RAW conversion to JPEG

I've been using the free version of RawShooter 06. When I adjust the settings of a photo they look fine when I view them as RAW files. When I convert them to Jpeg, I notice subtle drops in the overall quality of the photo. Do I need a better converter or am I doing something wrong.

The first thing to check is your converter setting for "jpeg quality." Is it set to low or something?

Good luck.

James

James,

I've tried different settings from highest to lowest. In particular, the RAW photo looks great once I've made adjustments but when the corresponding JPEG comes out it looks over processed and not as crisp. I've compared the photos side by side and there's noticable degradation in the JPEG. It is most noticable in poor photos (underexposed, poor viz, etc) that you bring back by making adjustments, but its also noticable in good photos that need little adjustment. I've noticed that the Olympus Master Suite software does a much better job but takes forever to edit a single RAW file and doesn't offer batch processing. I might just need to spring for the full version of Rawshooter or PS. Someone else had mentioned another software program out there that you can trial as well, but I can no longer find the post. I'm a little hesitant to dump money into the Rawshooter upgrade and can't afford the jump to PS.

Gary

You're probably referring to one of my posts.

I suggest you try Bibble from www.bibblelabs.com

Just make sure your camera is supported...

Hummnn...

In the days of transparencies we all spent a fortune on processing. In darkrooms we've spent a fortune on chemicals, enlargers and stuff (if we were that way inclined). In these digital days we can either shoot jpegs properly, or fuss about with RAW in a digital darkroom. If so we have to buy the darkroom, or make do with a cut down version. I regard Photoshop to be as important as my camera (perhaps not as important as my housing or strobes). It costs a lot less than a dive trip... and is more important than my D200 lust!

Tim

B)

Try iView 3 for raw conversion. Does a good job but not as good as photoshop would do but it does it in under a second. Plus, the software also does all your cataloguing too which is very handy.

I believe this has been discussed in a previous thread, I and others experienced the same problem with the freeware version of Rawshooter. The Premium version of Rawshooter Essentials combined with the optional Color Engine adds both camera and printer color profiles which are accessed through the Batch Convert tab.

Digging a little deeper into the Rawshooter Essentials manual I found the following:

RGB Working space – this allows you to set the RGB working space and allows

selection of several different options via the drop down menu. sRGB gives the

best results in a non colour managed environment for most users and is the

default. Adobe 1998 is the industry standard for the reprographic industry, so

most professionals use this setting. Note that if you use this as your working

space and do not have a colour managed environment your output file may look

slightly flat.

Check your working space settings in both the camera and Rawshooter and make certain they match. Stick with sRGB unless your working in a color managed environment.