Fuji Raw - What software do you use and why?

Jelster

Jelster

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Every day I see people saying that "Lightroom doesn't work with Fuji Raw files", but I have no real problems with it myself. However, I would like to see the comparison of a RAW image processed with LR and something else. The one thing I sometimes wish I could get more of is not sharpness, but detail.

In my opinion (and I'm no expert) if you expose correctly and nail the focus, LR doesn't present any problems, as long as you don't over do any parts of the process. I will admit that part of my workflow includes opening the image in PS where I can sharpen if necessary, but this is mainly to resize and add borders, then save as a JPG, so I don't actually "export" from LR. Maybe this is my saving grace?

As we now have a fair number of Fuji shooters, I'd love to know what you use, and if you can get the depth of detail you need/want.
 
Jelster said:
Every day I see people saying that "Lightroom doesn't work with Fuji Raw files", but I have no real problems with it myself. However, I would like to see the comparison of a RAW image processed with LR and something else. The one thing I sometimes wish I could get more of is not sharpness, but detail.

In my opinion (and I'm no expert) if you expose correctly and nail the focus, LR doesn't present any problems, as long as you don't over do any parts of the process. I will admit that part of my workflow includes opening the image in PS where I can sharpen if necessary, but this is mainly to resize and add borders, then save as a JPG, so I don't actually "export" from LR. Maybe this is my saving grace?

As we now have a fair number of Fuji shooters, I'd love to know what you use, and if you can get the depth of detail you need/want.
Click to expand...

I thought this had been largely resolved now. I'm not a Fuji shooter but I was considering jumping over to Fuji a few months ago and downloaded a few Fuji raw files to look at the image quality. I loaded them up into LR and had a play with them and didn't see any issues.
 
Jelster said:
Every day I see people saying that "Lightroom doesn't work with Fuji Raw files", but I have no real problems with it myself. However, I would like to see the comparison of a RAW image processed with LR and something else. The one thing I sometimes wish I could get more of is not sharpness, but detail.

In my opinion (and I'm no expert) if you expose correctly and nail the focus, LR doesn't present any problems, as long as you don't over do any parts of the process. I will admit that part of my workflow includes opening the image in PS where I can sharpen if necessary, but this is mainly to resize and add borders, then save as a JPG, so I don't actually "export" from LR. Maybe this is my saving grace?

As we now have a fair number of Fuji shooters, I'd love to know what you use, and if you can get the depth of detail you need/want.
Click to expand...


The same raw engine is used in Lightroom and Photoshop. It is now probably the best out there especially in how it makes lens corrections and colour profiles for films.

At the start it could not cope with Fuji raws very well, but then neither could any other raw processor. some did some things better and other things worse.
To day nothing does everything any better than the Adobe engine.
You can see worms and the like with all of them if you over process, but that is a million miles from normal.

Detail comes from the number of pixels not the raw processor. how that detail is defined is down to how you process. sharping never adds detail.

The initial sharpening of the file should add little or no sharpening ( sharpening can not add detail) but sharpening can and will add artifacts.
I process to a tiff. and export from lightroom or photoshop at the size I want, and with the output sharpening as necessary for that size.
When sharpening a tiff you can add an extraordinary amount of sharpening before you see any artifacts. halos will certainly be seen first.

Very many Fuji files, that I see in these forums, are unnecessarily or incorrectly over sharpened.
 
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Jelster said:
Every day I see people saying that "Lightroom doesn't work with Fuji Raw files", but I have no real problems with it myself.
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I was going to agree with this, then I thought that I've not heard people moaning about it for a while. I've never had an issue. Printing portraits to A2 I've always been stunned by skin tones and overall quality. Every sample I saw was a landscape that had been zoomed in to examine the texture on blades of grass.

Terrywoodenpic said:
Very many Fuji files, that I see in these forums, are unnecessarily or incorrectly over sharpened.
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This wouldn't surprise me at all. Although you could remove the word Fuji from this sentence and it would still be a truism...
 
I've had conversations with Fujifilm regarding LR and RAF files.

Prior to the X-Trans3, Fujifilm did not provide Adboe with much assistance, but with X-Trans3 Fujifilm worked with Adobe to improve the RAW conversion, as they recognised that it was in their best interest to do so. This is why very different sharpening techniques are required for earlier X-Trans sensors. I've got no direct experience of X-Trans4, so can't comment on that.

