B&W - LR or plugin?

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Name
Lee
Edit My Images
Yes
These days I am converting more and more of my images to black and white within Lightroom using the standard presets etc.

My question is can I get some further benefits by purchasing 'Tonality' or 'Silver EFX' or can you do everything in Lightroom?
 
I've not tried Tonality but Silver Effects takes your black & whites to the next level over Lightroom alone. Well worth the cost.
 
SFex pro heads and shoulders above the rest, great interface to work with.
 
Agree with the previous posts. I rarely use the B&W presets in Lightroom. Silver Efex is definitely far better in my opinion as you have lots more control & always gives far better results.

Im sure you can download a 30 day trial. Give it a go.
 
You can control 8 colour channels, dodge and burn, and have effectively unlimited control over the tone curve already in Lightroom. What more do you think you will get from spending more money?

A plugin that is probably the or one of the best on the market. You have to use it to appreciate it.
 
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Cheers for all the feedback and the banter :)

I will download the trial and give it a go

Just out of interest what is people's workflow when using these plugins?

Get the best out of Lightroom in a colour format and then transfer to Silver EFX to do the conversion?
 
Everyone will have a different workflow and use it to edit in different ways (Though I better get that out there)

However I always export the image in Colour from Lightroom in a large size as normal. Then open Photoshop drag the Image/images into photoshop, open silver efex.

Initially I adjust the Brightness and contrast and their sub settings. Then add Structure (This is one of the best bits of Silver EFex) don't over do it. Then I usually add vignette if required. Then finally add a colour cast (Can't remember what it's actually called off rip of my head) I usually use No 19 (Coffee or Copper)? Then set it to approx 20%. This is just a base individual tweaks will differ from image to image.

Hope that helps.

Matt

PS: Don't forget to save you best presets when you have got a recipe you like.

All images here were edited using it:

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/index.php?threads/Few-Shots-from-Boxing-Gym-Shoot.613998/
 
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I use Photoshop. Since I have it anyway, it's sort of free. Lots of scope. No plugins. No presets. Every image is different.

I have LR too but just use it as a raw translator.

I might've been tempted by SilverFX, but these days you've got to buy the whole bundle - and I loathe Google & all its machinations of information harvesting, so I'm not going there ...

But should we understand that you just want a quick fix? Down in the alley ... pssst ...

Plugins - phooey!
 
I've tried in Lightroom. I've had a go in Photoshop. I've bought the Nik Software and used the Silver Efex.

Because each image is different and there is no one size that fits all, sometimes you want a touch of dodge and burn, other times more contrast, other times just a drop in exposure. Sometimes you want a bluish tinge and other times a distinct sepia look. And all can be done equally well in Lightroom, Photoshop and Nik Software!!

And if I'm really honest, I've no idea which is the best to use.

Where Nik wins is there are various examples you can see in advance of clicking and you can adjust each to your own tastes. Also, it has 5 other excellent sections (and Viveza is my favourite). One major reason why I bought the Nik software was because of the Silver Efex package - and I've not regretted the purchase but, if perfectly honest, I hardly use the Silver Efex package any more :D

Why? The best photograph I've converted was fully processed in colour and then I just used Convert to B&W in Photoshop (or Lightroom - I forget which) and it just looked right without further tweaking. Many mono images I've tried converting weren't brilliant to start with and I was probably trying to make a purse out of a sow's ear.
 
Nope just giving my opinion mate they are well known; -)
 
To
I might've been tempted by SilverFX, but these days you've got to buy the whole bundle - and I loathe Google & all its machinations of information harvesting, so I'm not going there ...

To be fair to Google, I bought SilverFX before they took Nik over, and I paid more for SilverFX alone than what Google now charges for the whole package.

Fair point on the second bit!
 
I use a set of Lr presets by David DuChemin for 80% of my B&W conversions, especially portraits. I really like the fairly simple ones which are approximations of standard colour filters with added split toning. Add a bit of standard Lr workflow and I can get to where I want in seconds.

