Worthwhile to upgrade to SEP 2.0?

[John E]

Just received an email back from NIK Software informing me that Silver Efex Pro v. 1 does not work with CS6, to which I just upgraded. I understand that I can achieve most of the SEP BW conversions in Lightroom, but I'm damned lazy, and really appreciate the speed of the thing. As the upgrade is approx. $80 USD through the end of May (with coupon), and as I can still call up SEP 1 from Lightroom 4, are there compelling reasons to upgrade? Just read a review at Northlight-Images, and he's 'bout got me convinced, but before I part with those hard earned bucks, I'd appreciate other views. (BTW, I'm strictly a hobbyist.) Thanks in advance.

John

[johnbeardy]

Yes. I tried version 1 and thought it was good, but not good value for money. 2 added enough for me to buy it - see my comments at http://lightroomsolutions.com/silver-efex-pro-2-2/ (they fixed the bugs). One big plus, for instance, is the selective colour adjustment in control points which keeps some of the original colour. Again, you can do it with layers in Photoshop but it's great for ease of use.

[John E]

Thanks for your input, John. I also appreciate you posting links to other photographer's reviews - very helpful.

John

[johnbeardy]

If you like 1, I'm sure you will like 2 even more.

John

[Mark D Segal]

I think it's a worthwhile upgrade if you intend to do a fair bit of B&W conversion and appreciate the particular strengths and unique features of this application. While using the original version in LR4 is fine, for all those images you still need to bring into Photoshop for one reason or another, depending on your taste and requirements it could be good to also have a workable version of SEP2 in case you may find it more suitable to work with it in PS rather than LR - particularly taking advantage of features version 1 didn't have.

[johnbeardy]

"it could be good to also have a workable version of SEP2 in case you may find it more suitable to work with it in PS rather than LR "

Not least because it permits you to open the raw files as smart objects, and then apply the SEP adjustments to them. As smart objects, you can  fine tune your SEP work in later sessions or copy it to other images.

[John E]

Well, having taken the plunge today, and played with it a bit, I do feel justified in my purchase, if for no other reason than the finer controls available to affect tones separately in the shadows/midtones/highlights. Thanks for all the input.

John

[Mark D Segal]

Glad you are not disappointed.