Shooting In RAW

peepingtom

Sorry i posted this before, but something weird seems to have happened???



Ok so i've heard shooting in RAW is the way forward.

I have a Nikon D70s, and i had the settings set to take RAW + jpeg so i could see the difference.

However after i dump the files onto my pc i cannot see where the RAW files are??? The Jpegs ere there, but no RAW.

I have photoshop CS and i have noticed that it can open RAW files, so i tried finding them that way, but still nothing.

Any ideas please??

Thanks

andy1249

I dont have a Nikon , I have a Canon , but regardless , there should be a routine , using the cameras software , to drag and drop the entire folder containing the raw + jpeg to your PC , then you can use the Nikon software to look at the raw pictures.

Thats the way it works on the Canon anyway , you cannot auto transfer the raw files using Windows Explorer nor can you view using Windows with them still on the camera AFAIK.

Hope this helps!

ShayHT

Are you using your Nikon s/w to copy them off or just copying them off the card?

I can't think of why you can see the jpg's but not the nef's.....

peepingtom

ah, thats it then .... I didnt install the software, i just assumed windows would look after me .... silly me

thanks both
matt

qwertz

Keep in mind that the NEF+JPEG setting only gives you JPEG Basic, not JPEG Fine.

peepingtom

true .... think i may experiment with raw when i have a bit more time on my hands ... cheers

leinsterman

peepingtom wrote:

Sorry i posted this before, but something weird seems to have happened???



Ok so i've heard shooting in RAW is the way forward.

I have a Nikon D70s, and i had the settings set to take RAW + jpeg so i could see the difference.

However after i dump the files onto my pc i cannot see where the RAW files are??? The Jpegs ere there, but no RAW.

I have photoshop CS and i have noticed that it can open RAW files, so i tried finding them that way, but still nothing.

Any ideas please??

Thanks

Firstly: There is a downloadable Windows XP plugin to allow RAW files to be previewed in normal thumbnail windows the same way jpeg are ... Follow this link to download -

www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/raw.mspx


Secondly - There are different RAW formats depending on the camera make and the model number. Not all RAW is the same, each manufacturer has its own format. You may (I'm not guaranteeing this) have a problem with your Adobe CS RAW plug-in ... if this is the case check the photoshop website for the latest version. There are complete instructions and compatibility chart for camera makes/models on the Adobe site. This also shows how you determine the version of your RAW plug in ... do some searching ... any problems send me a private message and I'll try to help.

Thirdly - I get the impression from your post (forgive me if I'm wrong about this) that you do not really understand RAW. It is not so much a matter of RAW being better than Jpeg but more an issue of the flexibility is allows in the post processing phase.

RAW is a digital negative whereas jpeg is developed (at least partially) and lossy compressed (i.e. original CCD data is lost) using the cameras own software algorithms. In essence shooting RAW means that your camera does not process the file and in fact writes everything the CCD sees to the file (this is why they are much bigger ... because there is no compression, or at least no lossy compression and hence no loss of data from the CCD). e.g. if you shoot in black and white you will find that the RAW files are still in colour ... this is because the CCD is sensitive to colour (happily:rolleyes: ).

Also when shooting RAW you do not need to think about white balance as with jpeg. This can be handled in the post processing phase with precise control unlike with JPEG.

To work with RAW you probably need to be quite familiar with CS and the concept of a Digital workflow ... lots of things can affect the final print/developed picture - from camera settings , to monitor colour calibration, to ambient light in the environment where you develop the picture, to printer colour calibration ... and more.

see - http://www.luminous-landscape.com/techniques/process.shtml

When you import RAW into CS it opens an inital window (before going to the main programme) with lots of pre-processing adjustment options.

You have far greater control over things like -

Exposure (as much as 2 stops either side. though be warned - RAW is still not a substitute for getting exposure correct in the first place)
Colour Temperature & tint
Lens compensation - Chromatic Aberration, Vignetting (in CS2 this is much better than CS1)
Contrast Curve (available in the main programme but not as flexible)
Sharpness, bright ness and other attributes.

In a nutshell RAW gives you loads more options at the post processing phase. You may shoot RAW and later develop into JPEG (compressed format) or TIFF (uncompressed).

see also - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_raw
Do some searching ... there is loads online about it.

Best resource of them all is http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/raw.htm if you only follow one link from this post then this is the one to read. Mr Rockwell starts the article by saying if you have to ask then shoot jpeg. Personally I think this is a bit elitist ... I would rather say - if you have to ask then be prepared to learn and experiment ...

Hope this helps

peepingtom

hey thats really good of you to go out of your way in so much detail leinsterman ... thanks.

The only thing i knew about RAW, is like you said, its like a digital negative, which requires processing seperately unlike jpeg. I didnt really dont know what to expect when i finally open a raw file still, so that should be fun.

I'm pretty familiar with photoshop from a web design perspective, but I have bought myself martin evenings photoshop cs book to learn more about the photography aspect.

I'll download the plugin and save this post in my bookmarks for when i have a bash at shooting in RAW and if you dont mind i may come back to you with more question

thanks again
matt

leinsterman

peepingtom wrote:

hey thats really good of you to go out of your way in so much detail leinsterman ... thanks.

No problem ... when you have a passion for something it is alway good to share experience and ideas ... I'm no expert myself but my background in computing and the internet gives me a head start ... plus it helps to be an early adopter with more money than sense

peepingtom wrote:

I'm pretty familiar with photoshop from a web design perspective, but I have bought myself martin evenings photoshop cs book to learn more about the photography aspect.

You are in for a big surprise when you open up your first RAW file in CS ... it becomes a very different beastie from what you are used to in web design.

I recommend you get your hands on CS2 if you don't already ... it is much more photographer friendly when using RAW ...

blackbird98

I had the same problem with two different digital cameras

This is a common problem and is because CS does not recognise the RAW file formats

When you download the ACR file from Adobe website, make sure you place it in the correct folder, or it will not work. For PC, the folder is:

Program files\common files\adobe\plug-ins\fileformats\cs

Problem solved

peepingtom

cheers guys