Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version 14 Likes Search this Thread
03-30-2018, 05:03 PM   #1
Senior Member




Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 155
PEF has 2 more ISO stops than DNG

Hi guys. I've just read the article of Tiendapentaxeros.com (Pentax K-1 Mark II: primeras muestras) regarding the K-1II

They say that: "El mejor rendimiento lo encontramos al disparar en el formato PEF de Pentax, que ofrece más de dos pasos de ISO con respecto al archivo DNG de Adobe"

TRANSLATION: "The best performance is found when shooting in the Pentax PEF format, which offers more than two ISO steps in comparison to the Adobe DNG file"

What do you think? I've learned that PEF or DNG are the same but it seems that maybe starting with the K-1II things begun to change.

03-30-2018, 05:11 PM - 3 Likes   #2
Administrator
Site Webmaster
Adam's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Arizona
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 51,608
QuoteOriginally posted by Amoon Quote
Hi guys. I've just read the article of Tiendapentaxeros.com (Pentax K-1 Mark II: primeras muestras) regarding the K-1II

They say that: "El mejor rendimiento lo encontramos al disparar en el formato PEF de Pentax, que ofrece más de dos pasos de ISO con respecto al archivo DNG de Adobe"

TRANSLATION: "The best performance is found when shooting in the Pentax PEF format, which offers more than two ISO steps in comparison to the Adobe DNG file"

What do you think? I've learned that PEF or DNG are the same but it seems that maybe starting with the K-1II things begun to change.
This claim seems odd and is hard to believe as there is no supporting evidence in the article. Considering that a raw file format is simply a wrapper for unprocessed image data along with a bunch of metadata, if they're getting more DR from one file compared to the other, it mostly likely means it was just processed differently. Pentax doesn't currently offer lossy or "small" raw files as far as I'm aware.

There's no reason this should be any different than what we saw in the KP.

Adam
PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide | Site Help | My Photography)



PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:
03-30-2018, 05:12 PM   #3
Otis Memorial Pentaxian
stevebrot's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Vancouver (USA)
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 42,007
Did the author explain the rational for saying that?

The two file formats are fully data equivalent, but there may be subtle differences in how they are treated by the various supporting RAW converters, though two stops of ISO (assuming dynamic range is intended) is pretty substantial.

Edit: I read the article in full (thank you Goggle translate) and there is no explanation. I suspect a quirk in RAW conversion causing a problem with whatever metric is being used to measure dynamic range. A comment was made regarding the difference, but with no reply, after which commenting was closed. Captions indicate Lightroom. The K-1II is not yet supported by Adobe for PEF and DNG support would be limited to the embedded profile, so it is hard to say what was used for RAW processing.


Steve

Last edited by stevebrot; 03-30-2018 at 05:25 PM.
03-30-2018, 05:33 PM - 2 Likes   #4
Otis Memorial Pentaxian
stevebrot's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Vancouver (USA)
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 42,007
QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
Captions indicate Lightroom. The K-1II is not yet supported by Adobe for PEF and DNG support would be limited to the embedded profile, so it is hard to say what was used for RAW processing.
The EXIF is our friend. The DNG export to JPEG for the dark towers photo has EXIF that shows DNG processing using Lightroom 4.4 for Mac. That means an embedded profile. Whether that profile could make maximum benefit from the K-1II enhancements is not known, but I suspect not. I suspect that PEF were processed using whatever version of PDCU shipped with the K-1II.


Steve

03-30-2018, 05:39 PM   #5
Senior Member




Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 155
Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
I suspect that PEF were processed using whatever version of PDCU shipped with the K-1II.
Steve
OK. In another article, they state that: "All photos.. obtained from the PEF files generated by each camera, converted to TIFF with the XnConvert program (it is not easy to find developers for this Pentax format) and saved finally with PhotoShop in JPEG format of the highest quality".

So, XnConvert is used to convert from PEF to TIFF.
03-30-2018, 05:50 PM - 1 Like   #6
Otis Memorial Pentaxian
stevebrot's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Vancouver (USA)
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 42,007
QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
The EXIF is our friend. The DNG export to JPEG for the dark towers photo has EXIF that shows DNG processing using Lightroom 4.4 for Mac.
More interesting than the image processing is the stated lens used in the dark towers photo. EXIF indicates a code 4 48. That code is not currently known to ExifTool, but the image caption indicates "Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4".

