RAW processor than PDCU. Some examples below...:
.

ACR and C1 Pro are better too.