(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Images were exported from the RAW converters with neutral picture styles and no other processing. They were loaded into Photo Shop Elements and had a smart sharpen of 200 .2 0.

As you can see, Lightroom 2 has made great strides in catching up to the image quality in DPP. There is almost no difference with just a touch more light detail going to DPP, but not enough to overcome the huge array of editing features that Lightroom 2 has over DPP. IMHO opinion, both programs could use higher quality preview modes. Earlier posts on this blog discuss the problems with DPP’s develop previews. It looks like LR2 has some as well. Fortunately, neither affect output but it sure would be nice to get a better idea of what your current image really looks like after editing.

As someone who was not a fan of Lightroom, Lightroom 2 completely changes my mind. The software gradient filter is worth the price of admission alone. They did some serious work to the quality of the RAW converter. However, you must download and install their new camera profiles for this new magic to work. These new profiles recognize which camera the RAW file came from and adapt the picture styles automatically. For this test, the neutral picture styles were used.

When my trial expires I will be purchasing a copy of Lightroom 2.

More later.