Raw/jpeg
 

I've been shooting in RAW for the last while and processing the picutes through RAWshooter Essentials but as of the past weekend I've switched back to JPEG.
What has been happening is that the pictures look ok in the camera or in Picasa but when I open them in RAWshooter they are terribly dark I usual have to lighten them by two or three exposure steps plus sometimes some fill light. There may be something wrong in the camera settings but I can't see anything out of wack. Everything seems fine in pictures taken as JPEG. Digital Photo Prof. also gives me dark shots so I don't think that it's a software problem.
any advice would be appreciated.

Hi Snowyowl

You don't say which camera you're using, if it's the Nikon D200 they always underexpose by design. I always have to adjust the rendered RAW file by + 1.5 to 2 stops to obtain correct exposure, Nikons excuse is that by underexposing (slightly?) it retains definition in the highlights, (yes I suppose it does). You can of course compensate for this in the camera, but I prefer to do my adjustments using Nikon Capture NX or Photoshop. If it's not your camera that is underexposing then it may be you need to change the settings in your software or change your software for something like Bibble or Photoshop Elements 5. These programs allow you plenty of set up options that should make it possible to obtain consistent rendering of RAW file exposures the way you like them.

nirofo.

I'm using a Canon 20D. I expect to make adjustments but these seem to extreme to be normal.

The fact that RAW looks OK when opened in picasa (If I am not wrong and you didn't want to say only jpg is OK), is an indication on software problem. Unfortunately rawshooter has turned is been killed by big giants. Don't expect support for newer cameras etc. At least it is good that you can still use it.

Side note, when underexposing, you have more digital data than when over exposed. May be that is why Nikon wants to have that as default for when things do not work to the best.

When I've used RAW with my 20D the exposure has been fine in either Elements or Rawshooter essentials, just a bit flat which is what you would expect.

My understanding is that this is a common fallacy. While it is true to say that if an image is overexposed so that a particular pixel is clipped to white in all three channels (R/G/B) then it is completely blown out and there is no highlight detail recorded. Therefore many people opt for underexposure to avoid blown highlights.

However the linear nature of digital capture (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tu...se-right.shtml shows that 50% of your data is in the brighest 1/5th of the image) making it preferable to err on the side of slight overexposure rather than underexposure, because underexposure will make your shaddows noiser than they need be.

It follows that if you underexpose by just 1 stop you throw away a MASSIVE 50% of possible data, 2 stops underexposure throws away 75% :eek: :eek:

For anyone using Adobe Camera RAW, turn off the auto/default setting (after all you don't use your camera in fully auto mode do you ;), and get Bruce Frazers excellent book Real World Camera Raw to get the best out of your software.

Snowy - I understand that the main functions in RAWshooter are similar to ACR so you may find the book useful.

Assuming you are on broadband, if you want to email me one of the offending RAW files, I'll have a look at it in ACR