Hi folks,

I can post sample pics if need be, but before I do that, I wanted to ask (in case there's an obvious reason), but:

I snapped some pics in Auto mode to see what the camera was using for settings, then I use Manual mode to replicate those settings, shooting in RAW.

When I view the files on my camera, the JPEG colours look rich whereas the RAW files don't.

The RAWs are fine when I bring them into Aperture and choose some auto corrections.

As far as I can see, there's no extra setting differences between JPEG and RAW.

Maybe I'm just clueless as to how RAW is supposed to work?

I'm shooting a K7 , various lens' with the same results (which leads me to think either there is a setting change or I'm clueless about RAW?) lol

Cheers,
Keebler

[Adam]

Hi folks,

I can post sample pics if need be, but before I do that, I wanted to ask (in case there's an obvious reason), but:

I snapped some pics in Auto mode to see what the camera was using for settings, then I use Manual mode to replicate those settings, shooting in RAW.

When I view the files on my camera, the JPEG colours look rich whereas the RAW files don't.

The RAWs are fine when I bring them into Aperture and choose some auto corrections.

As far as I can see, there's no extra setting differences between JPEG and RAW.

Maybe I'm just clueless as to how RAW is supposed to work?

I'm shooting a K7 , various lens' with the same results (which leads me to think either there is a setting change or I'm clueless about RAW?) lol

Cheers,
Keebler

In raw, you can choose how the colors will look. You can opt for the same settings that the camera used when creating its jpeg file, or you can take things in another direction. It's completely up to you!

If you use the Pentax desktop software, you can play around with the same "custom image" settings that the camera offers. If not, then the interface will be different, but you can still adjust things as you see fit.

The primary benefit of raw is that you have 42 bits (14 x 3) of color info per pixel rather than just 24 bits (8 x 3), which means that you'll be able to recover shadows and highlights much more effectively. On top of that, if you shoot in raw+ and are dissatisfied with the jpeg (i.e. say the white balance was off), you can go in and change the white balance entirely!

With that said, if the camera produces a good jpeg file, it may take a bit of effort to get the same image from a raw file (assuming you're not using the pentax software).

[Na Horuk]

With raw you can basically do anything from making it black and white to making it brighter or darker, making the green look blue, making the photo warmer or colder.. pretty much anything, without loss of quality. And you can always revert back.
The jpegs are already edited, so comparing a jpeg to a raw, the jpeg will look better. But once you use software to develop the raw, it can look much better than jpeg.

There are many threads on this topic, please search for them, because I think they answer your questions in great detail.

[jatrax]

When I view the files on my camera, the JPEG colours look rich whereas the RAW files don't.

What you are looking at on the camera screen when viewing a RAW, is not the RAW but an embedded jpeg representation. I am not aware of any way to change what settings the camera uses to 'cook' the embedded jpeg. I guess one could assume it would use the same settings as what you selected for jpeg but I do not think it does. I think it uses some default setting that cannot be changed.

It might be interesting to see if it changes the embedded RAW if you shoot RAW+ and change the jpeg settings though. I dimly remember that the Pentax software would allow you to set the same profile as used in the camera for the jpeg to the RAW when you imported it. But I don't use that software so I may have miss-remembered. Someone else might chip in with how that works.

When you import into Lightroom, (no idea about Aperture) the embedded jpeg is used briefly until LR renders it's own jpeg thumbnails. You can often see the change as LR works. The LR rendered thumbnail will use the presets you have set in LR, not whatever the camera embedded, although you can change this somewhat in the camera profiles section.

Bottom line, the way I understand it is that the jpeg can be 'tuned' in camera using the settings but if you shoot RAW the camera just renders a default 'neutral' view, embeds it in the RAW and assumes you will tweak the RAW in software as you want.

[DSims]

If you want to compare JPEG to RAW your best bet is to download the Pentax DCU (or install it from the CD that came with your camera). It allows you to take a RAW file and apply the same settings the camera lets you apply to your JPEGs.

Hey thanks folks.

Great information here.

I haven't tried the Pentax software much (it crashed on me quite a bit in the future), but I'll try it again.

Jatrax, I'm sure Aperture works the same.

Na, I will search for other threads as well.

Thanks again!
Keebler

[Just1MoreDave]

Update the Pentax software to the latest version, and don't try to open a folder with too many files in it. On my system, the latest version doesn't mind say 600 files but will crash or slow to a crawl if I try to look at a whole year at once.

When you open up a RAW file in the DCU Laboratory, you can open up a window labeled Custom Image. There's a pull-down list there of all the JPEG presets on your camera and others. So if you wonder what those presets would do to photos you've already taken, just choose one and see. The K-7 doesn't have Scene modes but these are also listed.

You'll see big differences when you change white balance, make large changes in exposure, and do noise reduction. Some differences are only visible close-up or in large prints.

[tahoejeepmom]

Go shoot raw and edit then come back and tell me what you think. You can't understand the difference till you play with it for yourself.

[SirBismuth]

Go shoot raw and edit then come back and tell me what you think. You can't understand the difference till you play with it for yourself.

Oh this is so true, didn't realy get it myself until I did just that, now exclusively shoot RAW!

B