Software (contd.)

False color filter

The 'False color filter' automatically removes the moire effect which are a consequence of the Bayer interpolation which is carried out on the image data. As you can see from the samples below with the false color filter disabled moiré patterns are clearly visible, when enabled these are virtually invisible. The side effect is that colour saturation of non-artifact elements can be effected (see the colour of the yellow rope in the sample below. The false color filter also increases conversion time for RAW images (it's on by default).

False color filter disabled	False color filter enabled (default)

Save File

With one or more image selected you can save the images as either JPEG, 8-bit TIFF or 16-bit TIFF. These images can be saved with the same filename (suffixed with either _RJ, _RT8 or _RT16) or with new filenames based on a pattern and numeric sequence.

JPEG Extract

A little known (at least at first) secret about the D30's RAW files is that they contained a small JPEG file. The same is true of the D60's RAW files, except that these are notably larger, 2048 x 1360 to be exact. The new RAW Image Converter allows you to extract JPEG's from a single or selection of RAW files (.CRW). This function is VERY fast and enables you to in effect shoot 'RAW + JPEG' at the same time (although different resolutions). Extracting JPEG's from 40 images took just 4 seconds on my PC. Note that settings changes such as white balance, digital exposure compensation etc. do not apply to extracted JPEG's.

Sample JPEG's extracted from RAW files

Image file information (from file header)

The text below is an example of the information available in the bottom right hand pane of the main TWAIN / RAW converter window. As you can see it covers a wide range of exposure and camera setting information as well as a complete set of the custom function settings.

File Name
     020321-1152-28.crw
Camera Model Name
     Canon EOS D60
Shooting Date/Time
     21 Mar 2002 11:52:26
Shooting Mode
     Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed )
     1/50
Av( Aperture Value )
     5.6
Metering Mode
     Evaluative
Exposure Compensation
     +2/3
ISO Speed
     200
Lens
     28.0 - 70.0 mm
Focal Length
     47.0 mm
Image Size
     3072x2048
Image Quality
     RAW
Flash
     Off
White Balance
     Custom
AF Mode
     One-Shot AF
Active AF Points
     [ Center ]
Parameters
     Contrast          Normal
     Sharpness         Normal
     Color saturation  Normal
     Color tone        Normal

File Size
     7353KB
Custom Function Settings
    02:Shutter button/AE lock button
         0:AF/AE lock
    03:Mirror lockup
         0:Disable
    04:TV,AV and exposure level
         1:1/3-stop
    05:AF-assist beam/Flash firing
         2:Only ext. flash emits/Fires
    06:Shutter speed in Av mode
         1:1/200(fixed)
    07:AEB sequence/auto cancellation
         0:0 => - => +/Enabled
    08:Shutter curtain sync
         0:1st-curtain sync
    09:Lens AF stop button Fn, switch
         0:AF stop
    10:Auto reduction of fill flash
         0:Enable
    11:Menu button return position
         2:Previous
    12:SET button func, when shooting
         2:Change ISO speed
    13:Sensor cleaning
         0:Disable
    14:Superimposed display
         0:On
    15:Shutter release without CF card
         0:Possible without CF card
Drive Mode
     Continuous shooting
Owner's Name
     dpreview.com
Camera Body No.
     0130101038

RAW Conversion Performance

The test machine used was a desktop PC with dual Athlon 1592 Mhz (1900+) CPU's 1 GB of RAM running Windows XP. Software used was Canon RAW Image Converter 2.0. A group five of RAW images were selected from the thumbnail window and then the 'Save File' option was used to convert images directly to the destination format. The conversion process was timed and divided by the number of images converted.

After the vast speed improvements we saw with the EOS-1D I was a little disappointed to find the D60's RAW files take around 20 seconds a piece to convert. That said the improvements in the RAW Image Converter interface and the ability to extract JPEG's is very welcome and can make it easier to identify the image you want without converting everything.

RAW vs. JPEG resolution

Below you can see two 100% crops taken from images shot within seconds of each other. The first crop is from a Large/FINE JPEG, the second from a TIFF created from a RAW (.CRW) file using Canon RAW Image Converter. You can click on either image or the links below the image to download a TIFF version of the crops. As you can see there is no resolution gain between JPEG and RAW using Canon's standard software. I expect third party RAW conversion packages to appear later which may be able to produce little more resolution. Lens: 50 mm F1.4 @ F9.0

JPEG	RAW
Click here for TIFF version of crop	Click here for TIFF version of crop