OK you win, I finally gave in to shooting with RAW (large pics)

[José B]

I decided to give RAW a try so I downloaded the 'RAW whatever' on PS-CS last night and shot these at Union Station with my Maxxum 7D and Maxxum 35/2. Boy, you RAW proponents are right----I get more details compared to Jpeg plus I have better control on colour, shadows, brightness and etc.

Exposed with expodisc. All ISO 1600 shots, manually exposed and cleaned via Digial Pro GEM and applied USM of 100/0.3/1.

Starting now for tricky lighting and indoors I will shoot only with RAW. For outdoor pics, I will stick with jpeg.



As usual I welcome your comments.

Cheers,

José

--
http://www.pbase.com/jmb_56/maxxum_7d

A very exuberant Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D trailblazer. Who's zooming who: Sigma 12-24/4.5-5.6 EX, Maxxum 28-75/2.8 and Sigma 70-200/2.8 EX

 

[José B]

--
http://www.pbase.com/jmb_56/maxxum_7d

A very exuberant Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D trailblazer. Who's zooming who: Sigma 12-24/4.5-5.6 EX, Maxxum 28-75/2.8 and Sigma 70-200/2.8 EX

 

[tmulli]

I am also experiementing/practicing with RAW. Do you have Bruce Fraser's Camera Raw book? I find it to be pretty helpful since I am new to RAW. Here's a link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/032127878X/qid=1109652628/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-9796775-0236819?v=glance&s=books

I decided to give RAW a try so I downloaded the 'RAW whatever' on
PS-CS last night and shot these at Union Station with my Maxxum 7D
and Maxxum 35/2. Boy, you RAW proponents are right----I get more
details compared to Jpeg plus I have better control on colour,
shadows, brightness and etc.

Exposed with expodisc. All ISO 1600 shots, manually exposed and
cleaned via Digial Pro GEM and applied USM of 100/0.3/1.

Starting now for tricky lighting and indoors I will shoot only with
RAW. For outdoor pics, I will stick with jpeg.



As usual I welcome your comments.

Cheers,

José

--
http://www.pbase.com/jmb_56/maxxum_7d
A very exuberant Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D trailblazer. Who's
zooming who: Sigma 12-24/4.5-5.6 EX, Maxxum 28-75/2.8 and Sigma
70-200/2.8 EX

--
Todd
Havin' a blast in 7D Land.

 

[santoguapo]

Why bother with RAW when your Jpegs look so good? )

I am with you, though. There is no one perfect way of doing things. You've just got to keep the balance between getting great images and keeping the fun in photography.

--
Cheerio...
Rich

 

[Matt Cham]

Did you use Adobe Camera RAW?
Did you get a chance to compare with RAW Shooter?

-Matt

 

[Legacys_Quest7]

RAw is the only way for me.

I decided to give RAW a try so I downloaded the 'RAW whatever' on
PS-CS last night and shot these at Union Station with my Maxxum 7D
and Maxxum 35/2. Boy, you RAW proponents are right----I get more
details compared to Jpeg plus I have better control on colour,
shadows, brightness and etc.

Exposed with expodisc. All ISO 1600 shots, manually exposed and
cleaned via Digial Pro GEM and applied USM of 100/0.3/1.

Starting now for tricky lighting and indoors I will shoot only with
RAW. For outdoor pics, I will stick with jpeg.



As usual I welcome your comments.

Cheers,

José

--
http://www.pbase.com/jmb_56/maxxum_7d
A very exuberant Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D trailblazer. Who's
zooming who: Sigma 12-24/4.5-5.6 EX, Maxxum 28-75/2.8 and Sigma
70-200/2.8 EX

 

[Desmond Lim]

Hey Jose,

Try this combo for awhile if storage space isn't a problem. If you're happy with the JPEG, use it. Else, redo using the RAW file. Flexible!

Cheers!

I decided to give RAW a try so I downloaded the 'RAW whatever' on
PS-CS last night and shot these at Union Station with my Maxxum 7D
and Maxxum 35/2. Boy, you RAW proponents are right----I get more
details compared to Jpeg plus I have better control on colour,
shadows, brightness and etc.

Exposed with expodisc. All ISO 1600 shots, manually exposed and
cleaned via Digial Pro GEM and applied USM of 100/0.3/1.

Starting now for tricky lighting and indoors I will shoot only with
RAW. For outdoor pics, I will stick with jpeg.



As usual I welcome your comments.

