Parameters and Color Space when Shooting RAW

[markubig]

Hi all -

I'm playing around with my new 20D and I was wondering if the "Parameters" and "Color Space" come into play while shooting strictly in RAW? If so, what do you have yours set to?

Thanks, in advance!

[KJGradwell]

Mark

I'm new to this myself however I believe the short answer is no. You can choose which colour space your particular RAW software converts to.

Kevan

[Moments]

I have the default Parameters 2 set, and I shoot in Adobe RGB to utilize a wider color space. Those settings are only put into use when exporting the images. But I keep them set while i'm shooting in case they also altar the raw file in the camera.

[tim]

The settings make no difference to the RAW image, they only apply to JPG images. The tiny preview JPG image will be processed with those parameters, as with the JPG if you shoot RAW+JPG.

[picture-this]

The parameters will not affect the raw file, but choosing the Colorspace will. Adobe RGB is a wider colorspace then S RGB (it will record more colors). leave it on S RGB unless your serious about printing and don't mind converting colorspaces for web and such.

[Jesper]

The parameters will not affect the raw file, but choosing the Colorspace will. Adobe RGB is a wider colorspace then S RGB (it will record more colors). leave it on S RGB unless your serious about printing and don't mind converting colorspaces for web and such.No, it will not.

With RAW images, you set the parameters, including the colour space of the output image, in the RAW conversion software. When you shoot RAW, the camera just writes the data that comes from the sensor (more or less) directly to the CF card, without applying any digital processing (boosting saturation, contrast, sharpness etc.). The sensor itself has a certain, device specific response to colour, and its device dependent colour space is different from either Adobe RGB or sRGB. The RAW conversion software converts the sensor data into an RGB image in a certain colour space.

[mr.photoguy]

I just set my settings @ a custom Parameter, so when I do a quick switch to jpeg, if I am doing some fool around shooting, I will have less stuff to add, but if I do Raw then I do all the editing myself because with Raw all the settings are at 0.. Just play around with it till you find what suits you.

[picture-this]

No, it will not.

With RAW images, you set the parameters, including the colour space of the output image, in the RAW conversion software. When you shoot RAW, the camera just writes the data that comes from the sensor (more or less) directly to the CF card, without applying any digital processing (boosting saturation, contrast, sharpness etc.). The sensor itself has a certain, device specific response to colour, and its device dependent colour space is different from either Adobe RGB or sRGB. The RAW conversion software converts the sensor data into an RGB image in a certain colour space.



Oh, so the camera is actually seeing a wider range of colors and your compressing it down when using the raw converter? Also then why isn't there more different colorspace choices in the converer then the two?

[KennyG]

Oh, so the camera is actually seeing a wider range of colors and your compressing it down when using the raw converter? Also then why isn't there more different colorspace choices in the converer then the two?


Some RAW converters do offer more than two clolour spaces for the conversion, RSE for example.

[lancea]

No, it will not. ... The sensor itself has a certain, device specific response to colour, and its device dependent colour space is different from either Adobe RGB or sRGB. The RAW conversion software converts the sensor data into an RGB image in a certain colour space.
Can anyone confirm this, or give some references? I was thinking seriously of changing to Adobe RGB and from what I've read previously I had concluded that the colour space setting did apply to RAW.

[tim]

Can anyone confirm this, or give some references? I was thinking seriously of changing to Adobe RGB and from what I've read previously I had concluded that the colour space setting did apply to RAW.

Go read this book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/032127878X/qid=1107482395/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-5112275-8136748?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), it's very good. The settings don't apply to RAW.

[markubig]

thanks for the insight, guys!

[lancea]

Go read this book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/032127878X/qid=1107482395/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-5112275-8136748?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), it's very good. The settings don't apply to RAW.
Dang! I was hoping this setting would be one of those "magic" ones, but that's not such a bad confirmation as at least I know RAW has at least that colour space. I must have a play with jpeg and see if I can spot any difference when changing the space.

Thanks very much,
Lance

[Jesper]

Oh, so the camera is actually seeing a wider range of colors and your compressing it down when using the raw converter? Also then why isn't there more different colorspace choices in the converer then the two?In many RAW conversion programs (Capture One, RawShooter, ...) you aren't limited to sRGB or Adobe RGB for the output colour space. You can choose any output colour space you like, as long as you have an ICC profile installed for it on your computer. I don't know why Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop limits you to Adobe RGB or sRGB.

[PacAce]

As was already mentioned by others, no, none of the parameters and color space settings affect the RAW image. However, I like to set my parameters and color spaces to my liking anyway because they are stored in the RAW file as meta data and is used as the default parameter and color space by the RAW converter. If I have them set the way I want them processed, then I don't have to go and change them every time I convert my raw files which is what I would have to do if my camera parameters are different from what I would use when converting the raw files. BTW, this is true for the Canon raw converters. This won't necessarily apply to ACR and I'm not sure if it's the same with the other 3rd party raw converters.

[griff2]

Ditto. That way my default settings in the RAW converter are what I want 99% of the time. Another question though, does anybody print out using the Adobe RGB colour space. My printer, a HP 5550, has the profiles to print in this space and I'm wondering is it worth it?

[PacAce]

Ditto. That way my default settings in the RAW converter are what I want 99% of the time. Another question though, does anybody print out using the Adobe RGB colour space. My printer, a HP 5550, has the profiles to print in this space and I'm wondering is it worth it?
All my prints are done with the image color space set to Adobe RGB as my printer has a wider color gamut than sRGB. If your printer is capable of printing in a wider color gamut than sRGB and has the capability to input Adobe RGB images directly for printing, then you should take advantage of that since you're talking about a wider color gamut with Adobe RGB than you would get otherwise with sRGB.

[griff2]

Last night I did some experimenting with my printer: I used my RAW utilities to output an image to both sRGB and Adobe RGB. On comparing printouts Adobe RGB was superior, the extra colour space was obvious and seemed to sharpen the image up slightly - needless to say, I'm now going to use Adobe RGB permanently.

[Scott J]

If you want to get the most out of your sensor probably the best way to go is convert to ProPhoto RGB in 16 bit -- that combination is available with Adobe Raw Converter at least.

You can then convert to another colour space dependent on what your final output is going to be.

Remember though to change the colour space in photoshop as you go. Choose Prophoto for working RGB when editing in ProPhoto but change it to s RGB if you are working on images to output to the web.

If you are sending images out make sure you do the conversion to the final colour space yourself -- I've noticed that if you don't actually go through the step of converting the image to a new profile in photoshop you can loose a lot of colours.

To see what I mean take an image in ProPhoto or Adobe RGB and then use Photoshops save for web.

Then try converting to s RGB (Convert profile) before you save for web.

Compare the two - - - - big difference isn't there !