RAW + JPEG shows exposure difference - confused!

I've shot RAW with my XT ever since I got it and I've handled the conversion with DPP (WB fix), RSE (batch) and Elements 5.0 (layers work, curves) according to my needs.

On a recent trip I figured I'd come home with 1000 shots and so I shot everything in RAW + JPEG to cut my post processing. I figured anything where I nailed the WB and exposure I would just use the JPEG's. My understanding is that the camera simply increases contrast, saturation and sharpening as you set it up when it saves the JPEGs.

So the weird thing was that on some of the shots, especially in bright sun, the JPEGs looked to be 1/2 to 1 stop more exposed than the RAW. There were some even where preserved hightlights in the RAW were gone an unrecoverable in the JPEG.

I opened everthing using Elements 5.0. What is going on here? Can the camera adjust the exposure when it saves the JPEG? Is Elements making some adjustments when opening the file? If so, how did Elements blow out highlights that exist in the RAW.

I'm confused. About the only thing I think I've learned is not to shoot in JPEG only mode.

It may be that a contrast curve will make some of the mid-tones to highlights lighter. How do their histograms compare? I wouldn't expect there to be a difference where they start of finish.

Your camera will process the JPG files the way you have your picture style parameters set. If the contrast is set too high, then it could very easily cause the highlight to get blown. The raw files, however, do not have the camera picture style parameters applied to them unless you are using DPP or Image/ZoomBrowser to process them with the default settings. Since you were using Elements, what you see in the raw preview will not necessarily look like the JPEG files coming out of the camera.

You're seeing one of the benefits of shooting RAW... recoverable highlights... that you otherwise would assume to be gone forever with Jpeg since it throws information away when its processed.

(I still shoot RAW+jpeg myself, however, since jpeg is sometimes all I need.)

By default ACR (the RAW engine in Elements) uses Auto settings which will "correct" the shot. You need to turn those off. You can do it manually for each shot by pressing CTRL + U or setup your default settings with this settings off.

JeffreyG wrote in post #3509821
I opened everthing using Elements 5.0.

Autocorrect is probably the cause, as Mike says. Try opening both files in DPP and see what you get. Theoretically they should be the same.

The RAW shots will not have the parameter settings that the JPEG will have. Parameter 2 is neutral without any processing, parameter 1 has some saturation, contrast, and sharpness added for more pop though.

I'd doubt that this would lead to a 1/2 stop increase in exposure though. I suspect that you have the default auto exposure correction left on in PS. I hear you have to turn it off or it auto exposes everything as you upload.

In2Photos wrote in post #3513161
By default ACR (the RAW engine in Elements) uses Auto settings which will "correct" the shot. You need to turn those off. You can do it manually for each shot by pressing CTRL + U or setup your default settings with this settings off.

Curtis N wrote in post #3513183
Autocorrect is probably the cause, as Mike says. Try opening both files in DPP and see what you get. Theoretically they should be the same.

But the OP was complaining that the RAW images look good while the JPEG files shot at the same time looked overexposed. So he wanted to know why that is.

PacAce wrote in post #3514964
But the OP was complaining that the RAW images look good while the JPEG files shot at the same time looked overexposed. So he wanted to know why that is.

Right, so the RAW is being corrected by ACR to be fixed which shows the difference. If he turns it off the difference might be gone. He didn't say that he wanted the shots to be correct, he asked why they would differ.

In2Photos wrote in post #3515771
Right, so the RAW is being corrected by ACR to be fixed which shows the difference. If he turns it off the difference might be gone. He didn't say that he wanted the shots to be correct, he asked why they would differ.

I guess the point I was getting at is that his out-of-the-camera JPEG files seemed to be overexposed. I can't think of anyway ACR would make a raw image look overexposed, if it wasn't that way in the first place, unless maybe if the Auto were turned on. Now, if we were talking about doing the conversion with DPP or Image/ZoomBrowser, then I might agree with your since those programs will, be default, process the image similarly to how the camera would.

My understanding of the auto correct function is that Adobe has created profiles for each model camera that ACR supports and the purpose of these profiles is to "normalize" the results for your camera model so that it will now emulate an ideal camera without inherent biases (please let me know if my understanding of this is incorrect). I don't believe that this is the same thing as the "Auto" function on the Basic tab of the ACR menu which adjusts Exposure, Recovery, Fill Light, Blacks, Brightness, and Contrast. So, which of these are we talking about?

PacAce wrote in post #3515844
I guess the point I was getting at is that his out-of-the-camera JPEG files seemed to be overexposed. I can't think of anyway ACR would make a raw image look overexposed, if it wasn't that way in the first place, unless maybe if the Auto were turned on. Now, if we were talking about doing the conversion with DPP or Image/ZoomBrowser, then I might agree with your since those programs will, be default, process the image similarly to how the camera would.

Didn't I say that the Auto settings would be on?

In2Photos wrote in post #3513161
By default ACR (the RAW engine in Elements) uses Auto settings which will "correct" the shot. You need to turn those off. You can do it manually for each shot by pressing CTRL + U or setup your default settings with this settings off.

bill boehme wrote in post #3515902
My understanding of the auto correct function is that Adobe has created profiles for each model camera that ACR supports and the purpose of these profiles is to "normalize" the results for your camera model so that it will now emulate an ideal camera without inherent biases (please let me know if my understanding of this is incorrect). I don't believe that this is the same thing as the "Auto" function on the Basic tab of the ACR menu which adjusts Exposure, Recovery, Fill Light, Blacks, Brightness, and Contrast. So, which of these are we talking about?

I am talking about the checkboxes being turned on for the basic tab for the above in bold (although recovery and fill light might not be available on his version, not sure).

In2Photos wrote in post #3517746
Didn't I say that the Auto settings would be on?

Yes you did but the OP said that the raw image was OK, not over-exposed like the JPEG. Maybe we're just going around in circles here.

PacAce wrote in post #3519639
Yes you did but the OP said that the raw image was OK, not over-exposed like the JPEG. Maybe we're just going around in circles here.

Maybe? Nope! We definitely are.

The Auto settings in ACR are designed to fix a photo whether it is underexposed or overexposed. So here is my thoughts written out a little more.

With the Auto settings ON the RAW file is fine. But, with the Auto settings OFF the RAW image would be overexposed just like the JPEG.

So now that we have figured out what caused the RAW file to appear different then the JPEG that question is answered. Now we can fix the shots, either with the Auto settings or each one manually.

Is that any better? Or are we still circling?