DA Photo Contest Forum / Photography / Ask Questions / RAW / Latest Posts

RE: RAW

Tonka — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:55:30 GMT

Umm I know this is a hijack but...

HOWDY ZEKE...HOW THE HECK ARE YA?
I was just a wonderin...:D..

RE: RAW

Zeke Smith — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:34:50 GMT

I would say that by far the biggest benefit to shooting in RAW is the expanded dynamic range. By definition, a jpeg will only keep 8bits whereas the raw file has 12-14 depending on your camera sensor. This enables you to import the raw and manipulate the image in 16 bit tiffs so that until you're ready to discard information you haven't lost anything. This means you prevent the banding in colors (due to their only being 2^8 possibilities) and degradation in image quality with the 8 bit in manipulation. The ability to adjust after the fact is nice but I think it's the amount of info that's in there that you can force into your image that you wouldn't have been able to with a jpg that is RAW's biggest selling point.

RE: RAW

Sunnyside Sandy — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:07:29 GMT

Quick update - I downloaded Rawtherapee. Excellent compared to Silky Pix - so many more functions and options.

Played about with it for a while yesterday and managed to make some Ok photos look like a Dog's Dinner. :hehe: Should have read the Manual first. :D

Here it is: [url=http://www.rawtherapee.com/data/RAWTherapeeManual_2.3.pdf]http://www.rawtherapee.com/data/RAWTherapeeManual_2.3.pdf[/url]

Hope to read it and experiment some more this evening - will no doubt have many questions thereafter. :)

RE: RAW

Sunnyside Sandy — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:58:19 GMT

Thanks Richard!

I'll give it a try:

[url=http://www.rawtherapee.com/RAW_Compare/]http://www.rawtherapee.com/RAW_Compare/[/url]

Looking like it's worked. :D (Have we not got a jumping up and down Happy icon?)

Anyway, I found info about Rawtherapee via Wiki (about 2 hours ago:w00t:) and on the page I've hopefully linked to there are some great comparisons between major RAW Processing Softwares.

I now think I'm more confused. :)

Rawtherapee is free and I've already got Silkypix - Which do you think is better?

At this stage, I doubt I'll buy any new software.

Nearly 1am, early night for me. :)

RE: RAW

hahn23 — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:21:25 GMT

[quote][b]Sunnyside Sandy (2/29/2008)[/b][hr]Eric - please have a look at the "Add URL/Insert Hyperlink" Icon and what's going on there because every time I attempt to use it - it doesn't work!

Really annoying me know! :hehe: Growl, Grump, Grump! ;)[/quote]
[color="navy"]SS, I looked at your code for your hyperlink. I can help. There's a step you're missing. Before clicking on the "Insert Hyperlink" icon, you need to type in the text, into the text box, that you intend to be the clickable underlined link. Then, with your cursor... select/highlight this text. With the text highlighted, click on the "Insert Hyperlink" icon. Type in or paste in your target url address. Click "OK"! That will create an underlined clickable link. Preview your message to test your link.

Let me know if you need more help[/color]. :)

[img]http://www.weblogcartoons.com/cartoons/you-v-tech.gif[/img]

[img]http://www.sciencecartoonsplus.com/forsale/scimags/sc01.gif[/img]
[color="navy"]
I have noticed that the forum software does not always work the same with different browsers. It's possible that this is further complicated by using different operating systems. So, if the icon does not work for you, the alternative is to use html code. Not as easy, but it's another way....[/color]

EZHTML Clickable Links

RE: RAW

Sunnyside Sandy — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:07:24 GMT

That's certainly good enough feedback for me - Thanks very much Storm & Robert - really appreciate it!

I'll download the Microsoft software tomorrow (later today:)) - I didn't/don't want to waste my time learning a specific software package only to discover something better or more practical at a later date..............or rather, in the near future. :)

Please bare with me as my input is likely to be somewhat eratic over the next four or five days, will try my best to find time though!! Thanks Again!!

No doubt, other members, either present or future, will experience this scenario at some point - so lets hope it'll help many! So the more input then he better really!

