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Some Raw notes -
January, 2009.
I shoot with the
FujiFilm S100fs and it has both Raw and Jpeg file output
capability.
I have been using
this camera since May, 2008 and, to date, I have shot
more than 10,000 images with it.
I have been
shooting many images with the S100fs in Raw, however, I
mostly shoot Jpeg. The Jpeg output is excellent.
One drawback of
shooting Raw, with the S100fs, is that it does not
output a Jpeg file at the same time. Irrespective,
FujiFilm's supplied FinePix Studio software can convert
the Raw file, with the settings used in the camera (or
not), if you desire to have a Jpeg file also.
This way you get
a Raw file and a Jpeg, which is as you set the camera.
Another option
for converting Raw files is to use a third party
conversion program. There are several available and all
do an excellent job, albeit a little differently.
For my purposes,
I have found that S7Raw is best. By this I mean that it
is my preferred conversion program, for the S100fs
files.
With regard to
the s100fs, folk often ask me about the benefits, or
otherwise of shooting in Raw.
My advice is that
if you are planning to print big sizes and, if you know
what you are doing and want the greatest
control/flexibility over your image, then consider
shooting Raw.
The flip side of
this is, it will take up lot's of your disk space and
add considerable time to any post processing work. One
of my frequently used print sizes, is 23 x 32". For
images to this size, even larger, the Jpeg output is
more than sufficient.
In the end, it
really depends on what you desire to do with your
images.
Anyway, I took a
couple of images to show you an example, of Raw and Jpeg
output, and steps you may wish to take in using S7Raw.
The Raw file and
Jpeg file, I
am using in this illustration, are available for down
load near the bottom of the page.
There are also
another nine Raw files available for down load, right at
the bottom of the page.
Experiment
yourself and, above all, have fun.
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To start, here is
the Raw file as opened in S7Raw. No settings have been
adjusted, at this stage.
The next image
shows the Jpeg image from the S100fs, which was shot in
'Soft fs' mode, with the converted Raw image file as we
just saw in the S7Raw screen.
Jpeg image is at
left and Raw conversion at right.
Note : No
adjustments have been made in the conversion process. I
have also increased the Jpeg image size from 40 x
53.333" to 57.222 x 76" to match the Raw conversion
size. These are BIG files.
Clearly, the Raw
file is light and has little highlight detail. The
temple wall is actually a pale yellow colour. There is
also some mild CA present.
The next few
images show the S7Raw controls, and adjustment steps I
will make.
1. Adjusting the
'Sensitization', or exposure value (EV). Here I have set
the slider to -0.7.
Note : We have
got detail/colour back in the temple wall, but we have
also darkened the whole scene doing this.
2. Next, I will
make an adjustment to remove/minimise the CA. All we do
here is press the Auto button. After doing so, S7Raw has
determined the settings for us. You can, of course, fine
tune these values if desired.
Note : In this
example, not all the CA is gone and a little fine tuning
is required.
Here are two
examples of the effect our CA adjustment (not fine
tuned) made to the image.
Jpeg image is at
left and Raw conversion at right.
Note : You are
viewing these at a screen capture display size of 100%,
or equivalent to a display size of 57.222 x 76". My
monitor is correctly calibrated for correct dimension
display in Photoshop.
3. Next, I will
make a slight adjustment to the brightness/contrast and
saturation.
Note : The
default settings are 0, 0, 25. I have adjusted to 5, -3
and 40.
4. Sharpening.
Here I have set the sharpening level to 'Hard'.
That is all I
would wish to do within S7Raw. Any further adjustments,
I would make in Photoshop.
It should be
noted that the -0.7 EV adjustment we made to the image,
affects the whole image and has made the area around the
trees and water much darker.
There are several
ways around this, one of which is to make two
conversions, at different settings, and then blend the
results in Photoshop. If I were printing at very large
sizes, this would be my preferred method to avoid adding
noise.
In the end, it
really depends how much work you wish to do and if the
image is really, really worth the effort.
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For me, and for
this image and my intended purpose, I chose to edit the
Jpeg. This was my final edit.
Here are two
'Print Size' detail screen views of my finished edit.
This is showing the image at the equivalent size of a 23
x 32" print.
Note : You are
viewing these at the equivalent printed image size of 23
x 32". My monitor is correctly calibrated for correct
dimension display in Photoshop.
That's it. Have
fun.
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