Cheers,

José

--
http://www.pbase.com/jmb_56/maxxum_7d
A very exuberant Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D trailblazer. Who's
zooming who: Sigma 12-24/4.5-5.6 EX, Maxxum 28-75/2.8 and Sigma
70-200/2.8 EX

--
Des

'Charter Member of the Konica Minolta 7D Adoption Society'

Please visit me at http://racandes.fotopic.net/
7D Dedicated Site: http://www.dyxum.com

 

[markwp]

Jose,

Great images, as before -- been meaning to head down there myself when the light is right.

I think you'll find yourself shooting more and more in Camera Raw -- and even regretting not having the flexibility to go back and adjust previous shots... Full control over WB (even to creative ends) is one tool that is invaluable. Overall, ACR does not so much add another step in your PS worksflow, as make the process both more effcient and more enjoyable.

The Fraser book, as mentioned, is a great help in getting started,

I decided to give RAW a try so I downloaded the 'RAW whatever' on
PS-CS last night and shot these at Union Station with my Maxxum 7D
and Maxxum 35/2. Boy, you RAW proponents are right----I get more
details compared to Jpeg plus I have better control on colour,
shadows, brightness and etc.

Exposed with expodisc. All ISO 1600 shots, manually exposed and
cleaned via Digial Pro GEM and applied USM of 100/0.3/1.

Starting now for tricky lighting and indoors I will shoot only with
RAW. For outdoor pics, I will stick with jpeg.



As usual I welcome your comments.

Cheers,

José

--
http://www.pbase.com/jmb_56/maxxum_7d
A very exuberant Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D trailblazer. Who's
zooming who: Sigma 12-24/4.5-5.6 EX, Maxxum 28-75/2.8 and Sigma
70-200/2.8 EX

--
Markwp

http://www.pbase.com/markwp

 

[Duncan McKlowd]

I like RAW for the extra dynamic range it affords.

--

http://www.pbase.com/duncanmcklowd

 

[Vance Zachary]

Yes, Des, that is what I do on all my pro work except weddings where I use RAW+JPG only for the most important or difficult shots. The rest of the event is shot all in extra fine JPG. The Camera RAW book is great. Gotta luv it!!!

Hey Jose,

Try this combo for awhile if storage space isn't a problem. If
you're happy with the JPEG, use it. Else, redo using the RAW file.
Flexible!

Cheers!

--
Vance Zachary
http://www.pbase.com/photoworkszach
http://www.photoworksbyzachary.com

 

[Geir Ove]

Hello,

No critique, your pictures are excellent, but thought I would mention this some time back when you mentioned ExpoDisc:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/expose-right.shtml

Quote from the bottom of the article:

"Because of this difference, setting up the exposure using an 18% gray card (as is typically done with film) does not work so well with a digital camera. You will get better results if you set your exposure such that the whitest white in the scene comes close to, but not quite reaching, the full digital scale (255 for 8-bit capture, 65535 for 16-bit capture). Base the exposure on the highlight for a digital camera, and a mid-tone (e.g. 18% gray card) for a film camera."

I also find this article interesting:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml

Keep up your good work

Geir Ove

I decided to give RAW a try so I downloaded the 'RAW whatever' on
PS-CS last night and shot these at Union Station with my Maxxum 7D
and Maxxum 35/2. Boy, you RAW proponents are right----I get more
details compared to Jpeg plus I have better control on colour,
shadows, brightness and etc.

Exposed with expodisc. All ISO 1600 shots, manually exposed and
cleaned via Digial Pro GEM and applied USM of 100/0.3/1.

Starting now for tricky lighting and indoors I will shoot only with
RAW. For outdoor pics, I will stick with jpeg.



As usual I welcome your comments.

Cheers,

José

--
http://www.pbase.com/jmb_56/maxxum_7d
A very exuberant Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D trailblazer. Who's
zooming who: Sigma 12-24/4.5-5.6 EX, Maxxum 28-75/2.8 and Sigma
70-200/2.8 EX

--
My album at: http://objective.bitfikler.com/geirove/web/

 

[dren]

...easy lighting or something? Results look great.

Dren

 

[John down under]

G'day Duncan. AFAIK, RAW gies you exactly the same dynamic range as 8 bit per channel JPEG, ie the darkest bits are the same darkness and the brightest bits are the same brightness whichever way you shoot, subject to in-camera processing during JPEG creation that might clip dark or light bits for a specific final image effect. However, the extra bit depth of RAW does give you a much finer colour gradient, ie a lot more levels in between each of the levels you would have captured with 8 bit per channel JPEG.

I like RAW for the extra dynamic range it affords.

