The Leica Q2 is an impressively capable fixed-lens, full-frame camera with a 47MP sensor and a sharp, stabilized 28mm F1.7 Summilux lens. It's styled like a traditional Leica M rangefinder and brings a host of updates to the hugely popular original Leica Q (Typ 116) that was launched in 2015.
Alien Skin, the makers of one of the most popular Photoshop plug-ins for photographers, released the latest iteration of their standalone raw photo editor in November 2017. Back in June 2017, Fstoppers and found it to be a realistic alternative for those who can’t justify the subscription for Adobe or Capture One Pro’s more expensive offerings. In this review, I’ll deliver an overview of the tools available, and give my own two cents on the raw photo editor.
The LookNot much has changed since Exposure X2, which is a good thing. For those of you who use Lightroom or Capture One, you’ll be able to quickly familiarize yourself with the panels. If you don’t like the layout, however, you can simply drag and drop the panels to different areas to suit your editing style better. And, like was mentioned in the last review, there are no pesky modules. What the program looks like in grid view, with both panels extended. The FeelAs stated above, from a distance it looks like any other raw processor. On closer inspection, you’ll notice a distinct lack of catalogs. To access the folder or file you want to work on, you just need to search through your Finder or Explorer on the left-hand panel, click on it, and boom, there it is; either the file shows up in grid view or you just select the photo you want.
There’s no messing about with catalogs, or any importing needed. Also, because this is a non-destructive raw editor, all the editing you do is stored in a sidecar file, which is stored in a separate folder within the folder you’re working in. This makes life much easier because if you’ve experienced the dreaded “the file cannot be located” in Lightroom, then you’ll understand how frustrating it can be to re-link your photos to your catalogs. Also, from my experience, Exposure X3’s files only end up being around 4 KB each. As long as your folders aren’t enormous, browsing photos is a very painless experience. The 1:1 previews render quickly, however, panning can be a little slow sometimes. Culling is made quicker, however, with the option to compare up to four photos at the same time.
You can also link them, zoom into 100 percent, and they will all pan to the same area. It must also be noted that in this comparison mode, you can hover over any preset in order to view it on all the selected photos at the same time. None of them are sharp.Another handy feature is the ability to upload your files to Dropbox. If a colleague also has Exposure X3 on a different computer you can edit a file and the photo will change on your colleague's end as you’re making adjustments. The time it takes for the adjustments to take place is the time it takes for the data to upload to Dropbox and download to the other computer.
I sat down with the CEO of Alien Skin, Finley Lee, to try this out; He's in the U.S.A. and I'm in Ireland. While the edits aren't instantaneous, the results are still very impressive. It all hinges on your Internet speed, so Alien Skin advises that you set up a call as you're editing.Exposure still works great as a plugin for Photoshop and it can also read PSD files, while round-tripping is painless, especially with the option to “edit copy in,” which prevents you from overwriting your Exposure file.
Exposure will bring in all the layers of the document composited together as long as you save with the “preserve compatibility” option in Photoshop. Unfortunately, it can’t convert the Photoshop layers to Exposure layers yet. The ExperienceAs a landscape photographer, I feel that it does need some work, particularly in shadow recovery. In saying that, as long as you don't have a crazy dynamic range in your shot you'll be able to edit with confidence.
The lack of lens aberration correction is also a bit of a pain as you will have to do a round trip to a different program to sort it out. The real fun, however, is to be had with the many presets which make use of Alien Skin's amazing grain emulator. The emulator, combined with the creative filters, gives you an endless list of creative avenues to wander down. And because they're so easy to implement and control, you can concentrate on creating as opposed to faffing about with overly technical controls and obtuse editing paths. What I Liked.
Easy file management. Fast rendering times. Great integration with Photoshop and Lightroom.
