PLShutterbug Posted November 27, 2021 Posted November 27, 2021 I use a Nikon Z7 and always shoot in 14-bit RAW, which produces .NEF files. My question: if I open the .NEF in Nikon NX Studio and then export to 16-bit TIF, will I have the same dynamic range in that TIF file as I had in the .NEF, and will all the highlight and shadow data still exist in that TIF? In short: what does it cost me to convert to TIF before starting my edit session in Affinity? I ask because Nikon's lens corrections are better than Affinity's, and I haven't been able to correct particularly barrel distortion with my Nikkor 200-500 in Affinity while it's completely corrected by default in NX Studio. Starting with a TIF with just that lens correction is ideal, but only if I'm not losing other editing capabilities by doing so. Quote
NotMyFault Posted November 27, 2021 Posted November 27, 2021 If you use exposure correction to ensure nothing is cut off from the histogram to the left or right., you are safe. 16bit tiff can cover DR of 14bit RAWs. If you have severely overexposed or underexposed images, it is critical to correct the exposure so it actually fits into the exported formats. Please select the color profile carefully. sRGB will reduce the color space drastically. ROMMRGB, DCI-P3 or AdobeRGB (depending or target use case digital/print) are better suited. Old Bruce 1 Quote Mac mini M1 A2348 | MBP M3 Windows 11 - AMD Ryzen 9 5900x - 32 GB RAM - Nvidia GTX 1080 LG34WK950U-W, calibrated to DCI-P3 with LG Calibration Studio / Spider 5 | Dell 27“ 4K iPad Air Gen 5 (2022) A2589 Special interest into procedural texture filter, edit alpha channel, RGB/16 and RGB/32 color formats, stacking, finding root causes for misbehaving files, finding creative solutions for unsolvable tasks, finding bugs in Apps. I use iPad screenshots and videos even in the Desktop section of the forum when I expect no relevant difference.
v_kyr Posted November 27, 2021 Posted November 27, 2021 28 minutes ago, PLShutterbug said: My question: if I open the .NEF in Nikon NX Studio and then export to 16-bit TIF, will I have the same dynamic range in that TIF file as I had in the .NEF, and will all the highlight and shadow data still exist in that TIF? See for example: Bits and bit depth explained, which also tells you the essientials about bit depth versus dynamic range here and a couple of exceptions when it comes to image-editing. - In short, working with 16-bit TIFFs as a workaround (due to possible APh lens correction issues) is then still a good workflow in your case. Quote ☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan ☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2
PLShutterbug Posted November 27, 2021 Author Posted November 27, 2021 38 minutes ago, NotMyFault said: If you use exposure correction to ensure nothing is cut off from the histogram to the left or right., you are safe. 16bit tiff can cover DR of 14bit RAWs. If you have severely overexposed or underexposed images, it is critical to correct the exposure so it actually fits into the exported formats. Please select the color profile carefully. sRGB will reduce the color space drastically. ROMMRGB, DCI-P3 or AdobeRGB (depending or target use case digital/print) are better suited. "If you have severely overexposed or ..." Are you saying that simply converting from RAW 14-bit to TIF16 in DX Studio won't accomplish that? I always shoot and edit using AdobeRBG. Thanks. Quote
PLShutterbug Posted November 27, 2021 Author Posted November 27, 2021 31 minutes ago, v_kyr said: See for example: Bits and bit depth explained, which also tells you the essientials about bit depth versus dynamic range here and a couple of exceptions when it comes to image-editing. - In short, working with 16-bit TIFFs as a workaround (due to possible APh lens correction issues) is then still a good workflow in your case. Thanks for that. I already understand that dynamic range and bit depth are not the same. Dynamic range expresses the intensity difference between the darkest and lights area of a scene a sensor is capable of capturing before highlights or shadows clip, while bit depth constrains the steps between each difference in intensity. Low-DR sensor output saved with high bit depth will block highlights or shadows but the detail that is captured is richer because there are more gradations within the DR. Conversely, a hi-DR sensor image saved with low bit depth will not block as fast, but each tonal gradation is larger and results in more pronounced banding. Thanks for the validation that working with 16-bit TIF probably won't cost me anything. Now the big issue I have is I shot a partially backlit image of a mountain range, with a north-facing treelined ridge in deep shadow but the mountain tops very bright with snow. There is subtle detail in the snow I can't figure out how to capture without blocking the shadowed slopes (with a bit of tree detail). The attached photo is a small section of a 250MB TIF file ... I cannot seem to get both the shadows and the highlights to show detail at the same time. Turnagain arm section for Affinity forum - no Affinity layers.tif Quote
v_kyr Posted November 27, 2021 Posted November 27, 2021 2 hours ago, PLShutterbug said: Now the big issue I have is I shot a partially backlit image of a mountain range, with a north-facing treelined ridge in deep shadow but the mountain tops very bright with snow. There is subtle detail in the snow I can't figure out how to capture without blocking the shadowed slopes (with a bit of tree detail). The attached photo is a small section of a 250MB TIF file ... I cannot seem to get both the shadows and the highlights to show detail at the same time. It's easy to do when you know how, convert the image to LAB mode and try adjust there lighting via curves etc. - For example somehow into the direction of this here ... ... for LAB mode in Affinity Photo see also this tut. I recall, I once had a studio model shooting abroad and the studio lighting system there had problems, giving radio trigger/syncronisation issues with the cams. Which resulted into some very bright absolutely overexposed snapshots (no visiable details at all etc.) and useless at first glance. Even badder was, there was no time for repeating certain made shots with my model, because she always had to dress differently and we were under time pressure. - Two days after on the computer I had a chance to experiment a little bit with those usually ruined shots. I was able to rescue a bunch of those via some LAB processing, which brought back what was lost at a first glance. Quote ☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan ☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2
NotMyFault Posted November 27, 2021 Posted November 27, 2021 The histogram for this image does not indicate high DR - just the opposite. There is nothing below 20%, and the reds max out at about 95%. If you want to boost "details", you could add local contrast, sharpen with highpass or unsharp mask or clarity filter. Quote Mac mini M1 A2348 | MBP M3 Windows 11 - AMD Ryzen 9 5900x - 32 GB RAM - Nvidia GTX 1080 LG34WK950U-W, calibrated to DCI-P3 with LG Calibration Studio / Spider 5 | Dell 27“ 4K iPad Air Gen 5 (2022) A2589 Special interest into procedural texture filter, edit alpha channel, RGB/16 and RGB/32 color formats, stacking, finding root causes for misbehaving files, finding creative solutions for unsolvable tasks, finding bugs in Apps. I use iPad screenshots and videos even in the Desktop section of the forum when I expect no relevant difference.
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