Rebel XT RAW workflow

[The Hardcard]

Introduction (skippable)

Hi everyone. I am the new proud owner of a Rebel XT. I am a novice/intermediate photographer, I have work on pictures with Photoshop for years, fairly proficient, far from an expert. I haven't had the resources to fully develop as a photographer.

I have had film cameras, most recently a Rebel G, but I have never had space or resources for a darkroom and sending the rolls of film I need to be developed to hone my skills is to expensive, not to mention the detailed notes on what I was trying to achieve with each snap, and the setting I used to try to achieve it, so by the time I got the pics back I could remember if they came out the way I wanted.

I am killing myself (almost literally, a lot of money for basics is gone) to get the XT, but I am very happy. I have always felt I had the eye and attention to detail to be a pro, now I can go as far as I am capable of. Having the pics to examine and work on while the intents are still in my head is wonderful, (still plan on taking some notes though.)

The Gritty Nitty:

Heres were I am at.

1. I plan on doing all my processing in Photoshop. I want total control. That means linear conversion of the RAW images.

I have CS, but not CS 2, unfortunately it may be a while before I can upgrade. So I had been using the Canon tools until I found out about DCRAW. I do see a difference (it is very slight, the Canon conversions are pretty good now, better than when this Accurate Image Manipulation guy (http://www.aim-dtp.net/aim/digicam/dcraw/) discovered DCRAW, still, magnified I can find areas where DCRAW handles it image a little better. Also interestingly DCRAW yields an image size of 3472 by 2312 as opposed the the 3456 by 2304 stated resolution.

Questions:

I got a linear gamma profile from that Accurate Image Manipulation guy (http://www.aim-dtp.net/aim/techniques/index.htm), but his assigned profile is D60 (as in CAnon D60 camera) Sunlight Linear RAW.

So,

Does anyone have a profile(s) for the XT, or know where I can get them?

Also, do you really need a separate profile for various lights? If so, I'd like to get them.

Also, for my ultra-low-budget studio, I am now using construction stands with halogen bulbs. But I have never seen the color temperature of these bulbs described anywhere. Are they different than incandescent bulbs? Does anyone know what the temperature is?

I have read that CS2 uses DCRaw. It that true?

Beyond resolution, the two converters also have somewhat different tonal balance. Which one is more accurate for your pics?

Tip:

There is a graphical front-end for DCRAW, called DCRAW-X for Mac OS X. (http://frostyplace.com/dcraw/) While DCRAW has been updated to decode XT RAW files, DCRAW-x has an older version. But if you put the latest version of DCRAW in the package, it works fine.

1. Download the latest MacOSX build for DCRAW. (http://www.insflug.org/raw/) Double-click on the archive to expand it. It will be in a usr folder, with paths set up to show where you would put them in your usr folder if you were to use the command-line (tedious) to convert your pics. Navigate to usr/bin/dcraw. Open a Get Info window on this (Command+I): in the Name and Extension window, add the extension .app.

2. Download or go to DCRAW-x. Control-click on the app, in the contextual menu that appears, select Show Package Contents, which will happen in a new window. Navigate to Contents/Resources. You will see DCRAW there.

3. Toss that one and put the one you just renamed in its place. Close the window.

4. Now put DCRAW-x where you keep your applications and enjoy!!!

I hope I was able to give something back. I plan on making a financial donation for this forum server once my wallet recovers. Also, I plan on sharing pics and ideas as soon as I can.

Thank you all for any and all help.

Derek

[rabidcow]

I always use Photoshop for final processing, but my conversion software is still BreezeBrowser (http://www.breezesys.com/), the white balace and gamma shift are second to none in my opinion. I also use Noise Ninja (http://www.picturecode.com/) to reduce noise and to sharpen high ISO images. Once that is complete, it's off to Photoshop for final tweaks.

BTW, I use the 300D, I have almost outgrown it though, I really want/need more from my camera. How does that XT handle?

[CyberPet]

You *can* open the 350D images in Photoshop CS, but you need to convert them to DNG files first. Camera Raw 2.4 that's the last and best raw converter for CS can open DNG files. So you can d/l the DNG Converter and still play with it in Photoshop CS.

Or if you shell out for Photoshop Elements 3, since that supports Camera Raw 3.1, which can open the 350D raw files directly.

