Fuji Your Fuji photo editor of choice?

[Darmok N Jalad]

I've been checking out various softwares for editing RAFs from my X-T3. I'm curious what other Fuji shooters are using since the X-Trans sensor seems to not be handled so equally.

I like ON1 2023 for overall output and ease of use, but it's a bit sluggish on MacOS. It can use the default film sim profile that you shoot with, but not custom ones. Still, it's quite capable and my current driver.

I'm currently doing the trial of CaptureOne. It seems pretty good, but not quite as good with NR as ON1. It is very fast on MacOS, but the dedicated license is considerably more expensive! I do like that it will grab the film sim you used as the starting point. Best of both worlds there.

Another trial I'm doing is Photolab 6. It still feels like DxO hasn't figured out how to handle X-Trans yet. It does fantastic NR on M43, but it is not near as noticeable on Fuji. It's also a bit of a mess when it comes to layout, and the UI applets are very blocky. I wanted to like it, but it's just not doing it for me.

I haven't messed with LR, since I'm still trying to avoid subscriptions.

Who knows, I might even just run with the JPGs and Photos more and save the RAFs for when I really need to do something more advanced and need the extra sensor data to work with.

Feel free to chime in with your favorite Fuji PP tool.

 

[gordo]

I just used the free Fuji RFC (RAW File Converter) from SilkyPix. Worked fine IMHO for basic editing. Anything further than that went into Affinity, but it didn't handle my files well, again IMHO.

 

[gryphon1911]

Capture one for Fuji

Or

Lightroom and then sharpening in Topaz Photo AI

 

[Iron]

I see good reviews from some Fuji users using RawTherapee. It has a dedicated X-Trans section in the raw processing tab.

 

[MiguelATF]

I know I'm a contrarian here, but I only shoot jpegs on all three of the more 'serious' Fujis I have used (the X-Pro3, then the X-T3, and now the X-T5). Once I download them to my Mac (a relatively old desktop, running Catalina) I usually tweak them slightly in Lightroom - the standalone version, 6.14, which to some may be dinosaurlike (as it was discontinued years and years ago), but which I find quite powerful for a handful of minimal adjustments. I also often use a bit of the old (freeware version) of Nik Color Efex Pro, mainly to adjust contrast, and apply slight S-curves. That's it.

In terms of the time I spend, my 'processing' of the SOOC jpegs is quite minimal - compared to some of the RAW processing I've done on Olympus or Pentax or Canon or Lumix files. It's really much more minor tweaking than processing. Weirdly, the biggest processing decisions sometimes come for me at or just before the moment I'm taking a photograph - since a half or full stop of overexposure (or underexposure, too) can sometimes radically alter not just the look but the feel of an image.

Short version: I've more or less bought into Ritchie Roesch's philosophy of only shooting jpegs in my Fujis... mainly I think because the different 'recipes' (both the default in-camera ones, and the modified ones I've been using) come much closer to the ways I'd like my pictures to look...than the sometimes obsessive processing I've done on RAW files from other cameras.

 

[saladin]

I have DxO PL but haven't really played too much with Fuji files as yet.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

If On1 could pull the film sim down, I think it would be the easy winner. Getting it to match up with Velvia isn't an easy task. Capture One has a big leg up there. On1 still handles NR the best, IMO. Subtle, but for birds it really puts a nice crispness to the final result.

 

[Irene McC]

Capture One since buying into the Fuji system in 2017. Prior to that I was a devoted Lightroom user and still occasionally dip back into that

 

[Herbert Hound]

Lightroom. I've been using it long enough to be really comfortable with it and I've built up a section of my own presets which I really like. I can tweak jpegs with (say) some basic exposure changes, a subtle grain and vignette and a slight warmth to the shadows all in 15 secs or so. Then export that across all the jpegs I shot and I've a unified theme. The masking is superb and the new AI noise reduction (raw only) is brilliant. I can do the same with the RAF files by using the fuji film profiles in LR if I want, but I ususlly just bin the RAFs.

I'm not quite brave enough to shoot Jpeg only... but it's only a question of time.