Silver Efex Pro comes into its own for me when I want to do something more intensive, usually for landscapes. The SEP presets do the heavy lifting, getting me close and then its is all down to the local adjustments. For me, this is where SEP has a huge advantage. I have Lr and Photoshop which can do dodging and burning, curves adjustments etc. But I just find the u-point technology in SEP much more intuitive, more accurate (as I am pretty poor at dodging and burning) and much faster.

I don't buy the idea that SEP only offers a quick fix. It can if you simply pick a preset and stop there but there is a lot more you can do via global and local adjustments. The tools in SEP look different to those in Photoshop and lightroom but the effects are very very similar. I am pretty sure Lr, photoshop and SEP can all get to the same end point. They just offer different paths.
 
Quick question on the Nik software suite.
Do you but it for either LR or PS, or can the one purchase be used in both?
For the money, it looks quite good. I know a lot of people use it with great results.
 
Quick question on the Nik software suite.
Do you but it for either LR or PS, or can the one purchase be used in both?
For the money, it looks quite good. I know a lot of people use it with great results.
The plug once installed will work in both, I had working in LR, PS and Aperture
 
The plug once installed will work in both, I had working in LR, PS and Aperture

Thanks Steve.

If you're like most people, you'll end up using two or three out of the six modules. Despite this, it is very good value for money.

Thanks Edward, I'm sure you're right, but I quite like the look of the suite, and even @ £95 for Silver efex alone it would be good value, so the others are "included freebies"!

Whats the noise reduction software like?
 
Whats the noise reduction software like?
I don't know how to use it properly but the few times I have used it I've been impressed.

I compare much of the Nik to what can be done in Lightroom. LR is a great package and the development part of it - granted it's not up to Photoshop standards - is pretty good for most of my work. The noise reduction is pretty good but is noticeably better in Nik. Ditto, the sharpening is good in LR but better in Nik.

Of course, on the other side of the coin, there's no way that Nik can add a copyright or catalogue or crop or save as a low resolution, etc, etc :)
 
I don't know how to use it properly but the few times I have used it I've been impressed.

I compare much of the Nik to what can be done in Lightroom. LR is a great package and the development part of it - granted it's not up to Photoshop standards - is pretty good for most of my work. The noise reduction is pretty good but is noticeably better in Nik. Ditto, the sharpening is good in LR but better in Nik.

Of course, on the other side of the coin, there's no way that Nik can add a copyright or catalogue or crop or save as a low resolution, etc, etc :)

Agreed. I use LR for 95% of my editing, But I do like the results from Silver FX and the others come as part of the package, and whilst the D750 is awesome at high ISO, my D700 which I still have, would benefit occasionally from some good NR !

Might be time to check out the other parts of the package too, but I think I'm going to get it anyway.
 
Cheers for all the feedback and the banter :)

I will download the trial and give it a go

Just out of interest what is people's workflow when using these plugins?

Get the best out of Lightroom in a colour format and then transfer to Silver EFX to do the conversion?

Kind of.. I use SFX much less these days but when I do, I get a colour version I like and then open it in photoshop - and use the plugin from there.

After that I tend to do an additional 'vanilla' conversion using a B&W adjustment layer or gradient map and blend that with the SFX version. Silver Efex is great but it is really easy to overdo things and not realise, and some of the sliders are pretty much guaranteed to introduce halos.
 
I find Silver FX too heavy handed personally. I do the initial conversion and adjustments in Lightroom, and if I'm not going for local adjustments in Photoshop, I use some of the tools in Color FX pro (on the monochrome image) as I find the adjustments a little more subtle.
 
One more vote for Silver Efex, and I too have been using it since the pre Google days. Rarely use anything else when it comes to B/W conversions.
 
I have been doing a lot with Topaz b & w effects lately, and have been pleased with the results. I also have SFX but it can overcook images easily if I'm not careful.
 
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