Keith Barkley wrote:
In this thread:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5790913?answerId=24520115022#24520115022
I give the advice that it is best to only set ISO, aperture and shutter speed on the camera when shooting RAW. Leave the rest at the camera defaults.
Is that good advice?
It's a bit of a complex question.
In the past it was good advice, when shooting Raw. Now I'm not so sure.
Lens optimisation as done by Canon, Olympus and Sony (at least) certainly changes the playing field. As does manufacturer colour processing, to a lesser degree.
If using the manufacturers raw converter, then it will know how to implement all the features and tricks, so there's no reason not to use them.
But if using a third party converter like Aperture, which doesn't have access to the secret sauce, and also doesn't have processing equivalents for the secret sauce, then it becomes trickier.
To get the best Aperture conversion you might indeed follow the advice and leave these features off. But how good is that Aperture conversion without access to the current tech the latest cameras are implementing? In some occasional situations the answer is not that great (by comparison to the JPEG).
If your obective if the best image, do you really want to be ignoring the manufacturer features you paid for when you bought the camera?
The technicians says make sure you are capturing all the data, it can be processed later. I hope that proves true. But as an Aperture user, I'm now more frequently shooting Raw+JPEG and using the JPEGs because they are better than what Aperture can deliver (in areas like lens optimisation). And as we don't know what Apple is working on, there's no garantee Aperture will ever be able to.
For those features that inderectly impact the raw, like HTP or ADK, it's actually more of a shooting and reviewing convenience. In reality there is no difference.
Yes these may underexpose the shot to preserve the highlights (leading to more noise). But that's exactly what you'll find yourself doing when capturing the same scene and wanting to preserve the same highlights. All the camera is doing here is recognising the fact. You can think of it as an auto exposure compensation when high contrast scenes are detected. But the exposure you end up capturing is still the same exposure you'll need to capture yourself, with the same noise implications, even if you don't use these features.
However, by using the features, the camera understands and so can use a different tone curve to show you the raised shadows during review. If you weren't using those features, you'd be reviewing an underexposed shot, seeing that you preserved the highlights ok, but having no idea what your shadows are like.
Andy
