Silver Efex - Opinions

[Marko]

Lots of people singing the praises of silver efex I'd like to try it as well.

Does anyone here use it regularly?

I'd love some opinions especially with regard to how it compares to b/w in Photoshop.

many thx!!

Marko

[kat]

I have it. I find that 99% of the options it gives you I would never use. Lots of the options really turn your photo noisey.

But that is just me.

[JAS_Photo]

It has a 15 day free trial. I actually like it but you can get some similar effects in LR.

[Marko]

I have it. I find that 99% of the options it gives you I would never use. Lots of the options really turn your photo noisey.

But that is just me.

I'm just looking for easier ways to do the basics...how does it do on selecting specific parts of an image for dodging or burning?

many thx - M

[kat]

Well, you can "add control points" which is basically a circle that you can make big or small and within that you can alter the brightness, contrast, structure. It works fine, but it is a circle so if you want something a bit more defined than that you'll be going in to photoshop.

You may like it. There are a lot of options, all the different filter with BW, underexposed, overexposed. I just find when I use it, I go for the neutral and do my adjusting in photoshop.

But I didnt' dwell much into it either. there may be more things I can do within the program I am not aware of.

[Marko]

Thx Kat - always lookin' for more opinions

[casil403]

Lots of people singing the praises of silver efex I'd like to try it as well.

Does anyone here use it regularly?

I'd love some opinions especially with regard to how it compares to b/w in Photoshop.

many thx!!

Marko

So far Marko. I am impressed....it is a ton of $$$$$ but I am on the 15 day trial for free so I am using it as much as I can. I will probably purchase it. I find it a bit more dramatic than PS BW conversions. it, like lightroom has alot of presets.
Give it a try for the 15 days and see what you think...you don't have to purchase it if you aren't impressed. I am a noob and not very tech smart but i really like it.

[tirediron]

I have it, and I do use it, but IMO, it's the least worthwhile of the Nik line unless you do a LOT of mono-conversion work. Pretty much all of the main tasks that it performs are easily replicated as Photoshop actions. The control-point technology is pretty trick, but again, IMO, doesn't have near the application for this as it does for say noise-reduction. Definitely download the trial and test-drive the heck out of it before you buy.

[F8&Bthere]

There's a deal going where you can get a Nik Software bundle of plugins for Lightroom or Aperture for US$199.99. It includes Color Efex, Silver Efex, Nik Sharpener Pro, Dfine, and Viveza. You go to the website, put the bundle in your cart and use the coupon code jodell (compliments of Jason O'Dell from the Nikonian Image Doctors). It's kinda weird that it only is supposed to take the price down to around $250 but when I used it, the total calculated down to $199.99 (this was for the instant electronic download version of the Lightroom plugins) and after conversion through my Visa it was only a little over CA$200 (like $214 or something).

I had used the demo before, and I have been playing with all the plugins in Lightroom like crazy lately. I'm happy I jumped on the deal, but the regular price of Silver Efex on it's own (or any of these plugins for that matter, compared to Topaz for example) is way too high. It's got a lot of praise in the photo community and although I agree with earlier comments that most of the filters are not that great, it seems capable of getting results quickly that I'd have a hard time achieving with various other conversion methods in LR/PS Elements. And the control points in these plugins are really slick. When I combine a Photomatix HDR with the Silver Efex plugin, wow! You may not like it, but it's a very 3D sorta look.

[Barefoot]

Without going into as much detail as I did on my opinion of NikSoftware's Capture NX2, all I have to say about SilverEfex is...If it's Nik, then it's slick.