Otherwise there's a ton of raw converters out on the market... so you can do your conversion and then do the final touches in Photoshop CS.

[PhotosGuy]

I am now using construction stands with halogen bulbs. But I have never seen the color temperature of these bulbs described anywhere. From somewhere way back in the dark ages I seem to remember that they're 3400K opposed to 3200K for incandescent.
Why worry about it? If you've calibrated your monitor & workflow, use your eye. The "correct" color temp is (usually) not the "Right" temp for all pics. That's why we use gells for our lights to introduce color to the "Correct" 3400K light to produce different effects.

A note on conversion:
I've used the free RSE (RawShooter Essentials) since it came out & wouldn't be without it now. I usually only go into PS to crop, resize & do some final sharpening unless it's a complex shot. For the simple shots, RSE saves the conversion info so I can delete the big tiff file & save a lot of hard drive space in the long run.

RawShooter link at the bottom of this review:
http://www.outbackphoto.com/artofraw/raw_18/essay.html
or skip the review:
http://www.pixmantec.com/index2.html

[tzalman]

Introduction (skippable)

I got a linear gamma profile from that Accurate Image Manipulation guy (http://www.aim-dtp.net/aim/techniques/index.htm), but his assigned profile is D60 (as in CAnon D60 camera) Sunlight Linear RAW.
So,
Does anyone have a profile(s) for the XT, or know where I can get them?
Derek

If you install DPP which you received with the XT - you can uninstall it later -
you will find in the DPP folder a sub-folder called "icc". This contains, in addition to the three working space profiles, capture space profiles for various cameras (DPP apparently identifies the source of a raw file from the metadata and applies the appropriate profile). The one called "Kiss Digital N" is for the XT, that's the name it is marketed under in Japan.

[The Hardcard]

Thanks for the responses. I am leaning heavily toward using Adobe Camera Raw. It has an excellent interface. I believe that I have a workaround in the Adobe DNG Converter with CS, until I can get CS 2. Thanks for hipping me to that CyberPet. Wow, you and PhotosGuy are very active memers, a lot of posts in comparison with your join dates.

I just want to confirm that I don't lose any advantages of Raw by using it. If the goal is a unified format, it would seem important for DNG to work the same as Raw, but I need to do more reading on it.

RawShooter Essentials looks even more attractive, however I am a Mac user, rendering that comparison moot until and/or unless they come out with a Mac OS X version. Same unfortunately with BreezeBrowser.

But I really appreciate you directing me to Noise Ninja, rabidcow. It is now a part of my workflow.

Actually, I am discovering that with Raw, knowing the exact temperature of your lights is not critical. The White Balance controls in Adobe Camera are very easy to use.

Thanx much for the heads up on the icc profiles, tzalman. I am assuming you are using Windows, since there isn't such a folder on the Mac version. But it was easy for me to assume they were in the application bundle. I did a "Show Package Contents, looked in the Resources folder, and BAM! There they were. I am copying them to my Adobe profiles.

But if DNG turns out to be the ticket for me, I may not need them. Thanks again everybody. I discovered this forum 4 days ago and most all my online time has been in here since then! A very rich resource!

[CyberPet]

Yes, you will not lose any advantages at all... it's just a format that will work in any raw converter (in this case Adobe's own). You'll actually *gain* advantages using DNG, since the files are smaller. Not sure why, might be some embedded jpeg (preview file or something) that gets tossed, but the files are smaller, which is great for storage reasons.

I used DNG and still use it, with my 350D. I'm not that familiar with CS2 yet, even if I do have it. So I'm going back and forth a bit. The upgrade to CS2 will of course be good, especially with the better features in Camera Raw 3.1, but I do OK in CS and if I do need to adjust the curves, I just set the image in 16 bits before I open it, so I get more bits to play with.

[Barry Pearson]

Yes, you will not lose any advantages at all... it's just a format that will work in any raw converter (in this case Adobe's own). You'll actually *gain* advantages using DNG, since the files are smaller. Not sure why, might be some embedded jpeg (preview file or something) that gets tossed, but the files are smaller, which is great for storage reasons.

It is smaller because it uses very good lossless compression. (It actually uses a LOSSLESS variant of JPEG compression! Yes, there is one).