Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The benefits of RAW image capture

There were a few images that I got yesterday that, on first look seemed to have completely blown highlights. But after using Capture One and dialing down the exposure, I saw that sufficient details were recoverable. Here are a couple of examples (click to see full resolution crops):

a-0 As shot

a-1 -1 stop

a-2 -2 stops

-- Above combined and worked in Photoshop


Full photo

 

b-0 As shot

b-1 -1 stop

b-2 -2 stops

-- Above combined and worked in Photoshop

 
Full photo

 

There are several disadvantages to RAW capture. The first is that it takes up more space than JPEGs. The second is that it takes more time (sometimes much more) on the computer for post-processing to make the images look like what I saw with my eyes. The third is that with action shots where I might be shooting continuously, RAW not only quickly fills up the memory card, because of its size it takes longer to write to the card; consequently it more quickly reaches the point where the camera buffer is full and continuous shots start to lag.

For landscapes and nature, I find RAW capture useful in preserving a wider dynamic range. If you have a camera that supports RAW capture and haven't really used it, you might consider it for some applications.

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