Originally posted by Class A I think everyone commenting on RAW files should specify which converter they are using and whether they checked that the default settings for various ISO settings are the same. In the case of ACR (Adobe Camera RAW, which is used in both Photoshop and Lightroom) there are likely manipulations going on under the hood, i.e., there will be some processing even if the sliders indicate a neutral setting.
I am using fast raw viewer
---------- Post added 04-23-2018 at 06:56 PM ----------
Originally posted by Class A Having looked at the RAW conversions presented, I'd say this discussion is one of "splitting hairs" (can't argue with that can you? ).
What I am seeing is that the areas that are slightly out of focus with any tonal variations start to smear into 1 uniform glob with no detail, something that one would expect from rather generous NR while the small detail appears to have some sharpening a applied.
I know its minor but we are talking about iso 800 and why the need for noise reduction, and what is more important going from iso 100 to iso800 is where we would normally see the most reduction in noise as this range is where we see a decrease in read noise because the sensor isn't quite isoless.
It would be nice if you had the option to use it up to iso 800 better would be up to iso 1200 (without NR) as this is a way to bypass any NR in camera because pass iso 1200 really anything you need above that can be pushed afterwards without the worry of any extra read noise. Now if you want to avoid NR your are stuck to a lower iso and from the looks of it its below 800 somewhere
Looking at the raw file
iso 100 on the left ----iso 800 on the right
And the real problem is not the iso 800 shot, its the iso 800 shot when I want to ignore setting the iso any higher and setting the image brightness and clipping point after the fact, having the NR kicking in at or around the time the camera becomes isoless gives me choices as how to process the image, now your are stuck with baked in NR at iso 800. How that baked in NR will look when I lift that NR processing 1, 2 stop will only be more apparent as I proceed to use the camera as an isoless system.