RAW question

External Since: Dec 22, 2006 Posts: 7

Greetings,

I'm using Nikon Capture 4 to process the RAW files from my D50. Under
the "Advanced RAW" toolbar, there is an slider labeled "Exp Comp" with
a -2 to +2 range.

I understand that RAWs are unprocessed captures from the sensor and so
I grasp the negative half of the slider but not the positive half. How
can you get more light out of the digital negative than actually hit
the sensor? Seems like if this really worked then I'd be getting
something for nothing so I assume I don't understand it properly.

Help?

Also, are there any programs that will allow me to "fast" post-process
my RAW images? In other words, I *could* set my capture be RAW+JPG
but that takes up extra space. I'm just looking for a piece of
software that emulates what would have happened in-camera to create
that JPG.

Thanks,
Jason

External Since: Dec 22, 2005 Posts: 287

<bodhisoma.TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1166955443.090204.172410@a3g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
> Greetings,
>
> I'm using Nikon Capture 4 to process the RAW files from my D50. Under
> the "Advanced RAW" toolbar, there is an slider labeled "Exp Comp" with
> a -2 to +2 range.
>
> I understand that RAWs are unprocessed captures from the sensor and so
> I grasp the negative half of the slider but not the positive half. How
> can you get more light out of the digital negative than actually hit
> the sensor? Seems like if this really worked then I'd be getting
> something for nothing so I assume I don't understand it properly.

There are extra bits in a raw image that normally do not contribute to the
final jpeg image. In some situations there is actual image data in those
bits. Though the final result will not be equal to that from a well exposed
original, you can rescue some shadow detail this way. In particular, shadow
detail in a severely underexposed image can be rescued, when the jpeg image
made at that same exposure has little or no shadow detail.

> Also, are there any programs that will allow me to "fast" post-process
> my RAW images? In other words, I *could* set my capture be RAW+JPG
> but that takes up extra space. I'm just looking for a piece of
> software that emulates what would have happened in-camera to create
> that JPG.

Adobe Camera Raw allows batch processing of raw images to jpegs, and I
believe that Nikon Capture can do the same.

There is, IMHO, a false mystique about raw images. If you are not processing
your raw images individually, you may be getting no better results than a
high quality jpeg with carefully set white balance and exposure. Having
said that, many photographers and editors swear by raw mode. If I had one
chance for one great image, I would probably shoot in raw mode, just to
squeeze the last drop of potential quality out of the opportunity.
--
Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/