Ivy in the raw by Stu

Stu | all galleries >> Daily Bowl of Stu >> December 2004 > Ivy in the raw


Dundee	Stu

Ivy in the raw

9 December 2004

233.
Okay. Why did no-one tell me that RAW was so damned good? Why did no-one tell me that CS has its own built in RAW converter? I have been put off shooting in RAW before because, firstly, I only had a couple of 128xD cards, and I didn't know that I had the software to work on the RAW image (the S7000 ships with the LE version of Fuji's RAW converter - and all that does is convert the image to an 8bit TIFF). Now, equipped with a bigger memory card (did you know that you can get a Kingston CFII 1Gb card for £55?), and the knowledge that RAW images can be manipulated in CS, I have been playing about. And, boy, am I impressed with what it can do. Apparently, I can print pin-sharp images up to at least A3 - not that I have an A3 printer to print them on - but it means that I can make fairly tight crops without too much image degradation (the image below is an example). I am absolutely gobsmacked by just how good it is. I am now completely converted to RAW. Goodbye JPEG. Now, if only someone could help me out with my confusion over print resolutions!

Cropped image and original

FujiFilm FinePix S7000Z
1/60s f/3.0 at 18.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto

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Guest		13-Dec-2004 15:32
Wonderful greens and details...

Jude Marion		11-Dec-2004 19:50
Beautiful detail and light ... really nice capture!

Karen Leaf		10-Dec-2004 23:12
The joys of shooting in (the) RAW! The only way I will go back to jpg is when I know what I'm doing in the first place. Agree with Mark; the CS converter is not bad, but C1 is probably the best converter. You're gonna be having some fun.

Dominic Kite		10-Dec-2004 11:06
The detail is pretty impressive Stu. And as for printing, I tend to leave it to Boots to work all that out for me!

Elaine (etfitz)		10-Dec-2004 03:43
Wow! Great detail!

Pedro Libório		10-Dec-2004 00:03
well...I never used Raw....to much time to save the files in my machine...but maybe some day....about print resolutions...well...I always take my images to lab with the sizes I want and with a resolution of 300dpi....works perfect ... regards my friend.

Guest		09-Dec-2004 23:12
As a general rule divide the number of pixels by 300 and that's how many inches worth of print you'll get out of it... 300dpi... So 4000x3000 would give you a 13"x10" print... 200dpi can also work good too. Computer screens are 75dpi... Oh, but doesn;t your cam interpolate the pixels up to double the MP than the actual MP ont he sensor? In that case go for 150dpi I guess... Confused!? ;)

Guest		09-Dec-2004 22:11
Beautiful colors and details!

Stu		09-Dec-2004 20:24
Has anyone else noticed that Scotland seems to be full of comedians? :-)

northstar37		09-Dec-2004 20:10
You just need to make sure the double-oscillating grommets are tweaked to the ultimate flange.

markvm		09-Dec-2004 19:06
Stewart, wait until you reclaim a shot that was underexposed or overexposed by two stops! If you are using CS then use levels and curves once you have converted from the raw converter. Another software which is excellent for raw is Capture 1 which can be downloaded and used for thirty days as a trial at www.phaseone.com. IMO, it is much better than any other raw conversion software. It also lets you work and process in the background without interrupting workflow. Once addicted to raw you will forever remain an addict..:)

Wenche Aune		09-Dec-2004 18:59
Excellent details

Bill Miller		09-Dec-2004 18:59
Those print resolution thingy is not too difficult. I have worked out you multiply the doofer by the whatyoumacallit, then if you want A4 then use the whatsisname or for A3 its the other thingy, but I think my widget is broken so I have to cook the RAW files to well done in Photoshop Elephants.... Can't afford full Photoshop

Leo Charette		09-Dec-2004 18:32
This is so very nice... like you I feel I am just scratching the surface of the potential in using a RAW format. I am rather disappointed by the amount of time it takes to write RAW to a card. Do you find the same is true with your camera? I see that you've solved the Exif issue that has puzzled me these last few days. I hope to solve it this evening thanks to the good advice I've received from folks. About the image... I think you have really captured this in beautiful light... excellent clarity and definition. Well done.

jypsee		09-Dec-2004 17:21
Welcome to photo fun! I only do a jpeg when I use a P&S cam and only when it's a snapshot. Check out dpreview.com for printing questions.

Gayle P. Clement		09-Dec-2004 15:42
Very sharp and clear.

Zak		09-Dec-2004 14:51
cool!

Guest		09-Dec-2004 14:08
I must admit that when I started shooting in RAW I was amazed at how much more you could do, like change the white balance before processing and mess with the exposure! Many times I have forgotten to change to the correct white balance setting! The only drawback is the amount of space the files take up on your hard drive :) I like this pic by the way!

Herb		09-Dec-2004 13:35
Very nice.

Adalberto Tiburzi		09-Dec-2004 13:32
If you go on this way Stu, soon you'll be not only an excellent writer, but also an excellent photographer. (Trust a non-native speaking ;-))

Cheryl Hawkins		09-Dec-2004 13:19
RAW is definitely the way to go! I only have the trial version of PS CS and love what it does, but the 8bit tifs work really well, too.

Argishti Khachik		09-Dec-2004 12:57
Lovely. Great details. cheers

nomadicdragon		09-Dec-2004 12:41
very nice.

Guest		09-Dec-2004 12:40
Awesome , Must give it a go. but typically hate coming out of comfort zone!