[Fenwoodian]

You can try DXO Optics Pro 9. It is a free download until February 2017. Google it or find a link here
Get DxO Optics Pro 9 Elite for Free

I decided not to download because while it supports the K3 it does not support my K1 camera.

[jpzk]

I decided not to download because while it supports the K3 it does not support my K1 camera.

Would you have considered it if you had only the K3 ?

[E-man]

I decided to give it a whirl. For the price, there's nothing to lose. It supports three of my four Pentax cameras, leaving only the K100D out in the cold. Curiously, the list includes the Panasonic Lumix FZ30 but not my FZ50, even though the two cameras are basically the same except the FZ50 has a higher resolution sensor.

[Cthulhugan]

Photoshop Elements includes ACR, albeit with a reduced feature set. It gives all the exposure controls, though, and that is all that about 90% of photographs need.

[Fauxton]

I know how powerful Photoshop is, but, historically, I never used much more than the Camera Raw portion of the program 99% of the time. I was basically just out to alter exposure, colors, size, sharpness etc.

To me, paying $120/year when I'm only after Camera Raw seems like overkill. Am I wrong? (I am MORE than welcome to hear I'm wrong)

Is there another editing program that is similar to Camera Raw that is free/reasonably priced?

Thanks!

Rawtherapee is Freeware and if you need to do something more advanced after, import into GIMP (Freeware). GIMP 2.9.4 is out and its very good. If you want the little less capable stable release 2.8.18 is the one to use. Between those two you don't need anything else except perhaps a DAM. So use Faststone. You guessed it - freeware.
I know people attempt to disparage GIMP and Rawtherapee in favour of Photoshop. Don't believe them as you will rarely find things you can't do with these packages and they both can do things that Photoshop doesn't. (to be sure on Photoshop has capabilities the others don't either but once again there are more capabilities in all these packages that most users will ever use.)
If you are running Linux then Darktable and GIMP are the way to go.
GIMP, Darktable and Rawtherapee are all in constant development. Faststone is also but a little less aggressively.

[aleonx3]

I use the paid version of Silkypix RAW development pro software (currently a promotion going) and I use it exclusive to convert my DNG files to JPEG. I can do a lot of adjustments (including WB, crop etc) before the RAW file is developed into JPEG. It is reasonably cheap IMO and I get updates when new camera is supported.

[E-man]

I'm glad to see GIMP finally runs natively under Mac OS X beginning with version 2.8.x. One of the things that had always made me shy away from it as a Mac user was its need to use the X11 environment for 'life support'. Even though Apple had made the process a little more seamless than it used to be, it always felt a bit clunky to me. Also, Mac OS X will block GIMP and Raw Therapee (along with most other free and open source software) from launching since it doesn't come from Apple's App Store. It's pretty easy to sidestep by holding down the 'ctrl' key the first time you launch it and selecting "Open anyway" in the dialog box that pops up. If you don't hold down the 'ctrl' key, you get a dialog box that prompts you to make a change to your global security settings in the 'Security & Privacy' preferences panel (bad idea). Once you get there, it gives you the tip about ctrl clicking the icon to launch. Fortunately, you don't need to ctrl click every time, just do it the first time you launch the program and then the OS will remember that you've made that exception. Not meaning to hijack the thread here, but just thought the info might be useful to fellow Mac-using Pentaxians.

---

Last edited by E-man; 12-21-2016 at 01:03 PM. Reason: clarification

[Adam]

I know how powerful Photoshop is, but, historically, I never used much more than the Camera Raw portion of the program 99% of the time. I was basically just out to alter exposure, colors, size, sharpness etc.

To me, paying $120/year when I'm only after Camera Raw seems like overkill. Am I wrong? (I am MORE than welcome to hear I'm wrong)

Is there another editing program that is similar to Camera Raw that is free/reasonably priced?

Thanks!

I guess that depends on how much you take advantage of the advanced functionality of ACR and how you incorporate it into your workflow.

There are deals that allow you to get CC for around $99 a year, which is nice. Another option would be to go for Photoshop CS6 or Lightroom 6, both of which come with ACR (not the latest version for the former, but it can still work with all DNGs).

[Joe Dusel]

I use the CC versions of Lightroom and Photoshop, and I also find the subscription to be a great value. I shoot a lot of events where I have 400 to 1000 DNG files to work on. I take everything into Lightroom where I do most of my processing. It is certainly nice to be able to adjust one image, select a bunch of related images and then sync them. It is also great to be able to rate the images, select images by rating and then export all the selected images with the same settings. Lightroom has much better printing capabilities than Photoshop. I use Photoshop for the things it does best, like working with layers to fix problems. Photoshop does a much better job of sharpening than Lightroom.

[Codazzle]

Thanks for all the replies, guys!

If I was shooting for anything other than a hobby I would be more than glad to pay the $160/year for CC. But, on the other hand, I already spent the money on the cameras, what's another couple of bucks on the software?

The problem (for me) with the proprietary Pentax software is that I also have a Nikon, and I'd rather not use two programs

Yes, but you need one of the qualifying paid Adobe apps for it to open files with Camera Raw, I believe...

This is the problem I've been running into. Tried it on different OSs, on different computers, with different Adobe IDs. I might check out some of these free/low cost programs people have been recommending.

[JeffB]

The monthly subscription for Adobe CC is well worth it to me. Consider the cost of full version purchases or upgrades every year or two versus the subscription. CC is constantly up to date. Full raw workflow. Lightroom may provide you with everything you want.

[reeftool]

I consider the CC subscription well worth the modest monthly expense. I only use Lightroom but I do take a lot of photos shooting events and the speed and convenience it offers to to process large groups of photos quickly is an essential feature for me. Having Photoshop in the bundle is is icing on the cake. I don't use Ps often but when I need it, it's right there. I wish I was so good that all I ever needed to do was a few exposure adjustments but unfortunately, I'm not.

My 2 cents worth. If you shoot in Raw and care about your results, having a pretty good computer with an IPS monitor running a capable PP app is just as important part of photography today as your camera and lenses. Otherwise, just shoot JPEG's and edit them with something free.