Compared to...

Studio scene comparison (vs. Adobe Camera RAW)

Sometimes it's worth comparing the camera's JPEG output with converted RAW, for a best case result we chose our Beta copy of Adobe Camera RAW 3.3.

This is our standard studio scene comparison shot taken from exactly the same tripod position within minutes of each other. Lighting: daylight simulation, >98% CRI. Crops are 100%. Ambient temperature was approximately 22°C (~72°F).

Camera settings:

• Olympus E-500: Olympus ED 50 mm F2.0 Macro, Aperture Priority (F6.3),
  ISO 100, RAW & JPEG SHQ, Manual WB, Default Parameters (Vivid), Self-Timer

Olympus E-500 (straight from the camera)	Olympus E-500 (RAW converted using Adobe Camera RAW)
ISO 100, 1/60 sec, F6.3	ISO 100, 1/60 sec, F6.3
5,474 KB JPEG (3264 x 2448)	5,421 KB JPEG (3264 x 2448)

The first visual difference between JPEG straight from the camera and RAW converted using Adobe Camera RAW is the lack of artifacts in the ACR image, it has a much cleaner and less processed appearance with no sharpening halos around detail. Detail wise there doesn't seem to be a big advantage from the RAW image. The next difference comes in color rendition which is noticeably different, Adobe Camera RAW isn't rendering greens correctly, we can only assume this could be to do with support of the E-500 in this Beta version being only preliminary.