Listening to the Voices in My Head

On November 28, 2020, I posted a rather lengthy blog entry under the title "Canon, you have some 'splainin' to do!" regarding how their new EOS R5 and its' overheating problem when recording video. I even posted link to a video where someone, with a helluva lot more money than I can spare, disassembled the R5, made a water cooling system. Fixed the overheating, but impractical.

In the video, he carefully removed the back, removed the ineffectual tiny heat sink, and cleaned off the old thermal paste. He fabricated a larger heat sink that and after a dab of thermal paste, put the new heat sink on, closed up the camera, and TA DA! No more overheating problems.

The reason I type all this out, is I told my hubby that I wouldn't be surprised if Canon, who claimed the EOS R5 was 'future proof' (planned obsolescence) would put out a new version nothing more than a larger heat sink to stop the overheating issue.

Hello new model Canon EOS R5 Cinema! It's the EOS R5 without the heating problem!

To me, this makes no difference as I am a still photographer, not a videographer. But if I was someone who bought the EOS R5 with 8K videoing in mind, only to run into the overheating wall, I would politely demand that Canon fix the flaw EOS R5 they already own.

And it seems that with the exception of hard core professional photogs that use a lot of tools that come in Photoshop, the main reason people keep subscribing/renting it is because of Adobe Camera Raw, which Adobe makes sure will only work up to a certain version of Photoshop (ie 6.7 with CS5, 9.1 with CS6. IMO, Adobe *could* have but didn't make ACR usable with other versions, and not for the reasons they claimed.)

There are ways around getting stuck with renting Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom, and to keep using your older version of Photoshop.

1: Don't fall for the often misunderstood phrase "No Longer Supported" if you update your computer's OS. All that means is you will have to make GOOGLE search your friend if you have a problem using CS5 with Windows 10. Or ask a tech savvy friend. If that tech savvy friend says "Subscribe to Abobe" they aren't as tech savvy as they claim.

2: Use the Adobe DNG converter. This will take your proprietary raw files and turn them into 'open source' digital negatives. I've done this when I had CS5 and got new camera. Guess what? Exact same result editing the DNG in CS5 as I got when I edited Canon's proprietary CR2 and Olympus' ORF file in CS6.

3: Find a different program to use as your camera raw editor. Yes, people keep chanting "Adobe is the industry standard", not realizing or caring that it was Adobe company itself that branded itself the industry standard. There are many other camera raw editors you can use, and then 'punt' the resulting JPG into whatever 'old' version of Photoshop you have. I do suggest, do you due diligence when looking for raw editor. There are many that are way over priced for what they do. A few are so slow and clunky.

My PERSONAL experiences are thus so far, in no particular order:

1: CaptureOne - no denying it is a great photo editor, but for the average hobbyist, or learning photographer, it's way over loaded in features. It is also THE most expensive editing program out there. Their 2020 version runs at $515.00 AUD for a single user license, or $35AUD to 'rent' it.

2: DxO Labs - Their latest version is fantastic. I have nothing negative to say about it. It has the best lens correction catalog, and if your particular camera/lens combo isn't on your hard drive, DxO will search and have it available for download if possible. It has not only adjustment brushes/gradients, but it also incorporates the U-Point tech of Nik. DxO has solved issues with certain photos for me. Definitely not overpriced for everything you get. Currently, you can get it for $ 189, no subscription.

3:On1PhotoRaw - Camera raw editor on steroids is how I described it to a friend. Not only do you get everything that is in the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw, it comes with tools found in Photoshop, too. You can use On1 as a standalone editor, not just as RAW editor, or as a plug in for Photoshop (caveat being if you can open the raw image in Photoshop). Pricing varies to $99 to buy it, or an extra $50 to subscribe to On1Plus. On1Plus isn't software, it's priority support, webinars, workshops, and other goodies thrown into the mix. It does have a few shortfalls (they removed Focal Point (creating a focus region bokeh effect), which is what keeps me running Windows 7 on another hdd (dual boot system) because I have their older software on that computer, which does have Focal Point.

4: Exposure X5 (the software previously known as Alienskin Exposure) - This is a great all-in-one camera raw editor. And if it had come out with this prior to my deciding to use On1, it would have given On1 a run for my money. It has many of the same tools, features and functions as On1, but it also has some that are no longer available in On1 (creating a focal point/region focus). I've also found it less of a system resource hog than On1. I have been getting reacquainted with how to use Exposure. Yeah, it's that good. Pricing varies (I suggest if you can, get the bundle. Well worth the $149)

There are others, Affinity (great software for it's pricing). I've imported finished JPGs into Affinity to use some of the features and tools they have, that none of the others do.

Skylum Luminar, Windows version: earlier versions work better than their latest release. If you have 2018, stick with it. I swear it was as if they released buggy beta versions on the general public. I typically use it only as a plug in for Photoshop because of this.

So, there it is. And remember, this is just my opinion and experiences. Depending on your computer, your experiences may be different.

Because On1 no longer uses the same authentication service, some really great OnOne tools that didn't make their way into the latest versions of On1 PhotoRaw could no longer be installed. 

This really sucks because OnOne Focal Point was the best DOF plugin I had ever tried.  And this is coming form someone who has AlienSkin Bokeh 3!  So, even though I have Windows 10 up and running properly (so far so good) I can't install the OnOne suite that had Focal Point on the Win10 boot drive.  Nor could I install PhotoTools Professional on the Win 10 boot drive.  Good thing for me I have them installed on the Windows 7 boot drive.

But here's the conundrum: One the Windows 7 drive, there is something in the latest On1 plugins that won't let the older plugins work.  If I pulled the On1PhotoRaw plugins out of the Photoshop plugin directory, the older OnOne plugins worked.  So, it became a case of trial and error juggling these four OnOne/On1 products between Adobe CS6E and Adobe CC:

On1 PhotoRaw 2019
Perfect PhotosSuite 5.5.4
Perfect PhotoSuite 9
PhotoTools 2.6 Professional.

This is what I finally got.

Adobe CS6E: I can use Focal Point 2, PhotoTools 2.6, and just On1 PhotoRaw 2019 Develop plugins.  Doesn't matter I don't have the On1 Portrait or Effects plugin, because when you launch the Develop one, you can just click on over to Effects, Portrait, or Local adjustments.  But I can't use any of the Resizing plugins.  That's ok, I can use AlienSkin BlowUp.

Adobe CC:  I can use Focal Point 2, PhotoTools 2.6, On1 PhotoRaw Develop and Effects plugins.  BUT I can also use all the Perfect PhotoSuite 9 plugins, including Perfect Resize.  Yay, go me.

Now, this is if I am using Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw. Yes, even though On1PhotoRaw is wonderful, I import the finished image into Photoshop, and there are plugins/tools I have there that On1PhotoRaw just doesn't have.

Part of me wants to upgrade my Win 7 boot drive to Windows 10 just to see if those plugins will still work, but, I am going to err on the side of caution (even though I have a clone of the Win 7 drive as a back up) and since it ain't broken, I'm not going to fix it.  If I have to stay with Windows 7 to do photo editing, so be it. 

Nerdz Ruul!

I present to you!

Fast Picture Viewer Codecs

For the HUGE sum of $9.99 for a single user license, you can once again be able to view your camera raw files in Windows Explorer, and in programs that rely on Window Explorer to select and view CR2, ORF, NEF ect ect ect.

I had purchased Fast Picture Viewer and the codec pack bundle years ago to use on my computer years ago to be able to view Camera Raw files because Adobe Bridge CS6 was glacially slow in showing the images.