--

http://www.pbase.com/duncanmcklowd

--
Cheers from John
down under in Adelaide, South Australia
A1 25 Dec 03 to its drowning on 29 Dec 04 (
Dynax 7D from 25 Jan 05 )
My PBase galleries since 16 Apr 04: http://www.pbase.com/john_down_under
Konica Minolta Challenges, FAx and Faces: http://www.pbase.com/mtf_foto_studies
7D website: http://www.dyxum.com

 

[John down under]

G'day Geir Ove. The point the article makes about exposing so that the whitest white in the scene corresponds wit the brightest part of the sensor's capture range seems reasonable (although slilghtly blown highlights when working with RAW and ACR may be a better way to go; the article is a bit dated as ACR can now recover blown highlights to some extent). However, the Expodisc is about setting WB, not about setting exposure levels.

If you could somehow use the Expodisc to set exposure levels (I can't see how you could as the Expodisc it doesn't appear in the scene, it filters the scene to gather light for the whole of the lens front element), that would be a different matter.

Hello,

No critique, your pictures are excellent, but thought I would
mention this some time back when you mentioned ExpoDisc:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/expose-right.shtml

Quote from the bottom of the article:

"Because of this difference, setting up the exposure using an 18%
gray card (as is typically done with film) does not work so well
with a digital camera. You will get better results if you set your
exposure such that the whitest white in the scene comes close to,
but not quite reaching, the full digital scale (255 for 8-bit
capture, 65535 for 16-bit capture). Base the exposure on the
highlight for a digital camera, and a mid-tone (e.g. 18% gray card)
for a film camera."

I also find this article interesting:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml

Keep up your good work

Geir Ove

--
Cheers from John
down under in Adelaide, South Australia
A1 25 Dec 03 to its drowning on 29 Dec 04 (
Dynax 7D from 25 Jan 05 )
My PBase galleries since 16 Apr 04: http://www.pbase.com/john_down_under
Konica Minolta Challenges, FAx and Faces: http://www.pbase.com/mtf_foto_studies
7D website: http://www.dyxum.com

 

[John down under]

On second thoughts, as the use of RAW + ACR allows you to recover blown highlights to some extent, you can capture and use a larger dynamic range that way than you can with 8 bit per channel JPE, so I must agree with your statement after all. )

I like RAW for the extra dynamic range it affords.

--
Cheers from John
down under in Adelaide, South Australia
A1 25 Dec 03 to its drowning on 29 Dec 04 (
Dynax 7D from 25 Jan 05 )
My PBase galleries since 16 Apr 04: http://www.pbase.com/john_down_under
Konica Minolta Challenges, FAx and Faces: http://www.pbase.com/mtf_foto_studies
7D website: http://www.dyxum.com

 

[John down under]

G'day Jose. I'm really glad you've had a taste of RAW. Just remember that it is only a taste and RAW can do more than you can tell from your limited amount of playing with it. Assuming you are using ACR with PS CS, make sure you get Bruce Fraser's book Camera Raw With Adobe Photoshop CS. It's essential reading if you really want to use Raw effectively with ACR. It tells you what ACR can do and how and why to do things in a certain way, even when ACR is better than doing what you may think is the same curves correction in PS CS proper, because sometimes it is different enough that it matters when it comes to getting the best result.

I also agree with the suggestion of shooting RAW + JPEG if you have enough storage space. The JPEG is great for zooming on the spot with your camera if you want to do that, then you have more workflow options for processing later on.

I decided to give RAW a try so I downloaded the 'RAW whatever' on
PS-CS last night and shot these at Union Station with my Maxxum 7D
and Maxxum 35/2. Boy, you RAW proponents are right----I get more
details compared to Jpeg plus I have better control on colour,
shadows, brightness and etc.

Exposed with expodisc. All ISO 1600 shots, manually exposed and
cleaned via Digial Pro GEM and applied USM of 100/0.3/1.

Starting now for tricky lighting and indoors I will shoot only with
RAW. For outdoor pics, I will stick with jpeg.

--
Cheers from John
down under in Adelaide, South Australia
A1 25 Dec 03 to its drowning on 29 Dec 04 (
Dynax 7D from 25 Jan 05 )
My PBase galleries since 16 Apr 04: http://www.pbase.com/john_down_under
Konica Minolta Challenges, FAx and Faces: http://www.pbase.com/mtf_foto_studies
7D website: http://www.dyxum.com

 

[Dave Huntoon]

José,

I agree 100% with John. I also bought the book and if you only get one bit of information that helps your workflow it is worth the $. I always capture Raw + Jpeg now and I have never used the jpeg. I think processing with Raw brings you closer to the optimum point faster so you end up with a better picture faster. I typically only add sharpening after I come out of ACR. I love its CA correction capabilities and its Luminance noise reduction.

Picts look great as usual.

Dave

I also agree with the suggestion of shooting RAW + JPEG if you have
enough storage space. The JPEG is great for zooming on the spot
with your camera if you want to do that, then you have more
workflow options for processing later on.

