[scooby]

I didn't see this posted here, so sorry if I missed it:
http://lightzoneproject.org/
LightZone, which originally was a pay program, has been recompiled and released free of charge for Windows and now Linux (and Mac is soon to come).

I've been involved in the beta-testing for both windows and linux, and I can tell you it's been an easy and enjoyable program to use, and produces great results. I've used to to convert and edit RAW files from the following cameras:
Pentax K100D, Pentax Q, Sony A100, Olympus E PL-1; as well as TIFFs from scanned film negatives.

My impressions- it's stable and I wasn't able to create a crash or a freeze during my beta testing. It runs pretty quick; the longest lag you may find is by opening to a folder with a LOT of images in it. Editing time on images is rapid, faster than using a similar filter in PS. I've done some nice prints at home and some good edits/conversion for upload to outside prints (Walgreens recently had a free 8x10, so I got one), and both are great.

For a free alternative to your proprietary converter, it's a great option. If you happen to have several different brands and want a single software, it's perfectly acceptable.

Much thanks to the developers, who have reclaimed the rights to the software and are stating they will keep it current.

[Docrwm]

Thanks for the heads up. They are recruiting Mac users now, so that might be of interest to some here too.

[scooby]

Yeah, I'm watching the Mac beta threads too. Both my brother and sister have Macs, and my sister uses a Nikon 3100. Although the brother doesn't shoot raw, he does a TON of travelling (has been to San Juan, New York, Boston, Orlando and New Orleans within last 2 months) and takes a bunch of photos.

I can also say from the beta-testing: LZ does lossless editing (saves as basically a bunch of layers on top of the original), and you can open a LightZone project from 1 computer to another.... meaning I started editing an Olympus raw on my desktop (Windows 7 64 bit), and returned to the Browse mode (this saves your editing in a .lzn format). I then copied that file and the original raw to my dropbox folder, and opened lightzone on my linux laptop (ubuntu 12.04 using the Cinnamon interface), browsed to the dropbox folder, and resumed editing. It worked seamlessly.

Note- you DO have to have both the original file as well as the lzn file.

Note 2- In addition, you're likely going to want to close lightzone on whatever computer you are not using, if you do the dropbox transfer...or at least not try to actually edit the same image on both machines simultaneously...! I notice that LZ adds a tmp.jpg file to dropbox folder, and each machine overwrites the file as you edit. This plays havoc for attempting to do a simultaneous collaborative edit, which is something I doubt LZ ever intended. HOWEVER for transfers from, say, me to you, where I want you to fix what I've begun, it works fine.

[jimr-pdx]

The problem is it's hard to adopt from scratch; I was able to download it and test & it's pretty cool. It seems I can send $99 to another company for a license but I haven't the nerve (nor the $99) so my trial time is up now. Sounds like a great product to revive though!

[scooby]

The problem is it's hard to adopt from scratch; I was able to download it and test & it's pretty cool. It seems I can send $99 to another company for a license but I haven't the nerve (nor the $99) so my trial time is up now. Sounds like a great product to revive though!

DON'T buy a license... it's now FREE. They have upgraded to version 4, which basically is 3.9, with more modern camera profiles and license-free. This is available to Windows and Linux as of June 16th, with the Mac beta about to begin (if it hasn't already).

I did the Windows and Linux beta, which were also free and untimed, basically by registering at the site and clicking on the beta thread, and replying "I want to try the beta" or similar. There aren't a ton of posters, and you get a pretty quick reply from the admins.

Regarding it being hard to adopt from scratch, yep software can be a pain in the butt to learn. I have 2 different pentax programs, an olympus program, and a sony. I also don't have the true justification for spending money on programs either.
I personally find Olympus Viewer 3 and Sony Image Data converter to be pretty straightforward but limited, while SilkyPix has given me a headache with it's layout and slightly different terminology (and I absolutely hate the nag screen asking me to buy the full software). I rarely use it at all, and if I open a RAW from either the Q or the old PEF I use either Adobe CS2 (yes, shoot me ) or some freeware like Gimp with UFRaw. Both are a bit of overkill for what most folks do.

For me right now, I'm shooting JPG + RAW with everything digital. If the JPG is fine, great; and I use the Olympus software to upload to flickr (just cuz). If I need to go into RAW, then 99% of the time I find LightZone to be what I need.

[jimr-pdx]

OK I'll try again with the beta and see if the timer stays off. Thanks!

edit - Yes, much better now on 4.0 and no more 'trial period'
Excellent, and the ToneMapper is pretty nice.

[Racer X 69]

My impressions- it's stable and I wasn't able to create a crash or a freeze during my beta testing. It runs pretty quick; the longest lag you may find is by opening to a folder with a LOT of images in it. Editing time on images is rapid, faster than using a similar filter in PS.

What do you consider to be "a LOT of images"?

[redbusa]

So what are the payments for, $33 for an annual subscription

[scooby]

What do you consider to be "a LOT of images"?

Take into account I was running this on a fairly recent quad-core desktop with 8 gigs of RAM ; (but it IS an AMD and is still prior to the i3/i5/i7 series from Intel)...

In my case, I'd say about 200 raw with as many jpg. What I noted is it has to scan the folder 1st before loading, and that will be the folder it's browsed to when closed. I simply move up a level so it's not on a big group, and it opens fast.
The lag is in the browsing/opening, as it scans. Once editing, that is of no effect, and applied styles seem (to me) to take less time than applying a filter on photoshop or gimp.

As for the subscription remark... this program is now 100% free. You shouldn't be paying a penny to anyone.

Hope you get that straightened out.

[redbusa]

sorry about that,my mistake. thats what comes of downloading 2 lots of software at once and old age

[Docrwm]

So what are the payments for, $33 for an annual subscription

As has already been said - the company is now a shareware operation and the software is free to download. They used to, in the past, offer the software on a subscription basis. Now you can get it for free.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/digital-processing-software-printing/2283...ml#post2423901

[newmikey]

As has already been said - the company is now a shareware operation and the software is free to download. They used to, in the past, offer the software on a subscription basis. Now you can get it for free.

Sorry to be a purist here but the point is that this is NOT shareware, it is fully open sourced under a BSD license which is entirely different to shareware.

[Docrwm]

Sorry to be a purist here but the point is that this is NOT shareware, it is fully open sourced under a BSD license which is entirely different to shareware.

And that would make a difference to the end user how? Not to put too fine a point on it.

[fs999]

Why do they need an email address ? Why is the latest source code not available ? Not very clear...

[Quicksand]

And that would make a difference to the end user how? Not to put too fine a point on it.

It's free. Totally free. Non-proprietary. Collaboratively developed with input from users.

No email registration requirement.

No advertisements.

No nag screens.

No artificially limited functionality.

Shareware is a whole nother thing.

Why do they need an email address ? Why is the latest source code not available ? Not very clear...

No email address is needed to download and use the software. It is needed if you want to register for the website and contribute to the message board.

About the software availability - I don't know about that. I think the idea was to keep it behind closed doors while a small group of developers "cleaned up" the old, closed source version and made an initial release. The Windows and Linux versions are out now, but Mac isn't, so it might be a while yet before the repository is opened up.