I've always been happy with LR's conversion, and whilst I have accepted that some found it challenging with older X-Trans sensors (and it has become internet 'truth' that Fuji's are rubbish at Landscapes), I never had issues.

I use LR as it offers me the features and facilities that I want to use in an intuitive package.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
I've had conversations with Fujifilm regarding LR and RAF files.

Prior to the X-Trans3, Fujifilm did not provide Adboe with much assistance, but with X-Trans3 Fujifilm worked with Adobe to improve the RAW conversion, as they recognised that it was in their best interest to do so. This is why very different sharpening techniques are required for earlier X-Trans sensors. I've got no direct experience of X-Trans4, so can't comment on that.

I've always been happy with LR's conversion, and whilst I have accepted that some found it challenging with older X-Trans sensors (and it has become internet 'truth' that Fuji's are rubbish at Landscapes), I never had issues.

I use LR as it offers me the features and facilities that I want to use in an intuitive package.
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I have seen it reported by Fuji that they shared all their codes with Adobe from day one. But adobe were unable to incorporate them fully with out rewriting a large chunk of their raw processor algorithms. I have four Fuji cameras the X10-x20-x30 and XE2 .
Only the X10 is where it was from the start as it has a totally different processor.
The X20 processing has improved with the more recent Adobe engine.
The X30 has improved a great deal.
And the XE2 likewise.
I would say their has been a steady and incremental improvement in both the Raf files and the Adobe raw engine, over time, as one would expect.
 
I dumped my PSE 15 and LR 6 standalone and got Capture one Pro 11 and Affinity Photo, as both these open up both my X-T3 Raw and X100F Raw. Now Fuji and Phase one are working together, the Fuji Simulations will be added sometime next year, I`m more than happy using both these together as I still get to use my Topaz plugins in Affinity Photo.
 
Dave70D said:
I dumped my PSE 15 and LR 6 standalone and got Capture one Pro 11 and Affinity Photo, as both these open up both my X-T3 Raw and X100F Raw. Now Fuji and Phase one are working together, the Fuji Simulations will be added sometime next year, I`m more than happy using both these together as I still get to use my Topaz plugins in Affinity Photo.
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Capture one Raw processor does not yet have lens corrections for distortion, chromatic aberrations nor vignetting for all Fuji lenses. it uses third party data for these, and not all have been incorporated. nor do they use Fuji supplied data. the same is true of the film simulations.
 
Been using Fuji's own RAW 3 converter, I choose the film sim I want then use the "pure detail" preset for sharpening.

Free download from Fuji
 
Used Lightroom from day one. With the X-Trans3 processor I’ve not found the need to touch the sharpener beyond whatever LR automatically applies at import. I only shoot landscapes and industrial, and have never seen artifacts or worms. I think the key is to not over-process or over-think. If I have an image which takes more than ten minutes work, it’s no good and gets deleted.

I have tried some/most of the other raw products but not seen any advantage, though some are probably just as good.
 
Manxmaid said:
Interesting thread, thanks everyone. I am being bombarded with emails about Capture One and Exposure X4 but it seems that my time would be best used just trying to get fully to grips with PS and LR, which I already have.
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Getting familiar with just one suite (almost any) will get better results than piddling around with two or three. :)
 
Before buying into the Fuji ecosystem I tried putting some raw files through Lightroom and was expecting to find worms/artefacts but didn’t.

I have seen them pop up on a few images since, but largely been able to control them by reducing the amount of sharpening applied by Lightroom as default and increasing the “mask” slider value. The key point is not a problem when viewing images at web resolution.

I have experimented with Capture 1, which gave better images, but I missed loads of other Lightroom features, most significantly the Fuji profiles.

I also tried using Iridient Transformer, as a plug in to Lightroom, which I though was a fairly simple process. However I need to try it on a few more images as I don’t think that the improvement was worth buying it and adding another step to my workflow.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
Capture one Raw processor does not yet have lens corrections for distortion, chromatic aberrations nor vignetting for all Fuji lenses. it uses third party data for these, and not all have been incorporated. nor do they use Fuji supplied data. the same is true of the film simulations.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about this? Years ago when this was raised, Phase One said they used the lens correction metadata from the fuji raw files. But that there are occasions, for whatever reason they felt they could write a better correction and those lenses are listed in their lens correction list.

