Fast Raw Viewer & Develop Persona - Make RAW Images look the same

[Ldina]

Hi. I'm experimenting with Fast Raw Viewer to decide if I am interested in buying it or not. When I open a RAW image in FRV and AP, they look different. Ideally, I'd like them to look the same, if that's reasonable and possible. For example, same shadow and highlight clipping (based on native RAW data), same midtown brightness, contrast, saturation, same WB (even if the WB numbers or scale are different), etc.  

Is there a way to set up the Defaults in Fast Raw Viewer AND in Affinity, so RAW files look the same in both when opened initially? If so, what settings do I need to use in both FRV and AP Develop Persona?

I noticed that I get some pretty crazy WB Temps/Tints with iPhone 16 RAW DNG images. The color image displayed looks decent in FRV, but for incandescent lighting, I got an As Shot Temp of 2745K (that's fine), but a Tint of -162!

Any general comments on FRV in general? What do you find really helpful? 

If I already have XnViewMP, is there any good reason to own FRV? 

Thanks.

[smadell]

Hi @Ldina. I’ve been using FastRawViewer for a few years now, but I have really only used it for culling. It’s fast (really fast!), it shows me a quickly demosaicized raw instead of the embedded JPG, and it lets me know about blown highlights and crushed blacks. I find that its “Increase shadows” and “Lower highlights” functions give me a good estimate of what details are recoverable, and for me there’s some utility in looking at in-focus areas too. But, to be honest, I don’t really care too much about the absolute coloration that it displays. I cull images and then do my raw development in Capture One, before I finish up in Affinity. I guess I assume that raw files are so easy to manipulate that colors and tones in the actual as-shot image are secondary, as long as they’re there. I mean, blown highlights and crushed blacks are never coming back; everything else can be dealt with pretty simply.

I think the reason you’re seeing differences between FRV and AP when images are first opened is that AP will only let you apply (i) no tone curve, (ii) Apple’s tone curve, or (iii) Serif’s tone curve. I assume that FRV applies some proprietary tone curve of its own (though I don’t know if they’ve ever said precisely what it is). If that’s the case, getting the freshly opened raw files to match may not be possible.

I have sung the praises of FRV for a good long time. But for me it’s a culling tool only. For the one-time price of 20 bucks, how wrong can you go?

[Ldina]

@smadell Thanks, Seth. I'd be a bit more enthusiastic about FRV if the previews were reasonably close to what I see when opening the file in AP. I can see the same highlight and shadow clipping in AP (once opened, that is). I do like the highlight and shadow boost feature to inspect details that are approaching blown-out or plugged.

FRV is downright weird with iPhone 16 DNG and HEIC files, at least at present. Temp/Tint are strange, and clipping warnings don't seem to work right. I'm guessing that is because Apple does exposure bracketing and somehow merges them into the final image (not well documented by Apple). I wrote to FRV but they didn't offer any useful guidance. 

I don't mind spending $25 on it, but only if I'd use it. So far, I don't see many reasons why I would. Maybe I'm missing something. 

I appreciate the feedback. 

[smadell]

@Ldina - Good morning, Lou. FRV works for me, but that may be because (i) I really only use it for culling; and (ii) although I have and use an iPhone 16, I rarely use the camera. If I'm taking a photo I "care about," I use either my Nikon Z7ii or my Sony RX100vii (which fits nicely in my pocket), both of which are set to produce reasonably standard Raw files. My dealings with HEIC and HEIF files is really limited, but they always seemed like a bit of a hurdle to overcome rather than a convenience (yay,Apple...). As with so many other issues, I think Apple would love you to do all your work within its own ecosystem and it engineers its software to gently nudge you in that direction.

Also, my own feeling about FRV is that I don't particularly care what the color looks like, since I rely on it primarily to screen/cull for tone and focus issues. I understand that it doesn't meet your needs, but it has always worked for me really nicely.