Camera settings in RAW

12 years 10 months ago #56228 by Be Mine 4ever
I think I know the answer to this but would like to confirm...
If you shoot in RAW, camera settings such as "vivid , portrait, monochrome, colour balance" etc. are useless. Correct?
Assuming shooting in manual, exposure compensation is also useless. Correct?
and even shooting in aperture or shutter priority exposre values are not as important...presumably because it is easier to adjust exposure in a RAW file?

So basically while shooting in RAW you are simply capturing all the data available to the sensor and any filters, adjustments etc can be applied in PP.


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12 years 10 months ago #56307 by LL Jazz
I believe those camera settings such as vivid etc.. still affect how the image looks on the LCD and maybe even the 'as shot' settings in your RAW software.

Exposure is always important. Yes, RAW files do have more flexibility in terms of exposure...but you should still strive for optimal exposures. If in doubt, bracket.


You are saving all the data from the sensor...without the in-camera processing that you would get with a JPEG file.


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12 years 10 months ago #56308 by Be Mine 4ever
Thanks, that's pretty much what I thought.


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12 years 10 months ago #56317 by KCook
In theory - yes (small voice)

In practice - not so fast!

My eye does see a difference when I apply the styles to RAW camera settings. So I do use those. Which is not true for everybody by any means. Many prefer to do all of that in PP.

EV compensation in Manual is redundant, which is not exactly the same as useless. Play that game any way you want.

Exposure adjustment in PP definitely has limits. It's still important to get the exposure as "correct" as possible when making the shot. The PP game is to tweak the tones within the given dynamic range. Don't expect to extend the dynamic range in either direction.

Yes RAW captures data. But not your idea of "all" of the data. The sensor still has limitations, so the exposure still needs to be correct.

Kelly Cook

Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/

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12 years 10 months ago #56433 by ilh2009ky
I definitely agree with the above message. Shoot it right the first time whether you are shooting RAW or JPEG. If you are shooting RAW, you only need to make small edits. If you are shooting JPEG, you have a good photo and no need to edit other than maybe cropping. Get into the habit of taking good photos; then the post processing will take it to an even higher level. If you shoot photos that are not so good, there's a limit to how muchg post processing can add to a bad photo.

Ian Leslie Harry
www.ilhphotography.com

The following user(s) said Thank You: McBeth Photography
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12 years 10 months ago - 12 years 10 months ago #56453 by Henry Peach

Be Mine 4ever wrote: If you shoot in RAW, camera settings such as "vivid , portrait, monochrome, colour balance" etc. are useless.


Correct. They affect the jpeg shown on the LCD, and thus the histogram displayed on the LCD. i wouldn't say they are useless, but they are not permanent processing changes to the raw file.

Be Mine 4ever wrote: Assuming shooting in manual, exposure compensation is also useless.


Correct. Exposure compensation adjusts what tone the meter is going for. In M exposure mode the meter does not change any settings. This doesn't have anything to do with raw though.

Be Mine 4ever wrote: and even shooting in aperture or shutter priority exposure values are not as important...presumably because it is easier to adjust exposure in a RAW file?


Incorrect. You still want to get a good exposure. In the auto exposure modes (everything except M) the meter sets some of the exposure adjustments, and will be affected by exposure comp. If your exposure is too much over or under you will not be able to recover highlight and shadow detail. If you have to brighten in raw processing you will be increasing apparent noise.
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12 years 10 months ago #56483 by KCook

Exposure compensation adjusts what tone the meter is going for. In M exposure mode the meter does not change any settings.


Oops, correct. My Canon disables the EV compensation in Manual mode. But EV is available in the aperture priority and shutter priority modes.

Kelly

Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/

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