Canon EOS RP RAW editing flexibility?

After reading DPR's review, it seems like the RAW files have limited editing flexibility. Does that mean I need to get the exposure, right? Would you guys say, I can push the files 1-2 stops before noise becomes problematic?

Yes I can assure you the EOS RP files are more problematic in terms of dynamic range than lets say the EOS R files.

I own both cameras and owned several Sony A7 cameras as well.

Is it always a problem?

No.

Because I shoot landscapes with big dynamic range with exposure bracketing anyway. So there is no difference left even to cameras with even more dynamic range like the Sony A7 and A7r and the Mark II versions of them which I had. But the color science on the Sony cameras was to my eyes awful.

Do you shoot backlit portraits?

There will be a problem lighting up the person in post processing the you shoot to preserve the background sky. But you should use a flash anyway in this situation.

I will post an old link to a photo from the dpreview Canon EOS 6D Mark II review, which is said to have the same or similar 26 megapixels sensor to show you what I mean.

Look at the first picture of the two nice people with the cute dog:

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-6d-mark-ii-review/3

So there is a problem with noise on the 3 main subjects.

I could post a link to a German forum where a Canon representative Gregor Zajac took this dpreview picture and edited it with Lightroom and it looked much better than what dpreview did ^^ Sorry for that... ^^

But the links to the Canon Irista pictures, where he showed the screenshots from the settings and the final picture edited are gone for good. Canon took down Irista at some point.

This is the link anyway: https://www.dforum.net/entry.php?10-EOS-6D-Mark-II

Maybe you can run a google translator from German to English.

But I can tell you it's a thing of how you edit the files:

The 6D Mark II and the EOS RP can handle a huge amount of noise reduction (30) without sacrificing a lot details like other cameras would do. The picture from the link above the Canon guy edited in that way that I had no noise and looked good.

In the Noise reduction section of Lightroom he set the luiminace Noise 30.

In the sharpening section he used an Amount of 66, Radius 0,6 pixels, Detail 35 and Masking setting  I can not remember. But this is always different.

So with a little bit of care while shooting and in post processing you can achieve very good results even with a Canon EOS RP and saving a lot of money!

Did I mention that the RP has wonderful oldschool Canon colours from the DSLR era ? Yes it has better colours than my EOS R and the R6 I had for a short amount of time and ended up returning it because I could not edit the colours to my taste in post processing, but this I maybe my poor skillset ;).

dpfan32 wrote:

Yes I can assure you the EOS RP files are more problematic in terms of dynamic range than lets say the EOS R files.

I own both cameras and owned several Sony A7 cameras as well.

Is it always a problem?

No.

Because I shoot landscapes with big dynamic range with exposure bracketing anyway. So there is no difference left even to cameras with even more dynamic range like the Sony A7 and A7r and the Mark II versions of them which I had. But the color science on the Sony cameras was to my eyes awful.

Do you shoot backlit portraits?

There will be a problem lighting up the person in post processing the you shoot to preserve the background sky. But you should use a flash anyway in this situation.

I will post an old link to a photo from the dpreview Canon EOS 6D Mark II review, which is said to have the same or similar 26 megapixels sensor to show you what I mean.

Look at the first picture of the two nice people with the cute dog:

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-6d-mark-ii-review/3

So there is a problem with noise on the 3 main subjects.

I could post a link to a German forum where a Canon representative Gregor Zajac took this dpreview picture and edited it with Lightroom and it looked much better than what dpreview did ^^ Sorry for that... ^^

But the links to the Canon Irista pictures, where he showed the screenshots from the settings and the final picture edited are gone for good. Canon took down Irista at some point.

This is the link anyway: https://www.dforum.net/entry.php?10-EOS-6D-Mark-II

Maybe you can run a google translator from German to English.

But I can tell you it's a thing of how you edit the files:

The 6D Mark II and the EOS RP can handle a huge amount of noise reduction (30) without sacrificing a lot details like other cameras would do. The picture from the link above the Canon guy edited in that way that I had no noise and looked good.

In the Noise reduction section of Lightroom he set the luiminace Noise 30.

In the sharpening section he used an Amount of 66, Radius 0,6 pixels, Detail 35 and Masking setting I can not remember. But this is always different.

So with a little bit of care while shooting and in post processing you can achieve very good results even with a Canon EOS RP and saving a lot of money!

Did I mention that the RP has wonderful oldschool Canon colours from the DSLR era ? Yes it has better colours than my EOS R and the R6 I had for a short amount of time and ended up returning it because I could not edit the colours to my taste in post processing, but this I maybe my poor skillset ;).

I want to thank you guys for your opinions as it'll help guide my purchasing decision. To be clear, I mostly shoot travel and landscape photos. I do occasionally shoot the so called social photos that I’ll upload to Facebook. I typically do shoot an auto exposure bracket. I suppose even if I want to wait the RAW file, I'll likely have a good starting point to edit the image. I get that the RAW files are noisier than it's competitors, but if I get the exposure mostly right and using base ISO, can you or anyone explain to me how noise is an issue and viewable?

Assuming someone is just starting with photography.

If someone is just starting with photography the EOS RP is the right tool. It's cheap, it's small, it's light but its full frame! And there are moderately priced RF STM lenses out there. One could adapt old EF lenses as well.

