RAW or DNG (Page 4): Jpg files are a pain when blending smooth gradients such as sky in panoramas so a tiff out of camera would be a better choice on my part but as I suspect the raw...

UtahBob Loc: Southern NJ

amehta wrote:

I believe most cameras record 8-bit tiff, not 16-bit tiff, and the camera post-processing has been done. I do not think they are significantly better than jpegs.

Jpg files are a pain when blending smooth gradients such as sky in panoramas so a tiff out of camera would be a better choice on my part but as I suspect the raw and tiff files are similar file sizes, the benefits of having a raw far outweight the tiff so I can see why manufacturers seem to have let the tiff go by the wayside for the most part. My 12 yr old Oly is the only thing I have that will create a tiff (but with IR sensativity it still gets some use).

amehta Loc: Boston

UtahBob wrote:

Jpg files are a pain when blending smooth gradients such as sky in panoramas so a tiff out of camera would be a better choice on my part but as I suspect the raw and tiff files are similar file sizes, the benefits of having a raw far outweight the tiff so I can see why manufacturers seem to have let the tiff go by the wayside for the most part. My 12 yr old Oly is the only thing I have that will create a tiff (but with IR sensativity it still gets some use).

Yes, I had not checked if the D7000 records tiff. The D800 does still do it, but it is 8-bit, which are 50% larger than the uncompressed 14-bit nef file. I'm not sure the 8-bit tiff would be better than the jpeg for stitching panoramics.

UtahBob Loc: Southern NJ

amehta wrote:

Yes, I had not checked if the D7000 records tiff. The D800 does still do it, but it is 8-bit, which are 50% larger than the uncompressed 14-bit nef file. I'm not sure the 8-bit tiff would be better than the jpeg for stitching panoramics.

You hear a lot of talk about how 16 bit is a waste verses 8 bit but those smooth gradients in panos definitely are a challenge especially when there is vignette compensation and exposure adjustments between frames (remember shooting fixed ev) and every little bit helps.

I'm puzzled as to why Tiff on the D800. Maybe a commercial requirement for journalists - straight out of camera but better quality than jpg?

amehta Loc: Boston

UtahBob wrote:

You hear a lot of talk about how 16 bit is a waste verses 8 bit but those smooth gradients in panos definitely are a challenge especially when there is vignette compensation and exposure adjustments between frames (remember shooting fixed ev) and every little bit helps.

I'm puzzled as to why Tiff on the D800. Maybe a commercial requirement for journalists - straight out of camera but better quality than jpg?

It might have simply been a marketing checkbox.

RichardE Loc: California

Not to throw a wrench into this discussion, but...
I can shoot in Pentax 'PEF' format (or DNG if I wish), then import into LR, converting to DNG as I import. Result is a DNG file in LR and a PEF file in my backup disk location. (we all backup on import don't we?). If I shoot RAW+JPG, both the PEF and JPG are saved in the backup location.

RichardE Loc: California

It was also mentioned to delete the photos on the card 'in one click' on import. I will always just re-format in camera once I know the photos imported OK.

amehta Loc: Boston

RichardE wrote:

It was also mentioned to delete the photos on the card 'in one click' on import. I will always just re-format in camera once I know the photos imported OK.

I think "delete photos on import" is a colossally bad idea, that option should be removed from all the applications. It is important to make sure the pictures have been downloaded and backed up before deleting from the card.