Amazing selection of high quality presets including the best grain emulator out there. Affordable. Dropbox syncing. Can now export your file as TIFF. LayersWhat I Didn't Like.Poor shadow recovery.Can be a little sluggish while panning. Color toning and adjustments are not as controlled or as subtle as LightroomConclusionWhile the program is a notable improvement on the previous iteration, I still can't see it replacing Lightroom on my own machine due to the negative points listed above.
I have to say, though, that this program really did surprise me. It's a joy to use, and when used with the right types of files the results are incredible. Where this will shine, in a professional capacity, is for wedding photographers. The grain emulator gives astoundingly accurate representations of film, and the creative filters have the ability to add subtle nuances to any wedding portfolio.
And judging by the responsiveness of the Alien Skin team, and their snappy program updates, I think that the big boys will start feeling the heat soon because if Exposure keeps getting better it might just start replacing Lightroom and Capture One Pro on photographers computers. Until then this is still a very worthwhile investment for anyone looking to add something different to their workflow or for those who don't want to fork out big money to Adobe for a rental or pay twice as much to own Capture One Pro.You can buy Exposure X3 for $149, or start a month's free trial to see if it suits you over at. I agree the program can be a bit sluggish and the develop tools are pretty average (I use Capture One which has the best develop tools including highlight and shadow tools that are insanely great) however, you never mentioned the biggest reason to use and own X3 and that's the Presets!Hundreds of beautiful and accurate film emulations which are far better than those available anywhere else including 3rd party add-ons for Lightroom and Capture One. Both black and white and color presets that are easily customized for a very 'pro' look. Polaroid looks, Kodachrome II, Portra 160, Infrared B&W looks etc - all fantastic! After working with Adobe products for a felt lifetime, it isn't easy to change to another product, especially if you want the max in image postproduction.
And Adobe is still leading there. But I must admit that Exposure X3 is comming very close to Lightroom and even is a much better choice working with Fuji RAW. Lightroom has definitely it's flaws there.Exposure X3 seems much faster, but as Mike has stated correctly, is not doing all that well on shadows, thus leaving out the enormous potential in dynamic range most state of the art cameras offer.The bottom line is that the alternatives, including Exposure 3, can offer interesting price tags (not that big an issue for a pro), but are not at the same level with Adobe (yet). I guess it will be only a matter of time. Besides, a pro user should keep an eye on the sustainability of the products as well. That's a big point for Adobe in my opinion.I use Exposure X3 (as well as Luminar 2018 an Iridient X-Transformer) as interesting and sometimes usefull 'sidekicks', but will probably still stick with Adobe a little while. Exposure X3 is it's own, stand-alone, raw photo editor, which can also be used as a plug-in.
The other products you mention are not raw editors, as they either integrate with your digital camera or work as a preset in e.g. Lighroom.I have not used Mastin Labs, so I can't really give you a comparison. All I can say is that I love Exposures X3's presets. You can go in and tweak the details as well, to suit your style or particular photo, or just change the opacity to reduce the overall intensity.
Alien Skin Exposure X4 2018 Free Download. It is full offline installer standalone setup of Alien Skin Exposure X4 2018 v4.0.4.125. Alien Skin Exposure X4 2018 OverviewAlien Skin Exposure X4 2018 is an imposing application which will let you experiment with film emulation by resorting to the neat RAW photo editor as well as organizer that boasts imposing number of presets as well as tools. You can also download.
Alien Skin Exposure X4 2018 has got a sleek and dark user interface where there are loads of tools which can be used for enhancing your images. It allows you to load the photos which you need to process from the Folders drop-down menu that allows you to interact with the directory tree. It supports various different file formats like RAW, JPEG, PNG and TIFF etc. It includes loads f different presets for exploring.
It lets you select various different low-contrast or low saturation effects that the famous film cameras offer. On a conclusive note we can say that Alien Skin Exposure X4 2018 is an impressive application which will allow you to experiment with film emulation. You can also download.Features of Alien Skin Exposure X4 2018Below are some noticeable features which you’ll experience after Alien Skin Exposure X4 2018 free download.