Advantages of the RAW DNG format for stills ?

[GhostFlyerUK]

Hi All,

Quite new to the P2V+ and also to good quality photography in general. I've read up in some detail about the Adobe RAW DNG format and understand it to be the purest way to record an image from the camera's sensor without applying any corrections, balances or compression.

What I don't really understand is exactly how to benefit from all this pure data and what format that I should be targeting once the processing is complete ?

Is the aim to simply alter the parameters until you see something you like and then produce the best quality JPEG or equivalent file in order to share it, print it out etc ?

Surely, immediately you import the RAW file into something like Adobe LR or PS and view the picture, the application has already had to interpret the data in a particular way into order for you to view it on the screen ?

As you can see, I'm quite confused on all this and would really benefit from a few pearls of wisdom from someone who knows their photography or simply can tell me how to use this format to get the best quality pictures from the P2V+'s camera.

Many thanks,
GhostFlyerUK

 

[povlhp]

The advantage is, that instead of 8 bits per colour channel, you get 12 or 14 bits.
That means you can pull details into blown-out highlights, 2-4 f-stop beyond what is in the JPEG.
Typical demo of RAW is to show a photo taken indoor, and with a white window, and the use highlight/shadown to pull in the details in the window.

 

[Birdman]

I frequently have my P2V+ save photos in DNG format. The single biggest reason for mess that the file is not compressed whereas the JPEG file saved is highly compressed. This means there's much more detail in the DNG file. Thus the DNG file is much larger (~25mb) where the JPEG is smaller (~5 mb). After loading the DNG file into Photoshop, it can be saved as a JPEG with your selection of amount of compression (and loss of detail). Both JPEGs and DNGs can be adjusted in Photoshop.

 

[saphotoexpress]

In addition to the comments above, the ability to select your white balance and the amount of contrast, sharpening and a few other settings after the image has been captured is extremely valuable. When you shoot jpg, your trying to correct or adjust the image, with the raw/dng file your actually making setting selections after capture.

Trying to undo a bad white balance from a jpg vs "selecting" the white balance for the raw file is like trying to cut wood with a dull saw blade vs a sharp one.

Working in Lightroom with raw/dng files is non destructive, so you can change any of these settings later and select a file type to export for whatever your future needs might be.

 

[Farside]

An excellent explanation by Scenictraverse, a member here on the forum.

http://scenictraverse.com/blog/2014/5/2 ... tom-photos

Be sure to watch the video.

 

[GhostFlyerUK]

Many thanks for the information guys, I feel I have learned a lot from your comments and the article by Scenictraverse.

Plenty more for me to pickup. Now I understand some of the background and reasoning behind the RAW format I am more likely to want to use it.

Great stuff.

GhostFlyerUK

 

[tedw123]

I frequently have my P2V+ save photos in DNG format. The single biggest reason for mess that the file is not compressed whereas the JPEG file saved is highly compressed. This means there's much more detail in the DNG file. Thus the DNG file is much larger (~25mb) where the JPEG is smaller (~5 mb). After loading the DNG file into Photoshop, it can be saved as a JPEG with your selection of amount of compression (and loss of detail). Both JPEGs and DNGs can be adjusted in Photoshop.

I always shot in RAW with my high dollar Nikon camera, but with the Vision+ my JPEG's seem to look less grainy (better) than when I shoot in RAW. Can anyone explain this?

 

[AnselA]

I always shot in RAW with my high dollar Nikon camera, but with the Vision+ my JPEG's seem to look less grainy (better) than when I shoot in RAW. Can anyone explain this?

You need more practice in developing RAW image. How you do it now?

 

[Timtro]

An excellent explanation by Scenictraverse, a member here on the forum.

http://scenictraverse.com/blog/2014/5/2 ... tom-photos

Be sure to watch the video.

Really excellent.