Phase one make no attempt at matching camera film simulations, having always had their own rather convoluted approach to producing their own profiles. However, I assume that given the formal agreement that now exists between Phase One and Fuji, and the promise of fuji film simulations in the next release, that these will match those from the Fuji cameras.
 
Craikeybaby said:
I have experimented with Capture 1, which gave better images, but I missed loads of other Lightroom features, most significantly the Fuji profiles.
Click to expand...

The Fuji profiles will be in the next C1 release, including the free Fuji only version of C1.
 
Jelster said:
Every day I see people saying that "Lightroom doesn't work with Fuji Raw files", but I have no real problems with it myself.
Click to expand...

Have you downloaded the free "fuji only" version of Capture One, to see if you can see any difference.

However, as I understand it the "doesn't work" was only really about particular types of green vegetation, so depending on what you photographed some people had no problems and others had lots of problems. In a well known other forum. this argument still rages, with some saying its now fixed, some saying it's as bad as always, and others saying it never existed and was/is all down to over sharpening.

Many, many people seem to have switched to Capture One as a solution. I was already using Capture One when i got a fuji (XE1 and X100s) and have never looked that closely on the occasions I have used LR.
 
Lightroom here. Can't say I have found any issues with it, my processing hasn't really changed from what I used to do when I was using a Canon 5D2.

I tried Capture 1 on trial while I was waiting for Adobe to start supporting the X-T3. It doesn't seem as intuitive to use imo and I never got into the cataloging side of things so I don't know how that compares to LR. My entirely unscientific mind thinks there is more potential with C1, in as much as there are more switches to flick and more knobs to twist, but it alone is more expensive than LR ans PS together so I decided to stick with Adobe.
 
imattersuk said:
Been using Fuji's own RAW 3 converter, I choose the film sim I want then use the "pure detail" preset for sharpening.

Free download from Fuji
Click to expand...


I've never actually tried using this as it's "just" a RAW converter, so thought I would try it today.

I keep getting the message below, even though I've been into the menu and then to "Connection Setting" and selecting PC Connection Mode - USB RAW Converter/Backup Restore.

But that doesn't seem to work. Any ideas?

Screenshot 2018-11-27 at 11.57.36.png
 
Hi, I'm new to Fuji (XT3) and Lightroom 6 won't load my raw files, is it only on the later CC versions that it works?
 
Jelster said:
Every day I see people saying that "Lightroom doesn't work with Fuji Raw files", but I have no real problems with it myself. However, I would like to see the comparison of a RAW image processed with LR and something else. The one thing I sometimes wish I could get more of is not sharpness, but detail.

In my opinion (and I'm no expert) if you expose correctly and nail the focus, LR doesn't present any problems, as long as you don't over do any parts of the process. I will admit that part of my workflow includes opening the image in PS where I can sharpen if necessary, but this is mainly to resize and add borders, then save as a JPG, so I don't actually "export" from LR. Maybe this is my saving grace?

As we now have a fair number of Fuji shooters, I'd love to know what you use, and if you can get the depth of detail you need/want.
Click to expand...
never had a problem with the original X100 in LR.
 
Jelster said:
I've never actually tried using this as it's "just" a RAW converter, so thought I would try it today.

I keep getting the message below, even though I've been into the menu and then to "Connection Setting" and selecting PC Connection Mode - USB RAW Converter/Backup Restore.

But that doesn't seem to work. Any ideas?

View attachment 139360
Click to expand...


Problem solved by upgrading the camera firmware.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
Yes directly, but you can use Adobe's DNG converter and converter RAF-->DNG and then import the DNGs into LR6

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/photoshop/using/adobe-dng-converter.html
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Although if you just want to do a raw to .DNG conversion I expect that Iridient Transformer will be a better bet. For me, the extra workflow step isn't worth it for the better demoasaicing and resulting cleaner file, but if you are doing the raw to dmg conversion anyway it is probably worth it.
 
Jelster said:
Problem solved by upgrading the camera firmware.
Click to expand...
It’s not just a RAW converter although I don’t really use it for anything else other than sharpening using pure detail preset.
 
