Another 20D sharpening question

[Bob_A]

I searched the forum and couldn't find an answer to this ... so here goes:

In camera sharpening in the 20D is set between -2 and +2, with default set to 0. If I shoot RAW and will be improving the sharpening in post processing, should I be setting the sharpening to -2 or leave it at 0?

Or, in RAW do I simply set the sharpening from 0 to -2 before creating a jpeg to post process in PS?


Bob

[HJMinard]

I could be mistaken, but I don't think the camera sharpens RAW images ... although it will sharpen the embedded JPEG (if that matters). RAW images are not subject to any in-camera processing parameters (saturation, etc.).

[Bob_A]

Hi Jay,

I guess that's what I've been wondering. Maybe the settings when in RAW simply tell software such as EOS Viewer utility the defaults for displaying the image when first viewed.

If this is the case, should I be setting the sharpness to -2 when I create the jpeg for applying USM in Photoshop?

[HJMinard]

Yes ... the software will know what the camera settings were - giving you the option of applying them during translation.

You can sharpen, or not, during translation - to any level you'd like. If, however, you prefer to apply your sharpening later in Photoshop or similar software, then just leave it at zero during the RAW to JPEG (or TIF) translation. No minus necessary.

[Bob_A]

Thanks,

That's what I've been doing, but thought that since 0 is really the equivalent of +2 on on other Canon DSLR's that maybe sharpening should be turned off to ensure that there were no artifacts due to sharpening twice (once at 0 ... which is really "average" and once in PS).

Since I'm a noob at digital I'm trying to get the workflow right, even though it might not make a lot of difference except to someone more experienced.


Bob

[tim]

RAW applies no processing of any kind to the image - it's sensor data compressed and dumped directly to the card. I think there's a small jpg embedded in the RAW, i've no idea what settings that uses. The white ballance set on the camera is recorded, but in processing you can choose to use it or ignore it, it makes no difference either way.

You need to do your contrast and sharpening manually when you use RAW.

[Bob_A]

Hi Tim,

The only question I have is if others are turning off sharpening in EOS Viewer Utility before creating a jpeg to do post process sharpening in Photoshop. It would seem to me that this is the correct way to go if you plan on applying PS sharpening such as USM ... but maybe most users select "0" (average) instead.

By the way ... there is only an embedded jpeg if you select RAW+jpeg (L, M or S).

[tim]

I don't use EOS Viewer so I can't help sorry. I'd only sharpen things once, if that's what you're asking.

On the 20D if I have RAW + JPEG selected it creates two files on the CF card. Is there another JPG inside the RAW file too?

[HJMinard]

By the way ... there is only an embedded jpeg if you select RAW+jpeg (L, M or S).

Like Tim said, there's a separate JPEG file when you choose the RAW+JPEG options. Even without those options, I recall reading here (and elsewhere) that there is a small JPEG embedded into the RAW file (mainly for display on the camera's LCD?).

[Bob_A]

Could be ... time to search with Google ...


Yup, the jpegs are there. I downloaded a trial copy of Breezebrowser and you can run a batch process to extract them (300 kB files).