RAW Photos Only

[private]

The Challenge is to shoot in RAW - And hopefully get others to take the leap.

Ok guys, I have been "scared" of RAW for a while now. And because of my friends on DPS, I just jumped in - feet first. This is not a great shot by any means, (its of a saying that I have on the wall in my son's playroom.) But you can totally see what RAW can do.

The best part for me is the resolution. When I shot in jpg (I say shot, b/c I will never shoot in jpg again ) the resolution was 72 pixels per inch and the size of the photo was 54x36. in RAW its 11.109x7.406 but the resolution is 350 pixels per inch. Anyone know why the odd sizing?

So here is the shot in jpg:



And here it is in RAW:



It brought out the real color of my wall and everything. Now, off to Best Buy to getter a 4 gig card - this silly little 2 gig is now a back-up. My DH is gonna kill me, but totally worth it...

[shutterbug_wannabe]

so Pat, what do you use for editing RAW? I have wanted to make the switch for a while too, but I use CS1 and photoshop will not import my RAW NEF from my D80. I have thought about buying Lightroom but I need to upgrade my PS first...it all comes down to $$

[beatles2]

I use Lightroom, I think It's absolutely great. I also use Paintshop Pro very user friendly and inexpensive.

[beatles2]

Pat. I'm glad you asked that question, I was curious as well. I find the more I learn the more I don't know

[k9mom]

I've been shooting in RAW+JPEG since getting my new 40D a week or so ago. Was so excited to be able to work with RAW files until I realized that neither my older version of Photoshop (CS) nor my older version of Paintshop Pro (v.8) can read my 40D's RAW files. Adobe's website has a Camera Raw plug-in, but the version of this program which is compatible for PS CS only supports Canons up to model 20D, not the 30D or 40D or any newer models. For newer camera owners with older Photoshop versions, Adobe points you to yet another program, a DNG Converter (Digital Negative Converter) which converts your newer camera's RAW files into something Adobe's Camera RAW/Photoshop can then recognize. It's a lot of jumping through hoops, in my opinion, just to open a damn file, but at this time it's all I've found (that is free). I'd rather work in the Paintshop Pro 8, as I know this program much better than Photoshop CS, but I've yet to find a 'fix' for PSP8 that will allow me to open and edit RAW files from my 40D, short of buying an upgrade to PSPX, which I don't have the money for right now as I pretty much blew my budget on the 40D, 3 entry level lenses, filters and memory card.

So for now, my excitement for working with RAW files is somewhat diminished...

[lputman]

Originally Posted by shutterbug_wannabe

so Pat, what do you use for editing RAW? I have wanted to make the switch for a while too, but I use CS1 and photoshop will not import my RAW NEF from my D80. I have thought about buying Lightroom but I need to upgrade my PS first...it all comes down to $$

Lori, you might want to start here...it could be as simple as adding a plug in.
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloa...atform=Windows

[shutterbug_wannabe]

Thanks Lori, I wish it was that simple. The Camara Raw 4.5 plugin is not compatible with CS. You have to have CS3 for it to work. This is where I am, I am going to have to upgrade to CS3, alass...big $$$. Then I can get Lightroom too and all will be well. I need some more photo shoots to pay for this.

[k9mom]

Originally Posted by shutterbug_wannabe

Thanks Lori, I wish it was that simple. The Camara Raw 4.5 plugin is not compatible with CS. You have to have CS3 for it to work. This is where I am, I am going to have to upgrade to CS3, alass...big $$$. Then I can get Lightroom too and all will be well. I need some more photo shoots to pay for this.

Shutterbug, until you can get the CS3 or Lightroom, you can (as I mentioned in my post above) use the DNG Converter program to convert your RAW files so you can use them in Photoshop CS.

You can download the CS-compatible Camera Raw plug in (v. 2.4) here:

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloa...jsp?ftpID=2701

And the DNG Converter here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloa...jsp?ftpID=3941 (this is for Windows users and includes Camera Raw 4.5 update - just don't put this Camera Raw 4.5 icon into your plug in folder otherwise it will overwrite the Camera Raw 2.4 from above).

If you are a Mac person, you can find the DNG Converter here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloa...jsp?ftpID=3940

Here's a little info from Adobe's site...

How to use newer cameras with earlier versions of the Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in

New releases of the Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in are generally only compatible with the current versions of Adobe products. If you use an earlier version of an Adobe product, and you use a camera that requires a later version of the Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in, you can use the latest version of the free Adobe DNG Converter to convert your camera raw files to DNG (Digital Negative) files. DNG files can be opened in an Adobe product that supports the Photoshop Camera Raw 2.3 plug-in or later.

[lputman]

Thanks k9mom...I was just checking back because I forgot to say it needed to be the earlier vesion.

[oldwolf]

Originally Posted by k9mom

I've been shooting in RAW+JPEG since getting my new 40D a week or so ago. Was so excited to be able to work with RAW files until I realized that neither my older version of Photoshop (CS) nor my older version of Paintshop Pro (v.8) can read my 40D's RAW files. Adobe's website has a Camera Raw plug-in, but the version of this program which is compatible for PS CS only supports Canons up to model 20D, not the 30D or 40D or any newer models. For newer camera owners with older Photoshop versions, Adobe points you to yet another program, a DNG Converter (Digital Negative Converter) which converts your newer camera's RAW files into something Adobe's Camera RAW/Photoshop can then recognize. It's a lot of jumping through hoops, in my opinion, just to open a damn file, but at this time it's all I've found (that is free). I'd rather work in the Paintshop Pro 8, as I know this program much better than Photoshop CS, but I've yet to find a 'fix' for PSP8 that will allow me to open and edit RAW files from my 40D, short of buying an upgrade to PSPX, which I don't have the money for right now as I pretty much blew my budget on the 40D, 3 entry level lenses, filters and memory card.

So for now, my excitement for working with RAW files is somewhat diminished...

k9 and lori,

have you tried the program that came with your 40d? it's called digital photo professional. that's what i used to tweak and tinker with the raw files. works great imo.