Image Review Software Recommendation For MacOS

[agrumpybirdphotographer]

Does anyone have a recommendation for image review software for the MacOS. I'm only looking for something to use as a first and second pass to filter out the out of focus, wrong pose, missing bird images etc. The may criteria I'm looking for is something quick and if some form of rating can be added as a filter then great. Not interested in loads of bells and whistles I have SO many other things for that!

Currently for these initial culls of images I use a combination of both Bridge and LRC but find them a wee bit unweildy for review of a the large batches of images a mirrorless camera such as the Z9 generates.

Years ago in my windows days I used to use ACDSEE and another, which was brilliant, called Browser Pro from Breeze Systems but the later is unfortunately only windows only.

I have downloaded XN ViewNP and will see how I get on with that but just wondered if any of the knowledgeable people on here had any other suggestions.

Many thanks.

 

[Richard_M]

I use Photo Mechanic

Tour Photo Mechanic - Camera Bits, Inc.

Photo Mechanic, fast image browser software at the center of your workflow. As a metadata automation tool IPTC, EXIF and XMP can be added using image variables to increase productivity and save time editing.

home.camerabits.com

It’s fast, plus it allows me to select multiple images for focus-stacking, or creating panoramic’s via 3rd party software.

 

[JP Onstwedder]

FastRawViewer. Pretty much does what it says: shows the raw files very quickly, with the histogram from the raw file, not the embedded preview/thumbnail jpg. The interface isn’t great (but neither is photomechanic’s) but it’s easy to set up shortcuts for ‘keep’ (move to a Selected subfolder) and ‘reject’ (move to a Rejected subfolder).

 

[agrumpybirdphotographer]

Cheers Gents appreciate it. Running an evaluation on Photo Mechanic so will see how it goes. Pretty much seems to cover what I was looking for.

 

[Patrick M]

I’ve used the native app “Preview” … it’s actually rather good.

 

[Charles Loy]

Grumpy, I use Nikon NX Studio -

 

[ElenaH]

@agrumpybirdphotographer , I also use Photo Mechanic on my two Macs. It is not for free but I am very happy with it (very fast for culling!) I have a standard version.

 

[Woodyg3]

I've never really investigated this. What makes these faster/better than viewing and deleting in Lightroom? I spend a lot of time sorting pics, so if I could do it quicker that would be welcome.

 

[Rodamu]

The free photo processing software, such as NX Stdio, is all you need. Apple's Photos may work for you too, but I don't like it myself.

 

[Anjin San]

I have FastRAWViewer which is a little quicker…but usually I just import all the images from a shoot into LRC and then do initial culling there…marking rejected the out of focus or accidental or clipped wings or whatever shots then delete them both from LRC and disk. Copying them to a folder and then reviewing in FastRAWViewer seems like an extra step and in the end doesn't save me any time so I rarely bother with it.

 

[BarkingBeans Coffee]

I've never really investigated this. What makes these faster/better than viewing and deleting in Lightroom? I spend a lot of time sorting pics, so if I could do it quicker that would be welcome.

Watching Steve’s video course on Lightroom convinced me that LRC is a fast as anything and gives you additional options. Since it will be my catalog anyway why not just use it. Especially if the Mac is high end. Photo Mechanic is great too but costly add on and another chunk of learning.

 

[DrJake]

Does any of the software available select out out of focus images automatically ? I have just returned from Kenya with thousands of images taken on a Z9 and Z8. It would save a lot of time if I could segregate those out without going through each one.

 

[BarkingBeans Coffee]

Not that I am aware of. Nikon View can show the focus point. You can use the trackpad and mouse to advance images in Lightroom by turning on a preference.

 

[bleirer]

Of course almost all images have something in focus, the computer would have to guess what we intended the subject to be.

 

[jeffnles1]

Old thread and if the OP is still following, I’m with Patrick. I use the native Preview.app. It works well for this purpose.

 

[Anjin San]

None that I know of…but the x key and auto advance in LR works pretty rapidly…a couple seconds per shot max. I haven’t tried it on a thousands of frames shoot…but on a 500 or so it took la ess than 1 cocktail of time.

 

[BarkingBeans Coffee]

None that I know of…but the x key and auto advance in LR works pretty rapidly…a couple seconds per shot max. I haven’t tried it on a thousands of frames shoot…but on a 500 or so it took la ess than 1 cocktail of time.

So when I used Auto Capture I changed my method from what you suggested to the scroll with mouse looking for possible keepers. To many deletes with 4,000-5,000 images. I could hone in fairly well. I would use my second monitor for full screen views.

It pays to experiment for what's best.

 

[DrJake]

Thanks for all the above comments. I've decided to scroll through using PhotoMechanic, deleting obvious fails as a first cull.

 

[PhilcTx]

I've decided to scroll through using PhotoMechanic, deleting obvious fails as a first cull.

I suggest initially viewing the files with PM while they are still on their memory cards. Tag the 1st pass keepers while they are still on the memory card. Then "Select Tagged" the tagged memory card files. Then use PM's "Ingest from Selection" to Ingest/copy only the tagged/selected files off the memory cards to a folder. Then you can further process the selected files. Saves copying all the files to computer and culling there.