So I have downloaded the Fuji RAW Powered by SilkyPix app as well as Iridient, got them all side by side and Lightroom 100% has a nastier looking noise gradient between light and shadow, and around edges of buildings etc. I just need to find a way to load one of these alternative Apps in to a workflow as I still find the Cataloguing facility of LR inescapable.
 
dd1989 said:
So I have downloaded the Fuji RAW Powered by SilkyPix app as well as Iridient, got them all side by side and Lightroom 100% has a nastier looking noise gradient between light and shadow, and around edges of buildings etc. I just need to find a way to load one of these alternative Apps in to a workflow as I still find the Cataloguing facility of LR inescapable.
Click to expand...
It isn't that difficult to use Iridient Transformer as a Lightroom plugin.
 
As someone who's just picked up an XTrans X-E3 and uses LR5 heavily, what are my best options? Silkypix to do a batch convert from RAW to DNG then import into LR? Use the Adobe DNG converter? I love Fuji jpgs and would like to be able to emulate their film modes with RAW files - would rather not have to pay for additional software unless it's super worth it (e.g. integrates into LR workflow very easily!)
 
landwomble said:
As someone who's just picked up an XTrans X-E3 and uses LR5 heavily, what are my best options? Silkypix to do a batch convert from RAW to DNG then import into LR? Use the Adobe DNG converter? I love Fuji jpgs and would like to be able to emulate their film modes with RAW files - would rather not have to pay for additional software unless it's super worth it (e.g. integrates into LR workflow very easily!)
Click to expand...

That would be your best bet. Adobe stopped supporting new file types unless you have the most up to date version. I run the "Photographers Package" that gives you up to date versions of LR, PS, Bridge and a few others for a few quid a month. Worth it in my view...
 
Just to add, I've been playing with Fuji's own raw converter today, and it's not too bad either....
 
landwomble said:
As someone who's just picked up an XTrans X-E3 and uses LR5 heavily, what are my best options? Silkypix to do a batch convert from RAW to DNG then import into LR? Use the Adobe DNG converter? I love Fuji jpgs and would like to be able to emulate their film modes with RAW files - would rather not have to pay for additional software unless it's super worth it (e.g. integrates into LR workflow very easily!)
Click to expand...

The free dedicated fuji version of Capture One (Capture One express) seems worth trying (though for some reason there doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm for it in this thread) You would need to export as TIFs rather than DNGs, but Phase One are working with Fuji (or it might be the other way round as the Fuji announcement suggested it was Fuji who had initiated the Phase One partnership) to include the Fuji film profiles. These should be available this year (In previous years, the new release has come out end of November, beginning of December),

I understand the Fuji express version of C1 is limited in capability, but at least you would have access to a first class raw conversion.
 
Jelster said:
That would be your best bet. Adobe stopped supporting new file types unless you have the most up to date version. I run the "Photographers Package" that gives you up to date versions of LR, PS, Bridge and a few others for a few quid a month. Worth it in my view...
Click to expand...
It looks like the Adobe DNG converter is available as a standalone free download though https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/adobe-dng-converter.html - "Adobe provides backwards compatibility for the latest cameras for use in older versions of Photoshop, Lightroom, Bridge, After Effects, and Photoshop Elements through the DNG Converter." - this suggests that by downloading this it'll enable my aging version of LR to have access to the latest conversion from Adobe? I'm not sure if it upgrades the import in LR or if you have to always use the DNG converter on the RAF files to convert to DNG and then manually import to LR?

Any reason to pick Adobe DNG converter over Silkypix?
 
myotis said:
The free dedicated fuji version of Capture One (Capture One express) seems worth trying (though for some reason there doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm for it in this thread) You would need to export as TIFs rather than DNGs, but Phase One are working with Fuji (or it might be the other way round as the Fuji announcement suggested it was Fuji who had initiated the Phase One partnership) to include the Fuji film profiles. These should be available this year (In previous years, the new release has come out end of November, beginning of December),

I understand the Fuji express version of C1 is limited in capability, but at least you would have access to a first class raw conversion.
Click to expand...
I tried the Fuji version of C1. It worked - once. Then it stopped loading, without me having made any changes (latest top-spec iMac). So out it went. I know C1 is capable of superb results, but software only gets one chance with me. I’m still very happy with my LR subscription. Have been using LR since it was Rawshooter Pro. Considering the price we pay for our hardware, to penny-pinch on actually creating the results we want is foolhardy.
 
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