It's a perfect starter camera! Beginners don't need to go straight to the high end cameras IMHO.

My advise: A beginner should buy the RP now, shoot, learn about its limitations and one day when he is more advanced he could go to a more expensive and more advanced camera.

If a beginner would buy let's say a R6 straight away it may be an overkill for him and he may loose interest in photography.

I my opinion everyone should start with smaller and cheaper stuff so there is a upgrade path for the future

And I understand the confusion when someone reads all the technical stuff in the reviews.

Basically there is cheaper stuff with less features and image quality and there is expensive stuff with more features and better image quality. That’s it

(I edited this post for photographers in general and not speaking directly to the thread starter)

I'm more interested in talking about the RAW files than my own skill set.

jboyer wrote:

I have an RP since its launch (eons ago?). The exposure is the key. 'Well' exposed pictures -- requiring minimal boosting of the dark areas, will come clean of noise at high ISO values. I shoot RAW and use Capture One as my RAW processor. I came from a 7D and a 6D.

This issue is mostly related in the need to get better rendition of dark areas, like backlit pictures. A bit of over exposure may go a long way. As one poster noted, this issue may not really exist, and the Canon colors are worth the potential problems.

And today, the issue of noise is non sequitur with tools like Topaz AI.

After 1000s of RP pictures, I still feel it is a very decent and useable camera. Sill the most affordable Full Frame, with all the pros and cons of the format.

But it is an entry level body and if budget is no object, a R6 II may serve you better in the longer term. At three times the price.

Even right now I tend to expose to the right. I'm assuming that what you mean is I can reduce the exposure and not have to lift any shadows to keep noise to the bare minimum?

jboyer wrote:

Sgt_Strider wrote:

jboyer wrote:

I have an RP since its launch (eons ago?). The exposure is the key. 'Well' exposed pictures -- requiring minimal boosting of the dark areas, will come clean of noise at high ISO values. I shoot RAW and use Capture One as my RAW processor. I came from a 7D and a 6D.

This issue is mostly related in the need to get better rendition of dark areas, like backlit pictures. A bit of over exposure may go a long way. As one poster noted, this issue may not really exist, and the Canon colors are worth the potential problems.

And today, the issue of noise is non sequitur with tools like Topaz AI.

After 1000s of RP pictures, I still feel it is a very decent and useable camera. Sill the most affordable Full Frame, with all the pros and cons of the format.

But it is an entry level body and if budget is no object, a R6 II may serve you better in the longer term. At three times the price.

Even right now I tend to expose to the right. I'm assuming that what you mean is I can reduce the exposure and not have to lift any shadows to keep noise to the bare minimum?

Yes. If short of light, increasing the ISO may also work.

Apparently, I'm better off shooting ISO6400 rather than shooting ISO800 and boosting it by two or three stops?

jboyer wrote:

Sgt_Strider wrote:

jboyer wrote:

Sgt_Strider wrote:

jboyer wrote:

I have an RP since its launch (eons ago?). The exposure is the key. 'Well' exposed pictures -- requiring minimal boosting of the dark areas, will come clean of noise at high ISO values. I shoot RAW and use Capture One as my RAW processor. I came from a 7D and a 6D.

This issue is mostly related in the need to get better rendition of dark areas, like backlit pictures. A bit of over exposure may go a long way. As one poster noted, this issue may not really exist, and the Canon colors are worth the potential problems.

And today, the issue of noise is non sequitur with tools like Topaz AI.

After 1000s of RP pictures, I still feel it is a very decent and useable camera. Sill the most affordable Full Frame, with all the pros and cons of the format.

But it is an entry level body and if budget is no object, a R6 II may serve you better in the longer term. At three times the price.

Even right now I tend to expose to the right. I'm assuming that what you mean is I can reduce the exposure and not have to lift any shadows to keep noise to the bare minimum?

Yes. If short of light, increasing the ISO may also work.

Apparently, I'm better off shooting ISO6400 rather than shooting ISO800 and boosting it by two or three stops?

It really depends on what you are shooting. There are a few 'methods' to increase the perceived DR. Bracketing, using higher ISO and 'overexpose' (assuming your RAW processor is good at recovery of highlights), HDR in camera, etc.

And sometimes, noise is simply OK. It may hurt in a deep blue sky or muddy some grass. The final image may be great, no matter what.

At the RP price point, you get a pretty serviceable camera.

I'm sort of confused about how noise could be an issue. If I expose it to the right and start lowering the exposure, what would be causing the noise? I can understand if I'm increasing the exposure during post-processing or shooting in high ISO, but if I expose to the right at base ISO?

This is the image I shot

Unedited

You want to see the ugly noise?

Lights 100% down and Shadow 100% up in Lightroom

This is a Sony A7 photo

Lights 100% down and Shadow 100% up in Lightroom + 1EV Exposure on top needed.

So if you want to do this type of shots you better bracket or buy a Nikon camera!

You have visible noise, when you lift the shadows too heavy. Look at my example above

dpfan32 wrote:

You have visible noise, when you lift the shadows too heavy. Look at my example above

I apologize if I'm being rude, but we're not even talking about lifting shadows as there is universal agreement that there is noise. What we are talking about is exposing to the right or at least getting the exposure right and then dialing back the settings like exposure. The consensus thus far is that noise won't be an issue in this scenario?