RAW previews in Apple Photos on Mac Big Sur totally inaccurate
I can't believe no one has noticed this before, it maybe because there's something strange about my setup, so I'll explain the steps below and if any else sees this please let me know I'm not going nuts! 😊
- Import a RAW file (one with micro details like tree leaves is ideal, and make sure you have not imported this file before otherwise Photos will have already created a preview for it).
- In Browser mode press spacebar to get a full sized screen preview of your file (note how sharp it is)
- Now click Edit and take same photo into the Edit module note how this is a far more accurate view and nowhere near as sharp as the preview)
- Now exit Edit back to full screen view and notice the file is still shown at Edit module sharpness (I.e. accurate and not over sharpened).
- Now press spacebar to go back to thumbnail mode, then spacebar again to go back to full screen preview, notice how this is now super sharpened, perfect in fact, why would I ever need to edit it!
I realise all RAW images in all RAW processors require a preview image, which at thumbnail view is usually the imbedded JPEG, at full screen view this will be an approximation of how this file would look if converted with no extra sharpening or editing at all (in Lightroom for example this would usually appear quite flat and low in contrast). Of course the editor ALWAYS applies some basic adjustments to the preview otherwise you wouldn't be able to see anything, but usually these will need some extra work.
It seems to me that Photos (and Preview, and even third party extensions that rely on Apple JPEG display algorithm I have found) apply preview processing that is drastically over sharpened, so the images on your Mac look great. The problem is, this isn't a true representation at all and if you go into Edit mode you will see what that actual RAW would look like with no extra sharpening applied.
The entire point of this is if a photo editor shows you an unrealistic preview at full screen of a RAW image, then you would never bother to edit it. Which means that when an exported JPEG of that image is displayed on more accurate rendering engines on other platforms and in other software it will surely appear soft?
Well, let's see...
First screenshot is from Photos full screen browser view... crispy, doesn't need editing at all!
Second screenshot is from Photos full screen Edit view... oh it seems it does need some sharpening after all!
So if I export an image that in Apple Photos and Preview looks crispy and sharp (see first screenshot of Photo full screen view) as a JPEG to a third party app that doesn't use Apple algorithms, how would it display?
See third screenshot below of image in Phiewer and low and behold the image is not crispy and sharp, in fact it looks remarkably like Photos Edit view - in other words unedited and unsharpened and accurate - but not how I want my final image to be seen obviously. If Photos had rendered an accurate pre-edit view I would have know this mage needed a little work and the results would display very differently.
I rest my case - the only view you can trust in Photos is the full screen and 100% view seen in the Edit module. All other renders (including those in Preview) are magically messed with by the Apple rendering algorithm.
PS. You might need to see photos full size to properly tell the difference, also I am using an LX100 .RW2 RAW file, this may be a specific case, but I have found Canon RAW's have a similar effect so...
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.6