I decided to give RAW a try so I downloaded the 'RAW whatever' on
PS-CS last night and shot these at Union Station with my Maxxum 7D
and Maxxum 35/2. Boy, you RAW proponents are right----I get more
details compared to Jpeg plus I have better control on colour,
shadows, brightness and etc.

Exposed with expodisc. All ISO 1600 shots, manually exposed and
cleaned via Digial Pro GEM and applied USM of 100/0.3/1.

Starting now for tricky lighting and indoors I will shoot only with
RAW. For outdoor pics, I will stick with jpeg.

--
Cheers from John
down under in Adelaide, South Australia
A1 25 Dec 03 to its drowning on 29 Dec 04 (
Dynax 7D from 25 Jan 05 )
My PBase galleries since 16 Apr 04:
http://www.pbase.com/john_down_under
Konica Minolta Challenges, FAx and Faces:
http://www.pbase.com/mtf_foto_studies
7D website: http://www.dyxum.com

--
----------
Maxium Digital - 7D, 7Hi

 

[Geir Ove]

Hello,

Maybe I misunderstood the whole ExpoDisc issue. I thought it was used as a grey card to measure exposure AND set WB, but from what you say it is only used to set WB.

Geir Ove

If you could somehow use the Expodisc to set exposure levels (I
can't see how you could as the Expodisc it doesn't appear in the
scene, it filters the scene to gather light for the whole of the
lens front element), that would be a different matter.

Hello,

No critique, your pictures are excellent, but thought I would
mention this some time back when you mentioned ExpoDisc:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/expose-right.shtml

Quote from the bottom of the article:

"Because of this difference, setting up the exposure using an 18%
gray card (as is typically done with film) does not work so well
with a digital camera. You will get better results if you set your
exposure such that the whitest white in the scene comes close to,
but not quite reaching, the full digital scale (255 for 8-bit
capture, 65535 for 16-bit capture). Base the exposure on the
highlight for a digital camera, and a mid-tone (e.g. 18% gray card)
for a film camera."

I also find this article interesting:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml

Keep up your good work

Geir Ove

--
Cheers from John
down under in Adelaide, South Australia
A1 25 Dec 03 to its drowning on 29 Dec 04 (
Dynax 7D from 25 Jan 05 )
My PBase galleries since 16 Apr 04:
http://www.pbase.com/john_down_under
Konica Minolta Challenges, FAx and Faces:
http://www.pbase.com/mtf_foto_studies
7D website: http://www.dyxum.com

--
My album at: http://objective.bitfikler.com/geirove/web/

 

[Henry Richardson]

Maybe I misunderstood the whole ExpoDisc issue. I thought it was
used as a grey card to measure exposure AND set WB, but from what
you say it is only used to set WB.

Expodisc has been around for a long time. I bought one in about 1996. At that time it was meant only as a way to essentially turn the camera into an incident light meter. You put it on your lens and use it to measure the light falling on the subject instead of the light reflecting from the subject. In recent years many people have started to use it with digital cameras to set the white balance.

By the way, I just checked the website and I see the prices have increased greatly. I paid $12 and now they range in price from $100 to $150! The gentleman that made them (I think his name was Wallace) used to hang out at the old Minolta mailing list and I ordered one from him. At that time Expodisc was a one man operation.

http://www.expodisc.com/index.html

--
Henry Richardson
http://www.richardson.photoshare.co.nz/
http://www.printroom.com/pro/intrepid

 

[Sol]

And of course, nice shots as always, bro

I decided to give RAW a try so I downloaded the 'RAW whatever' on
PS-CS last night and shot these at Union Station with my Maxxum 7D
and Maxxum 35/2. Boy, you RAW proponents are right----I get more
details compared to Jpeg plus I have better control on colour,
shadows, brightness and etc.

Exposed with expodisc. All ISO 1600 shots, manually exposed and
cleaned via Digial Pro GEM and applied USM of 100/0.3/1.

Starting now for tricky lighting and indoors I will shoot only with
RAW. For outdoor pics, I will stick with jpeg.



As usual I welcome your comments.

Cheers,

José

--
http://www.pbase.com/jmb_56/maxxum_7d
A very exuberant Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D trailblazer. Who's
zooming who: Sigma 12-24/4.5-5.6 EX, Maxxum 28-75/2.8 and Sigma
70-200/2.8 EX

--
Sol
'Charter Member of the Konica Minolta 7D Adoption Society'
http://solarviewphoto.com/
'IS' will make your lens a better lens.
'VR' will make your lens a better lens.
'AS' will make you a better Photographer.