Photography

GIMP! An open source tool

If it’s only basic editing windows one does ok job. If a bit more detailed i use lightroom. I can’t remember where I downloaded it but was letting me to use most of its functions for free. It is easier to enhance photos with lightroom rather than ps I think.

I used to have d90, found a good deal on eBay few years back and replaced it with full frame d750. Also have 70-200 vr2 and 24-70 f2.8, just missing a wide angle but after having a baby two years ago I found myself not taking any photos. Lost interest pretty much everything apart from coffee anyway lol. Not even remembering to take my camera with me when we go somewhere as I know I will be busy with him instead🤣

Cuprajake Have you used it before? It’s not easy to use, it is a decent alternative to Adobe and the editing tools are good. But, the layers and the typography can be better.

AFIK, I am not sure we have anything that can get closer to the Adobe Light Room / Photo Shop! :-)

Please take a look at these reviews. You may get free trials.

https://shotkit.com/best-alternative-to-lightroom/

https://wp-modula.com/free-photoshop-alternatives/

I bought a Fuji X100 when they first came out and loved the form factor so much I barely touched the Canon I had so ended up trading in for a X-T1.

Subsequently bought a X-T2 and almost exclusively use the 35mm 1.4 and occasionally a 23mm 1.4.

They’re perfect cameras for me, analog controls, small enough to sling over your shoulder all day and absolutely solid. I don’t use a case, just chuck them in my bag.

I photograph pretty much anything but mainly just street photography and interiors.

I use Lightroom 99% of the time, the iPad version is incredibly good and available for a small subscription.

Here’s a few pics-

Thanks yeah I was the same with the 50. On a cropped sensor it just isn’t hugely versatile unless you’re doing a lot of portraits.

A fast 35mm (50mm equivalent) is such an amazing all-round lens. Will pretty much do anything well.

Lightroom’s pretty much the mainstay, and despite using Photoshop somewhat professionally outside of photography, it’s what I use 99% of the time for general editing.

Photoshop is much more powerful of course and gives total control, but is more geared up for extensive work on single images.

I’ve not used it but Luminar software seems quite popular as uses AI algorithms to enhance - looks quite good actually. Capture One is another.

Personally I think you get what you pay for and free alternatives aren’t brilliant. Depends on what you want to do to your pics of course - a quick crop and simple colour adjustment you can do in anything (Instagram included)

I also went from semi-pro Nikon my whole life to a Fuji x100 and pretty much use the Fuji for travel now.

It’s never about the camera really - that’s something I’ve learned more and more as I’ve got older and followed various photographers who just seem to capture beautiful images. It’s practice and experimentation and an eye for a nice final image. I take hundreds (sometimes thousands) on trips and have a handful of great pictures at best.

Great that you’ll get some extra life out of the Nikon. Great cameras. And saves the environment.

LMSC

To be honest the iOS photo editor is very good by this point and plenty for achieving great results.

If iOS had channel separation and curves I’d probably not even use Lightroom.

VSCO is also very good for quick, subtle presets.

The film simulations built into Fuji are also incredibly good.

Ernie1 The light room is perfect for personal use. Don’t really like the subscription model. :-)

@LMSC Yeah I agree, they’d do well to release a consumer version of LR at a lower price/free.

I’m a designer so get the full Creative Suite (even though I use like 4 apps from it) and actually much prefer the subscription to the ‘good old days’ when you’d have to buy the Master Collection for four figure prices every year. Adobe used to be really hot on raiding commercial studios using cracked versions too.

Piracy is probably one of the reasons they moved to the current model.

However for individuals, £10-12 a month for Lightroom is a bit rich. Their photography plan is reasonably good value though with LR and PS bundled with storage for a tenner a month.

I have to say periodic subscriptions have made creative software a lot more accessible. Things like Cinema4D you’d have to pay thousands for even if you just needed it for one project, whereas now you can just subscribe for a month and drop it.

Cuprajake I have just dug my Nikon D300s out and went on a weekend course with a guy up here in Yorkshire. Steve bell photography. I have just purchased Serif Affinity 2 photo which seems ok. Just need to learn how to use it.