Photography in the RAW - rps-isg.org · Photography in the RAW ... Nikon Capture NX V1.2 ... Late...

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© 18/12/2007 Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye Photography in the RAW Dr. Harry Adam & Dr. Tony Kaye The Royal Photographic Society Imaging Science Group Good Picture - 2007

Transcript of Photography in the RAW - rps-isg.org · Photography in the RAW ... Nikon Capture NX V1.2 ... Late...

Page 1: Photography in the RAW - rps-isg.org · Photography in the RAW ... Nikon Capture NX V1.2 ... Late breaking test on Irfan View 4.1 ...

© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Photography in the RAW

Dr. Harry Adam & Dr. Tony Kaye

The Royal Photographic Society

Imaging Science Group

Good Picture - 2007

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What is RAW?

RAW or Cooked?

The Royal Photographic Society

Imaging Science Group

Good Picture - 2007

What is Cooked?

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

What is RAW?

RAW is the digital equivalent of a latent image

RAW = Undeveloped

Product photographers using sheet film often made

multiple exposures at the same camera settings

giving several identical latent images so they could

be developed in different ways. A single RAW file can

be developed an infinite number of times (and ways)

The film analogy

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

What is Cooked?

So, what is digital “development”?

Digital sensors (pixels) simply measure light levels,

expressed as voltages and converted to one of a

discrete number of levels for digital representation.

Colour interpretation depends on the filter array

used in the specific camera and on software to

interpret or interpolate the colours not actually

measured at a given pixel.

The film analogy – cooked = developed

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Digital developmentA filter array commonly looks like this

- the Bayer pattern (Kodak patent to Bruce E Bayer in 1976, US3,971,065 )

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Digital development

is most commonly done for you –

in camera (cameras are also computers….)

So what?

Well, colour, tone-scale and other

factors set by the camera are now

cooked. Worse - normally a low-bit,

compressed file (jpg) is created.

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8 bit images: 28 levels = 256 levels

12 bit images: 212 levels = 4096 levels

14 bit images: 214 levels = 16383 levels

16 bit images: 216 levels = 65532 levels

Jpeg or tif (cooked)

RAW

16x levels

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Truly 256 levels

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Compressed to 175 levels

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175 levels stretched over 255

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Truly 65532 levels

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Compressed to 44797 levels

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Truly 44797 levels

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Camera preferences

Colour preferences

White balance

Sharpness

Noise reduction

Scene Modes

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Storage space…?

Why not RAW?

16 Gb Sandisk Extreme III CF - £159 inc. Vat (7/12/07)

2 Gb Sandisk Extreme III CF - £18 inc. Vat (7/12/07)

500GB external HD - £65 (7/12/07) – smaller than a 100

slide tray/box – and each of those cost over £10

Not an issue…………….

10Mp Olympus E3 gets 98 RAW +jpg on a 2Gb card

Film - £10 for 36 exposures? 98 images = £27

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, RAW + jpeg

Why not RAW?

Workflow??

~3 Mp jpg embedded in RAW

use free exiftool to extract – ideal

for web applications.

RAW

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OK, persuaded to try RAW?

Over to Tony to tell you

more about choices of

developing your RAW

files.

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The Choice and Qualities of Developers

It is often argued with considerable truth that the number

of developer formulae published in the Almanac and other

standard works of reference is far in excess of that

required by the average photographer.

Indeed, it is quite possible and successfully practical

regardless of subject to carry out the development of all

types of plates and films, and further to make the

necessary prints on any type of modern developing paper,

using a single well-balanced M-Q developer of the Ilford

ID-36 or Kodak D-158 type.

How then do we justify the array of formulae, relatively

small though it is......First must be considered the

newcomer to photography, who regardless of sound

advice will be tempted to experiment with almost every

formula which comes his way. Secondly, there is the

expert who desires to find always his favourite formula in

the current Almanac, and at the same time be apprised,

particularly in the case of fine grain developers, of any

change that has taken place in developing technique.

BJP Almanac 1952 - p270, p271© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

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The Choice and Qualities of Raw Converters

A raw converter is a “digital developer”

Silver Halide Latent Image

D76, ID11, Acutol, Promicrol, Microphen, etc.

Digital Camera RAW File

Adobe, Bibble, Corel, Nikon, Canon, etc.

From the RAW data

Read camera metadata

Demosaicing (Bayer Array)

Colour Balance (white balance)

Tone scale

Colour Reproduction

Noise Reduction

Sharpening

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What Software/Converters?Nikon D70 Nikon D200

Camerametadata

ColourManaged

ImageSize

Camerametadata

ColourManaged

Image Size

In Camera Processing √ EXIF in Jpegs 3008 X 2000 √ EXIF in Jpegs 3872 X 2592

Adobe CS3 Extended V10.0

X ICC 3008 X 2000 X ICC 3872 X 2592

Bibble V4.9.8e X ICC 3028 X 2002 X ICC 3880 X 2608

Capture One V3.7.7 X ICC 3008 X 1996 X ICC 3872 X 2592

Corel Paintshop Pro XIV11.2

X ICC 3036 X 2010 X ICC 3900 X 2612

DXO Optics Pro V5 Some ICC 3008 X 2000 Some ICC 3872 X 2592

FastStone Image ViewerV3.1

X EXIF 3039 X 2014 X EXIF 3900 X 2616

IrfanView V3.99 √ X 3008 X 2000 √ X 3872 X 2592

Nikon Capture NX V1.2 √ ICC 3008 X 2000 √ ICC 3872 X 2592

Picassa 2 V2.7.0 X EXIF 3039 X 2014 X EXIF 3904 X 2616

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What Software/Converters?Kodak P880

