Rob Galbraith:

I’ve been using early iterations of the software for months, and recently have switched to using only it for RAW conversion duties, so crisp and natural are the pictures it produces.

He’s talking about a new app that is currently in-development by PictureCode, developer of Noise Ninja. Unprecedented, is his one-word-description of the app, and Jim Christian, the founder of PictureCode, broke the silence via a post in Pro Digital Talk Forum, in response to PictureCode’s years-long hiatus and its lack of updates:

For some time now, we have been quietly developing a powerful, differentiated raw converter that emphasizes image quality. We have been beta testing it for several months, and early users have told us that the image quality is indeed unprecedented. Not only is the noise reduction a significant improvement over Noise Ninja, but there are a half-dozen other algorithms that are arguably best in class, and everything is seamlessly integrated into a streamlined, coherent workflow. It will interoperate with other platforms like Photo Mechanic, Lightroom, and Photoshop. (And yes, it is 64-bit/multi-core.)

We are trying to lock down the feature set in the next couple of weeks and then start the process of final testing and preparation for release. Assuming things go smoothly (and they don’t always, but I am cautiously optimistic based on how things have been going lately) I am hoping to give the go-ahead for a major reviewer to start publishing details within the next 30 days or so, with release to follow shortly afterward.

It took much longer to develop than I expected. Not only were there significant technical hurdles to overcome to achieve the level of quality and performance that we wanted, but there were some nontrivial random events and distractions that slowed down the development effort. And, frankly, it’s just a hugely complex and difficult task — easily an order of magnitude more involved than a product like Noise Ninja.

I suspected early on that they are working on something, and I’m glad to hear Rob’s nod of approval on it, but I got to give it a run before I say something about it.

RAW development means business, and the market’s full of them. From the manufacturer’s door, the big boys like Adobe or Apple, even newer apps like Snapseed or Flare who are not really RAW development apps, but seem to have been able to earn some trust in a photographer’s workflow.

Competition is good, and I’d like to keep a closer look on how this one turns out.