ON1’s new Photo RAW image processor is finally available and promises lightning fast performance and powerful tools making it an attractive option for those looking to get out from under Adobe’s thumb. But as we all know, being Fujifilm photographers, X-Trans is an interesting issue that each RAW processor handles differently.
ON1 is a fairly local company to me, so being a strong proponent of supporting local businesses I wanted to jump on this new software to see if it was something that I could use seriously. Beyond the local angle, a lot of the promises that ON1 has made about the software are really enticing, and with my Lightroom performance leaving a lot to be desired, I thought maybe this could be something that allows me to process my images quicker, while at the same time saving me a few bucks.
I downloaded ON1’s new software to give it a look from a Fujifilm perspective with their free 30day trial. The purpose of this post is to give you some initial impressions about Photo RAW 2017 and speak to how it handles our beloved X-Series RAW files.
ON1 Left – Adobe LR Right
What I like So Far
Let’s start things off with that I think ON1 has done well after my first several edits. Just as promised, ON1 Photo RAW is a speedy devil, it quickly loads up my RAF RAW files and allows me to scroll through my library without much issue. There is some stuttering while the images are initially loading up, but overall scrolling through the library is very smooth and quite fast.
In the Develop tab, I really like the layout, being able to click on the previews button to see what your image would look like with all of your available preset options is a great way to quickly see what preset may fit best with a given image. I also like how they only have the basic edit sections visible from the start, allowing you to only open up other settings as needed rather than cluttering up your interface with a bunch of unused options.
Other things I like so far:
- Love the grain options
- Film Presets are pretty decent
- Healing Brush is fast and accurate (though note my issue with it below)
- Faster than my current Lightroom CC in every single way
What needs some more work
Being a brand new software package and RAW processor built from the ground up there are bound to be bugs, and ON1 Photo RAW is no different. In my limited use so far I have already come across some rather annoying issues from my perspective.
First off, I love the healing brush tool when it works, it does a great job in my limited testing of removing unwanted elements like blemishes, wrinkles, and stray hairs and replacing them with the correct textures to match the area around them. Where I ran into issues with this tool was that for some reason my software would glitch and throw this ‘sun through the blinds shadow’ (see image) over my image. I first thought this was an issue with just the preview, but after exporting the image it was still covering my image.
I am not sure if this is a bug with the healing brush overall or if this has to do specifically with the Fujifilm files. I don’t have any non-Fujifilm files to test on right off hand. The big problem with this issue is that the only way I have been able to get rid of the glitched shadow over my shot was to completely reset the image, losing any work I had already done on it up to that point.
Another aspect of the software that I think is rather overdone is the sharpening. It is pretty quick to get some good sharp results, but a lot of the presets and the defaults for sure are way over the top (this could be due to the Fujifilm files). I found that I needed to pull back just about every option that I tried, that said, going along with this, I do like that they have several different options for sharpening as well as a ton of presets to choose from (even if they do seem to be a little much by default).
Speaking of presets, this is another area that I am kind of conflicted with ON1 Photo RAW 2017. First off, I applaud ON1 for including as many presets as they have, this is a huge advantage over something like Lightroom or Capture One which comes with very limited preset options right off the bat. My issue is that the majority of the included presets are absolute garbage, to the point that I wonder why they wasted any time at all including them. Why would anyone even touch them? It’s great to have a ton of included presets, but if only like 20% of them are within the realm of what a user would actually use than it seems like wasted time.
ON1 Top – Adobe LR Bottom
Overall Impressions
Ok, so how do I feel about ON1’s new Photo RAW 2017? I actually really enjoyed using it, even with the to be expected slowdown from learning a new program. There are many things about it which could entice me away from Lightroom, but some of the issues that I mentioned above (most importantly the healing brush issue) would need to be resolved before I could even think about jumping onto the ON1 train full time.
That said, I feel like the potential is there for sure, and ON1 Photo RAW 2017 is a package that Fujifilm shooters should consider if they are looking into trying to get away from Lightroom and its less than ideal X-Trans performance.
If you are interested in giving ON1 Photo RAW 2017 a go for yourself you can grab the free 30 trial over on their website, here.
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