Camerametadata

ColourManaged

ImageSize

In Camera Processing √EXIF –

JPEGS/TIFFS3264 X 2448

Adobe CS3 Extended V10.0 X ICC 3264 X 2488

IrfanView V3.99 √ X 3264 X 2448

Kodak Easy Share V6.4.0 √ EXIF 3264 X 2448

Picassa 2 V2.7.0 X EXIF 3280 X 2454

Bibble V4.9.8e N/A N/A N/A

Capture One V3.7.7 N/A N/A N/A

Corel Paintshop Pro XI V11.2 N/A N/A N/A

DXO Optics Pro V5 N/A N/A N/A

FastStone Image Viewer V3.1 N/A N/A N/A

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Colour & Tone ScaleMacbeth Color Checker

Dark Light Blue Foilage Purplish Bluish

Skin Skin Sky Blue Green

Orange Purplish Moderate Purple Yellow Orange

Blue Red Green Yellow

Blue Green Red Yellow Magenta Cyan

White Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Black

8 6.5 5 3.5

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Colour & Tone Scale - Data Acquisition

The test chart was photographed

Nikon D70 & Nikon D200 - RAW & High Quality JPEG

Kodak P880 - RAW & TIFF

Custom White Balance, normal/standard for colour

saturation, sharpness, contrast etc.

sRGB colour space selected

Opened using all the different converters

Default settings for colour, noise reduction etc.

Saved as 8bit TIFF sRGB

All images opened using Photoshop CS3 Extended

Custom action used to record r,g,b code values from all

patches

Values saved as text file

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Colour & Tone Scale - Data Analysis

Text files imported into Excel – Macros used to:-

Convert r, g, b code values to L* a* b* (Lightness, R-G, Y-B)

Correct residual lightness and colour errors so the mid scale

gray (N5 ) values match the reference values for the chart

Compare the L* a* b* values of the data from the files with the

reference values of the Macbeth Chart

Calculate CIE 2000 colour differences

Data plotted

Colour Balance

Lightness

Colour Accuracy

Colour Saturation

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Colour Balance Nikon D200

© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Colour Balance Nikon D200

Capture One Bibble

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Tone Scale D70

© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Tone Scale D70

Bibble Corel PSP

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Colour Accuracy (Error)

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Colour Error D200 – “Reds”

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Colour Error D200 – “Reds”

Bibble Adobe

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Colour Error D70 – “Dark Skin”

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Colour Error D70 – “Dark Skin”

Adobe IIIa

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Colour Saturation

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Colour Saturation

Picassa IIIa

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Noise - Data Acquisition & Analysis (I) Exposures as per colour reproduction

Nikon D70 & D200 ISO 800

Kodak P880 ISO 100

Opened using all the different converters at default settings

Saved as 8bit TIFF sRGB

All images opened using Photoshop CS3 Extended

Correct any residual lightness and colour errors so N5 from capture

matches reference L* a* b* values for the Macbeth Chart

Converted from sRGB images to Lab images

Histogram function

Rectangular crop used on N5, N3.5 and Black

Standard deviation recorded for L, a, and b

Averaged over the three neutral patches

Luma Noise – standard deviation “Lightness”

Chroma Noise – (standard deviation a2 + standard deviation b2)1/2

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Noise - Data Acquisition & Analysis (II)

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Noise – Data Analysis

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Noise – Data Analysis

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Noise D70

FastStone Capture One Capture one + NR

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Noise D200

Nikon Capture NX Bibble

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Noise D200

Nikon Capture NX - Sharpened Bibble

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Demosaicing

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Nikon

D70

© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

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Nikon

D200

© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

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Nikon D70

Corel PSP Adobe CS3

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Nikon

D200

© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

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IRFAN View – A Mystery

8 X 8 Blocks – JPEG?

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

DXO Optics Pro 5 – A Mystery?

Dramatic colour saturation difference between

Nikon D70 & D200

Only small/minimal differences seen with other

converters

Why?

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DXO Optics Pro 5 – A Mystery Solved

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Sharpness

Sorry we ducked the issue!!!

Star chart gives a subjective comparison of

resolution

Sharpness is visual attribute

Depends upon viewing distance type of output etc.

Easily changed via USM

Difficult to show on a projection system

High quality digital output needed

Sharpening needs to be fine tuned for output

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

ConclusionsDeciding to shoot RAW defers image decisions

to you, but........

1 RAW file, 10 converters

10 Different images!!

RAW converters really are like “devlopers”

1 Film Type

10 Different processing labs or “developers”

10 Different results

Page 53: Photography in the RAW - rps-isg.org · Photography in the RAW ... Nikon Capture NX V1.2 ... Late breaking test on Irfan View 4.1 ...

© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

News Flash – Software UpdatesLate breaking test on Corel Paint Shop Pro X2

Colour & Tonescale = Paint Shop Pro XI

Demosaicing – equivalent performance to XI

Late breaking test on Irfan View 4.1

Colour & Tonescale = Version 3.99

Demosaicing – equivalent to Version 3.99

JPEG artefacts present in both 3.99 and 4.1

Page 54: Photography in the RAW - rps-isg.org · Photography in the RAW ... Nikon Capture NX V1.2 ... Late breaking test on Irfan View 4.1 ...

© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Recommendations

Download the “DEMOS” and try a few!

Make certain the software will open the RAW files

your camera generates

You may decide ease of use and workflow takes

precedence over “quality” or features

Colour, Tonescale, Sharpness, Noise

Adjustable via filters, levels, curves etc.

Demosaicing artefacts

Difficult if not impossible to eliminate in a fully

“rendered” image

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© 18/12/2007 – Dr. H. Adam & Dr. T. Kaye

Thank You

What RAW Converter

should I use?

I don’t know but try

before you buy