Since when does Tamron make a 17-35mm FF lens in K-mount!?

Correction: Since about 2008 or maybe further back...




Steve

Last edited by stevebrot; 03-30-2018 at 06:18 PM.
03-30-2018, 05:57 PM   #7
Veteran Member




Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: California
Posts: 621
QuoteOriginally posted by Amoon Quote
OK. In another article, they state that: "All photos.. obtained from the PEF files generated by each camera, converted to TIFF with the XnConvert program (it is not easy to find developers for this Pentax format) and saved finally with PhotoShop in JPEG format of the highest quality".

So, XnConvert is used to convert from PEF to TIFF.


If they are going through that much trouble, why not just shoot in tiff?

If it is the case that there is more dynamic range in pef, has anyone tested it in other cameras to see if there is more dynamic range in pef than dng?




03-30-2018, 06:05 PM   #8
Otis Memorial Pentaxian
stevebrot's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Vancouver (USA)
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 42,007
QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
Since when does Tamron make a 17-35mm FF lens in K-mount!?
Found it...legacy moderately-priced zoom...

Tamron SP AF 17-35mm F/2.8-4 Di LD Aspherical [IF] Lens Reviews - Tamron Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database




Steve

Last edited by stevebrot; 03-30-2018 at 06:16 PM.
03-30-2018, 06:22 PM - 1 Like   #9
Administrator
Site Webmaster
Adam's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Arizona
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 51,608
QuoteOriginally posted by Fcsnt54 Quote
If they are going through that much trouble, why not just shoot in tiff?
It's not much better than JPEG in terms of image quality, since the in-camera processing gets applied to the file.

Adam
PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide | Site Help | My Photography)



PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:
03-30-2018, 06:23 PM   #10
Administrator
Site Webmaster
Adam's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Arizona
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 51,608
QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
Speaking of that how is it possible that we have no product photo for this lens?

Adam
PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide | Site Help | My Photography)



PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:
03-30-2018, 08:37 PM   #11
Moderator
Not a Number's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Venice, CA
Posts: 10,526
QuoteOriginally posted by Fcsnt54 Quote
If they are going through that much trouble, why not just shoot in tiff?

If it is the case that there is more dynamic range in pef, has anyone tested it in other cameras to see if there is more dynamic range in pef than dng?
Although there are no published standards for Raw files the data portion stripped of metadata should be tiff compatible. That's why many file recovery programs "restore" some of your files as .TIF rather than .PEF or .DNG.
03-30-2018, 11:22 PM   #12
Pentaxian




Join Date: May 2016
Photos: Albums
Posts: 2,003
Does PEF use 16-bit values to store the 14-bit values that the DNG contains? Is that where they are getting "2 extra stops"?
03-30-2018, 11:38 PM   #13
Veteran Member
LensBeginner's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2014
Photos: Albums
Posts: 4,696
Just remember that "tienda" means "shop" in Spanish... to me that alone gives an indication wether I should trust that source! XD
03-31-2018, 12:11 AM   #14
Administrator
Site Webmaster
Adam's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Arizona
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 51,608
QuoteOriginally posted by leekil Quote
Does PEF use 16-bit values to store the 14-bit values that the DNG contains? Is that where they are getting "2 extra stops"?
Not as far as I know. The file sizes are nearly identical.

Adam
PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide | Site Help | My Photography)



PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:
03-31-2018, 05:43 AM   #15
Veteran Member
LensBeginner's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2014
Photos: Albums
Posts: 4,696
Maybe they converted to TIFF-16...
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
camera, dng, dslr, files, full frame, full-frame, iso, k-1, k-1ii, k1, lightroom, motion, pef, pentax, pentax k-1, ps, script

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
[K-S2] ISO no lower than 200 in Auto ISO (100-x) ehrwien Pentax K-S1 & K-S2 4 01-17-2018 03:09 PM
k200d to k3ii - how many more stops iso? sewebster Pentax DSLR Discussion 7 06-11-2016 10:37 PM
Has Pentax abandoned PEF? Time to switch to DNG? twitch Pentax DSLR Discussion 71 05-23-2012 03:55 PM
Capture in PEF and convert to DNG, or capture in DNG? pete_pf Photographic Technique 9 05-28-2011 11:24 PM
PEF has more detail than DNG, from the horses mouth, mr pentax no less. 123K10D Pentax DSLR Discussion 0 01-24-2008 07:46 PM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 09:36 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top