OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

I'll stick with Adobe RGB 1998...and use sRGB when I shoot for the web which from all I've read, it was designed for. If color isn't that important to you, stick with sRGB. But for me...I'll stay with Adobe RGB 1998.

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

Lesdmd said it right

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

What will be interesting is when we start seeing feedback about the D800 prints. Acording to the manual the
FX format will creat in the Large setting 7,360x4,912 pixels, giving a print size of 62.3x41.6 inches. Given that I would imagine Adobe RGB would produce a better result but, maybe...

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

If what you are shooting has all the colors within that space, sounds fine.

That is the big thing - sRGB is perfectly fine - even a preferred - output space.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

And you should. By God this is America! :-)
You have misunderstood what you read - it is not just for the web.

Did you actually go to the links provided earlier?
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/adobe-rgb.htm
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn9u1ZFriFU

silver Loc: Santa Monica Ca.

from the responses to this question I would be totally confused, they all say something different. As a professional printer I use Adobe 1998 for ink jet printing. Basically there is no correct answer to this, both settings will work its just personal choice in the end.

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

There is only one way to settle the conflict between sRGB and aRGB (adobeRGB), and that is to try it out for yourself.

To be perfectly honest with yourself the test must be totally subjective and honest. In simpler terms this means that all the hardware and software must be set to the exact same standards. Your digital camera must be set to the color space standard you are testing against, your computer monitor, printer, and image editing software must be set to this standard. Don't forget to look at your computer video driver and video card for color space standards.

Once you have tested and confirmed your choice for color space standards you need to stick with those standards throughout your photographic work. Mixing and matching don't work!

If you send your digital image files to a printing lab (for large printing jobs) try to select a local photographic printing lab that is willing to work with you in getting the very best results for your efforts. This can be very important as a lot of professional printing labs insist on using Adobe printing software and the sRGB color space; the difference comes in where the printers (live humans) work to correct the difference between aRGB and sRGB, the META Data contained in each image will tell the printing software what color space is used.

Good luck,

Michael G

chapjohn Loc: Tigard, Oregon

I attended a training discussion on color space last week. I asked the question, "If most situations (print or web) only accpet sRGB, why should you not post-process the image in sRGB so you know how the image will look in the end instead of converting it to sRGB which may look different than desired?

The answers were the same as given in this thread, that pro and adobe RGB gives you more information. This answer does not answer the question. CaptC, thank you for making sense of this discussion.

cecilia delacroix Loc: near Seattle

This is very clearly explained (and with a good graphic) in under 3 minutes. A valuable investment of a few minutes of one's life. Thanks for providing that link!

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

I am going with Ken Rockwell's view for a few reasons. First, default is not always a bad thing. Second, it was apparent to me after looking at the color test posted on his site that sRGB was more appealing to me.
Third, after viewing the posts here and Mr. Rockwells, it seems simpler to stick with what seems to work best for most shooters, which I believe to be sRGB. Good discussion with great info.

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

Then do yourself one real big favor, make sure all your photo display devices are using sRGB. From your camera, to your computer, to the printer, and all points in between.

Michael G

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

To my recollection, I never moved any settings from (sRGB) or default, but will check. Thanks for tip.

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

I didn't say it was "JUST FOR THE WEB" I said it was designed for the web.



sRGB is pretty much the default color space everywhere you look. This means that most browsers, applications, and devices are designed to work with sRGB, and assume that images are in the sRGB color space. In fact, most browser simply ignore the embedded color space information in images and render them as sRGB images.

Pros

Displayed consistently across all programs
Simplifies workflow
Suitable for normal prints
Most people can’t tell the difference anyway

Cons

Narrower range of colors than Adobe RGB
Can’t obtain benefits of Adobe RGB later down the road

Adobe RGB (1998)
Adobe RGB represents a wider range of possible colors using the same amount of information as sRGB by making the colors more spaced out. Since sRGB has a narrower range of colors than Adobe RGB, it cannot display certain highly saturated colors that could still be useful in certain applications, such as professional-grade printing. Thus, photographers and graphic artists that need this extra color range for specific purposes would choose Adobe RGB over sRGB.

Pros

Wider range of colors than sRGB
Better for professional prints
Can always obtain benefits of sRGB later down the road

Cons

Will be displayed incorrectly by most browsers
Complicates workflow

Which to Use

First of all, if you publish your images on the web, you should always save and publish them as sRGB. This is because most browsers will render images as sRGB regardless of what you save it as, causing Adobe RGB images to appear desaturated and washed out (the problem I was experiencing). Thus, if you want your images to look the same regardless of where it’s being displayed, you should always publish them as sRGB. This makes it so what you see when you save is what you get when it’s displayed.

Thus, the question becomes, “what color space should I work with and save images as?”. This is more tricky, and generally depends on your workflow and what you use your images for.

If you work with 16-bit images and need the extra color range (or gamut) for professional-grade printing, then you should save your images in Adobe RGB. This preserves the extra color information that would be lost if you saved as sRGB, just like the extra information in RAW files is lost if you save them as JPEGs. In this case, it’s not the amount of data that’s lost, but the range of colors.

If you might need the wider range offered by Adobe RGB anytime in the future, then you should work with and save your images in Adobe RGB. If you save your images as sRGB, you cannot convert it to Adobe RGB in the future to obtain the wider range of colors.

However, the advantage of working in sRGB is that it simplifies your workflow. You don’t need to worry about color spaces at all if you’re only going to publish your images to your Flickr or personal photoblog. All you need to do is save the sRGB images and upload them to the web, and they will look fine.

micro Loc: Texas

Thanks everyone, this has been insightful.
Not sure I completely understand, but the comments and links have me on my way to enlightenment (sp).

My manual Nikon with flim was much simplier.

Peekayoh Loc: UK

So what some people seem to be advocating is that I cripple my R3000 printer by adopting an sRGB workflow. Excuse me if I find it difficult to comprehend the logic in that.

I also wonder why ink manufacturers are striving to produce ink sets that exceed the gamut of sRGB. Are they mad or enlightened?

Are the opinions here lauding sRGB enlightened or misguided.