MAY be of interest to RAW format shooters

[Forseti]

Now personally I only ever shoot using RAW format and in doing so was aware that the only camera settings that effect the RAW image are ISO, shutter and aperture. I was equally aware that the image represented on the cameras LCD screen was of the small embedded jpg image. However, whilst giving consideration to how the histogram appeared I really hadn't given much thought to HOW that histogram was produced or, to be precise, the effect of other in-camera settings. Until now that is, and rather than try to explain it in length here's a link to a very short essay which explains it far better than I ever could and which I hope may be of benefit to others in the same boat.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tu...ht-hista.shtml

[chris-p]

Interesting point Forseti - thanks!

[AnneBennett]

Great link to essay, I'm certainly going to try the new settings
Thanks

[NickHopkins]

Very interesting read, I didn't realise some of the points it raises.

Out of interest, when the article talks about setting the contrast to it's lowest value on the camera, is it refering to picture settings, i.e what the sensor is capturing, or the contrast settings of the LCD display?

Thanks for posting.

[Forseti]

Originally Posted by NickHopkins

Out of interest, when the article talks about setting the contrast to it's lowest value on the camera, is it refering to picture settings, i.e what the sensor is capturing, or the contrast settings of the LCD display?

.

The article is referring to picture settings Nick. Once I'd read the essay through and absorbed it, the reasoning behind it became pretty much self explanatory. If you choose to shoot images in jpg format the camera initially captures RAW data with the only difference between RAW captures being that the captured data is now processed within the camera. This processed jpg image is of course what you see on the LCD screen and in turn how it is displayed, including the associated histogram, is affected by how the user has set the in-camera controls for jpg capture. The articles author is suggesting that to get a true histogram representation of the captured image (data) is to set the contrast (via the picture settings) to it's lowest value so that the processed jpg image (the LCD image) is not being adjusted contrast wise and as a consequence displaying a histogram that is not truly representative of the RAW data captured.

[Forseti]

Further research and reading has led me to this link http://www.guillermoluijk.com/tutori...b/index_en.htm and my initial impression is that there is more to this subject than was first thought. I suppose it could be argued that this is one for the *absolute* perfectionists whilst most amateur photographers will be satisfied in producing images that *appear* right irrespective of what the histogram indicates. In this regard I suppose that it's up to the individual tog themselves to decide into which category they might slot.

[Gil Ritchie]

Glad I use good old amateur jpeg files with my trusty compact.

Interesting intellectual read though ........ Yawn! Yawn! -

[lifecapture]

Originally Posted by Forseti

Now personally I only ever shoot using RAW format and in doing so was aware that the only camera settings that effect the RAW image are ISO, shutter and aperture. I was equally aware that the image represented on the cameras LCD screen was of the small embedded jpg image. However, whilst giving consideration to how the histogram appeared I really hadn't given much thought to HOW that histogram was produced or, to be precise, the effect of other in-camera settings. Until now that is, and rather than try to explain it in length here's a link to a very short essay which explains it far better than I ever could and which I hope may be of benefit to others in the same boat.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tu...ht-hista.shtml

Originally Posted by Forseti

Further research and reading has led me to this link http://www.guillermoluijk.com/tutori...b/index_en.htm and my initial impression is that there is more to this subject than was first thought. I suppose it could be argued that this is one for the *absolute* perfectionists whilst most amateur photographers will be satisfied in producing images that *appear* right irrespective of what the histogram indicates. In this regard I suppose that it's up to the individual tog themselves to decide into which category they might slot.

Great finds thanks for sharing, thats another item to add to my work flow

[RoyChurchill]

Thanks for sharing this. I always shoot in RAW and use the ETR method so I will definitely try the recommendations.

[Dagwood]

If I can piggy back on this thread....... I've not used Raw as much as perhaps I could have because I cannot view thumbnails in my folders . I use a Lumix FZ28 and have the correct ACR version for the camera but unless I open shots with Elements or Picasa just do not seem able to see them in the same way as jpegs. I cannot tag them either which is a real pain! - and should say here that I am using Windows7. Any suggestions folks?
Dagwood