 

[Irene McC]

I can do the same with the RAF files by using the fuji film profiles in LR if I want, but I ususlly just bin the RAFs.

Hang on. You discard (as in permanently delete) your RAW files?

 

[Herbert Hound]

Hang on. You discard (as in permanently delete) your RAW files?

Yup... the jpegs are so good and so editable from the X-T5 that they're not worth the disc space. I'm just experimenting with Hand-Held HDR in-camera jpegs (using film sim recipes) to see if I can get away without exposure bracketing and blending in LR, and I've also just (i.e. yesterday) started playing around with the DR-priority settings because that might mean not even having to use HDR. I just need the sun to shine for my experiments to continue...

 

[doobs]

I'm a Capture One user, but I've been dabling lately with ART.

It's FOSS and very good. It's built on top of Raw Therapee, but both simpler and with more features.

The user forum is here: ART

Good luck.

 

[Irene McC]

Yup... the jpegs are so good and so editable from the X-T5 that they're not worth the disc space. I'm just experimenting with Hand-Held HDR in-camera jpegs (using film sim recipes) to see if I can get away without exposure bracketing and blending in LR, and I've also just (i.e. yesterday) started playing around with the DR-priority settings because that might mean not even having to use HDR. I just need the sun to shine for my experiments to continue...

Well clearly each to their own but speaking for myself, I am very glad to have kept all my RAW's from way back when.
I can literally re-edit a ten year old file with current improved software and current improved knowledge/proficiency and create a superior end result

 

[Piano]

I like the idea of Capture One and still have C1 - 20 for the occasional play. I tried Affinity - didn't get on with it. I tried Luminar - didn't get on with it. I tried DX0 - didn't get on with it.
I am so conditioned to Adobe, I've been using their poroducts forover 15 years and I've got used to what I am able to do and built a workflow around Lightroom and PS. Lightroom latest version is so good that I only tend to use PS for heavy lifting and more creative work.
Having said that, there are people who have done the same with the software I've not got on with so I came to the conclusion - each to his own.

 

[Herbert Hound]

Well clearly each to their own but speaking for myself, I am very glad to have kept all my RAW's from way back when.
I can literally re-edit a ten year old file with current improved software and current improved knowledge/proficiency and create a superior end result

That's a good point. However; I tend to view a photo as a "snapshot" of what I was doing/feeling etc at the time and, just like a song is never finished - it's just released, the photo is "of it's time".

I'm a huge Beatles fan, and I recently listened to the newly re-mastered version of "Here, There and Everywhere" (one of my all time faves) and I remember thinking "that's not right".

As you correctly say... each to their own.

 

[Bobby T]

I’ve been back and forth between Capture One and Lightroom. But always wind up staying with Capture One. I prefer the final output from C1. I also use Affinity Photo for some things.

 

[gryphon1911]

I almost forgot, but there is an OEM Fuji X Raw software as well. It is not the fastest, but it does work.

I do shoot jpg mostly on the XPRO2, but the ability to connect the camera and process the raw via the camera and then surft any of the pure saved film simulations is a fun and quick option.

 

[rayvonn]

For converting the RAF file to TIFF for editing, Iridient Developer was for me, super. Seems like a small task but it's important to get that initial conversion right.

 

[mnhoj]

I just went back to LR from C1. RAF conversion is good with both imo. As are their versions of film simulations.

Iridient was king back in my early X-trans days. I loved those conversions over the C1/LR. I updated my license with my purchase of the X-T5 and played with it. Very good but not as large a difference now. And you have an option to carry over the film simulation. I doubt that it would transfer "recipes" but that is worth an investigation.

Note: C1 didn't allow me the change of sims/curves/profiles with its DNGs(maybe user error) but LR does.

 

[bartjeej]

I only have Bayer sensor Fuji's (X100 and XF10) so LR works just fine for me.

Also I normally just use the jpegs, I only keep the raw files for the shots I might want to print or where I expect to do significant edits. But for non-print editing, about 50% of the time the final shot ends up being the jpeg file edited in LR, as highest quality jpegs are fairly robust and I usually really like the colors, so it's just a quicker route to a satisfying result than the raw file.