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The image you see in your camera's EVF or LCD is a jpeg preview file. That in particular goes for any RAW image files you shoot, which have a jpeg preview file embedded in them.And viewing your raw files in camera would be super low.
correct- also the histogram is based on the embedded jpeg fileThe image you see in your camera's EVF or LCD is a jpeg preview file. That in particular goes for any RAW image files you shoot, which have a jpeg preview file embedded in them.And viewing your raw files in camera would be super low.
Synology has compression.Sadly it's not available for USB or NAS drives. Edit:USB does do this as well.
Nice but still doesn't let Sony off the hook.Ha! Look at that.Just do a simple test: get ANY RAW file from a Sony camera and run on a ZIP software in your computer. Completely lossless and makes the file actually smaller then the "lossy" compressed RAW that Sony offers.
Uncompressed: 81.4MB
Compressed with Windows: 39.4MB
Compressed with WinRar: 26.0MB
Nice. Never knew.
RAW compression is a processor-intensive task and although it frees up buffer space it adds computational activity. I'm guessing this is a tradeoff for SonyI am a happy owner of an A7r3 and I loved the specs of the A7r4, but, I will not get it. Why? Because of the uncompressed RAW files SIZE...
Seriously, I have no idea why Sony cannot add a single LZW compression on their firmware. I am not talking about fancy proprietary compression, I am talking about open-source industry standard ones.
Just do a simple test: get ANY RAW file from a Sony camera and run on a ZIP software in your computer. Completely lossless and makes the file actually smaller then the "lossy" compressed RAW that Sony offers.
I just don't get it. A7r3 RAW files are already a nightmare for my backup drive. I just cannot handle 61mp of that...
If Sony just comes out tomorrow with a firmware across the board (A7iii, A7r3, A9 and A7r4) offering lossless compressed RAW (like everyone else, and like their customers are asking for ages), then I will be tempted to get the A7r4. Until then, I am not planning to spend the cameras worse in more external drives, thank you![]()
I think you misunderstand. A lot of modern compression algorithms are quite quick to decompress, despite taking more effort to compress.The problem is if you ever want to re-process raw files in camera, then you have to decompress the whole huge file first. And viewing your raw files in camera would be super low. Don't know if that is even supported. An uncompressed raw file you can read and scale down faster.
So usability might decrease with in camera compression.
I disagree. A generic LZW compression ASIC costs cents and would be easy to integrate -- if it was a problem in the first place.RAW compression is a processor-intensive task and although it frees up buffer space it adds computational activity. I'm guessing this is a tradeoff for SonyI am a happy owner of an A7r3 and I loved the specs of the A7r4, but, I will not get it. Why? Because of the uncompressed RAW files SIZE...
Seriously, I have no idea why Sony cannot add a single LZW compression on their firmware. I am not talking about fancy proprietary compression, I am talking about open-source industry standard ones.
Just do a simple test: get ANY RAW file from a Sony camera and run on a ZIP software in your computer. Completely lossless and makes the file actually smaller then the "lossy" compressed RAW that Sony offers.
I just don't get it. A7r3 RAW files are already a nightmare for my backup drive. I just cannot handle 61mp of that...
If Sony just comes out tomorrow with a firmware across the board (A7iii, A7r3, A9 and A7r4) offering lossless compressed RAW (like everyone else, and like their customers are asking for ages), then I will be tempted to get the A7r4. Until then, I am not planning to spend the cameras worse in more external drives, thank you![]()
You can, of course, convert on your computer....to DNG, for example
By the way...I just bought an 8TB external drive for $129....that can hold your life's collection of video and stills and your DVD collection and your neighbors.
What seems to be the biggest issue for you is a total non-issue for meI am a happy owner of an A7r3 and I loved the specs of the A7r4, but, I will not get it. Why? Because of the uncompressed RAW files SIZE...
Not true. I did your test with A7RIII files and the ZIP-files turn out to be 60 MB:Just do a simple test: get ANY RAW file from a Sony camera and run on a ZIP software in your computer. Completely lossless and makes the file actually smaller then the "lossy" compressed RAW that Sony offers.

Losslessly compressed raws have the same characteristics as uncompressed raws. Even Sony's lossy compressed raws behave quite similarly to uncompressed raws when pushing shadows/highlights.I wonder if losslessly compressed raws would fare well when pushing shadows up 2-3 full stops (and highlights - down by as much). I tend to think, the output woud be noticeably noisier and choppier than losslessly uncompressed raws'.
By definition, lossless compression does not lose any data. It is theoretically possible to transform an uncompressed RAW to lossless compressed RAW and back to uncompressed RAW without any difference from the original.How's that possible? If that were the case, why would there be a nominal disparity between the two compression types? Surely, one must render greater compromise in quality than the other.
Can you substantiate your claim empirically?
I seeI meant: "How's that possible that lossy compressed raws behave quite similarly to uncompressed raws when pushing shadows/highlights?"
There surely must be a difference in the output between uncompressed raws and lossy-compressed raw files post- highlight/shadow push-pull?
I don't see a problem. Use the compressed Raw files for almost everything and uncompressed for supercritical stuff.I am a happy owner of an A7r3 and I loved the specs of the A7r4, but, I will not get it. Why? Because of the uncompressed RAW files SIZE...
Seriously, I have no idea why Sony cannot add a single LZW compression on their firmware. I am not talking about fancy proprietary compression, I am talking about open-source industry standard ones.
Just do a simple test: get ANY RAW file from a Sony camera and run on a ZIP software in your computer. Completely lossless and makes the file actually smaller then the "lossy" compressed RAW that Sony offers.
I just don't get it. A7r3 RAW files are already a nightmare for my backup drive. I just cannot handle 61mp of that...
If Sony just comes out tomorrow with a firmware across the board (A7iii, A7r3, A9 and A7r4) offering lossless compressed RAW (like everyone else, and like their customers are asking for ages), then I will be tempted to get the A7r4. Until then, I am not planning to spend the cameras worse in more external drives, thank you![]()
I am curious - what makes you think that you ever "re-process raw files in camera"? Once a raw file is written to the memory card the camera never processes it again.The problem is if you ever want to re-process raw files in camera, then you have to decompress the whole huge file first. And viewing your raw files in camera would be super low. Don't know if that is even supported. An uncompressed raw file you can read and scale down faster.
So usability might decrease with in camera compression.
Do you understand the term "lossless compression"? The data is identical - that's why it's called "lossless" - if there were any difference, it's not lossless. So image is exactly the same no matter what processing you wish to perform.I wonder if losslessly compressed raws would fare well when pushing shadows up 2-3 full stops (and highlights - down by as much). I tend to think, the output woud be noticeably noisier and choppier than losslessly uncompressed raws'.
Hell I'd be satisfied with a pc/mac software program to compress after the fact (like the DNG converter).Exactly. I honestly think that Sony can do it at anytime, and with a 61mp camera (120mb files) it is almost like a requirement... It should come with the camera and it could (honestly should) go down for the "older" (but still active) models (A7iii, A7r3 and A9).