Thanks Again!!

RE: RAW

rcmannjr — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:11:32 GMT

Sandy I use Microsoft Raw Image Viewer. It works fine for me. I needed it because if I viewed the file in Nikon Picture Perfect that came with the camera, the raw file gets amended and I would not be able to use the image for an original unedited that I would need for DPChallenge. MS works fine for me to view both the 5mb and 15mb Raw files from my cameras. Jpegs can still be viewed on it as well.

RE: RAW

Stormhaven — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:31:03 GMT

Sandy, for what it's worth, I tried to edit some RAW photos in Silky, and I got so disgusted that I just gave up. In fact, I sold that camera, as even the JPEGs were of poor quality.

RE: RAW

Sunnyside Sandy — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:20:47 GMT

Eric - please have a look at the "Add URL/Insert Hyperlink" Icon and what's going on there because every time I attempt to use it - it doesn't work!

Really annoying me know! :hehe: Growl, Grump, Grump! ;)

RE: RAW

Sunnyside Sandy — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:13:53 GMT

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d48e808e-b10d-4ce4-a141-5866fd4a3286&DisplayLang=en

[url=http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d48e808e-b10d-4ce4-a141-5866fd4a3286&DisplayLang=en][/url]

Currently exploring - but only now and then and for short periods unfortunately. :(

Question: Microsft RAW Image Thumbnailer - Thoughts/Opinions appreciated!

At present - I cannot open a RAW image in anything other than my Camera Software - not sure if the step towards Microsoft is a good thing or not!?

Will the Microsft Software be better than the Software that came with my camera?

Anybody got any experiences of the Microsoft Software??

RE: RAW

Sunnyside Sandy — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:29:04 GMT

Thanks Richard & Robert - very much appreciated!!

I'll certainly take you up on your offers of help - hope to have more time next week - something I think I'm going to need lots of. :hehe:

Thanks again!!

RE: RAW

rcmannjr — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:13:29 GMT

Richard is right SS. I have been shooting raw ever since I got my first SLR. When I got my second, I had to upgrade from PSElements 3.0 to 6.0 to read the raw files of the new camera. The camera raw capabilites in PSE6.0 are far and away above PSE3.0. You can conceivably do all your fine tuning in camera raw and save it as a jpeg for entry. From exposure, to color to tint, fill light, contrast, clarity, detail sharpening and even noise reduction....all at the same time. It constantly amazes me the more I use it. Good luck!

RE: RAW

hahn23 — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:04:14 GMT

[color="indigo"]SS, this is a big topic. But, I'll be happy to offer some suggestions.

Shooting in RAW format gives one the opportunity to use one's computer (a machine with a much larger and more sophisticated processing engine than your camera) to adjust the shot parameters [/color][color="firebrick"]after the shot![/color]

[color="indigo"]When capturing images in JPG format, one delegates the responsibility for the image parameters to the algorithms of the camera. This can be very good, if one happens to hit the exposure, contrast, color temperature, brightness, levels, saturation, etc. quite correct at the time of exposure. Well, that's everyone's goal! But, I often miss on one or many of those parameter.

RAW processing software allows one to shift almost all parameters with computer processing. For example, exposure can be shifted +/- 2 camera stops. The RAW format contains all the image data collected by the camera. So, great flexibility in final image processing is available.

I don't know about your specific RAW processing software. But, I think you'll find the latitude offered will be a delight. You are right about the steep learning curve, btw. But, I'll be happy to help along the way[/color].

RAW

Sunnyside Sandy — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:32:44 GMT

Nine Months after getting my Camera I've just taken my first RAW Shots.

I've never so much as experimented with them or the software I got with the Camera. So, I've just had a look - the software is [i]Silkypix Developer Studio[/i] and I'm expecting a steep learning curve and I'm a little daunted by it.:blink:

Has anyone used this software? Any tips?

Is there better software out there? What would you recommend?

Is it worth the hassle when you don't print your photos or submit anywhere else?

I'd really appreciate any advice and input.