Why does this happen in RAW Editors: If I shoot a *RAW* photo with a custom White Balance or as a Black and White (set up in camera) When viewing the shot on the camera, the WB is...

iamimdoc

If I shoot a *RAW* photo with a custom White Balance or as a Black and White (set up in camera)

When viewing the shot on the camera, the WB is applied and the photo is as expected

If you view the photo in Adobe Bridge: as it is initially scanned, looks appropriate but when viewed the filters (Custom WB or B&W) are not respected.

If you open the photo in one of many programs I have Affinity, On1, DXO Photo Lab etc: the filter are not respected (even if opened "as shot")

But

If I open in the Nikon NX D (the Raw Processor that Nikon puts out) -> the filters are respected

What is going on please?

Thanks

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

The <each> software package was written differently.
Evidently some were more diligent.

johneccles Loc: Leyland UK

You are using too many photo editors, I suggest you stick to just one as they develop photographs differently.

srt101fan

iamimdoc wrote:

If I shoot a *RAW* photo with a custom White Balan... (show quote)

I may not fully understand your question, but here's my take. The White Balance and Picture Control settings you apply in camera are used to generate the JPEG file. They do not change the Nikon RAW file but are saved along with it. The Nikon RAW processor software can show the RAW file with these settings applied but other, non-Nikon software cannot.

iamimdoc

I agree too many editors. Just trying to find one that does what expect...

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

srt101fan wrote:

I may not fully understand your question, but here's my take. The White Balance and Picture Control settings you apply in camera are used to generate the JPEG file. They do not change the Nikon RAW file but are saved along with it. The Nikon RAW processor software can show the RAW file with these settings applied but other, non-Nikon software cannot.

Right on

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

srt101fan wrote:

... The Nikon RAW processor software can show the RAW file with these settings applied but other, non-Nikon software cannot.

Many settings are recorded in the EXIF data by proprietary tags. Those tags can be read by any program but only the Nikon program knows how to interpret them.

bleirer

When you shoot raw the white balance data is stored in the raw file but not baked in. Viewing in camera you are looking at a jpeg rendering of the file. Viewing in an editor set to display wb as shot should work, I know it does in Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw. It reads the stored wb data and uses it, but the wb is not baked in and a new setting can be dialed in or you can pick up a new setting using the eyedropper tool.

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

srt101fan wrote:

I may not fully understand your question, but here's my take. The White Balance and Picture Control settings you apply in camera are used to generate the JPEG file. They do not change the Nikon RAW file but are saved along with it. The Nikon RAW processor software can show the RAW file with these settings applied but other, non-Nikon software cannot.

EXactly!
A raw file is just that, the raw unprocessed data taken off the sensor at the moment the image is captured. Repeat "unprocessed".

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The camera manufacture's software is best positioned to read and understand data within images from their cameras. That's just a fact. Third-party tools need to support many different cameras and manufacturers and they may / probably won't have access to the same details as the camera manufacturer. You asked about two aspects of RAW that are not 'baked into' the RAW file, the WB and B&W conversion. That the 3rd party software does not respond or responds inconsistently to this processing data may be annoying, but shouldn't be unexpected.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

CHG_CANON wrote:

The camera manufacture's software is best position... (show quote)

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

iamimdoc wrote:

If I shoot a *RAW* photo with a custom White Balan... (show quote)

Manufacturer's raw conversion software - Nikon NX-D and Canon DPP are written to reflect the camera's firmware and all camera settings.

White balance is a place marker in the raw file to allow you to see the preview on the back of the camera (jpeg) with the applied white balance, and also the histogram if the image were to be converted without any adjustments to the raw file. Selecting a B&W picture style also only affects the jpeg preview. Neither the white balance nor the B&W picture style (or any other settings other than exposure) are actually hard-coded into the raw file.

Third party raw software only uses the minimum data to reconstruct a preview on the computer, as a starting place or baseline for your adjustments. Nothing is hard coded until you generate a raster file - png, jpeg, psd or tiff.

So what you are seeing is correct.

iamimdoc

So WB, black and white and similar adjustments in camera are useful
1 When viewing back of camera result
2 For JPEG output from camera - baked in at that point to those files
3 “suggestions” when raw processing
4 not too much else

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

With at least some RAW editors you can go into its program settings and adjust the default on how an image is displayed when the file is opened (the starting point) - if the WB set in camera is ignored or not.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

If you want to see an actual BW image, along with your RAW color image, you can set the camera in Picture Controls to shoot BW and then set the camera to shoot both BW JPEG FINE and RAW. The BW will be a jpeg image. The thing about RAW is it is supposed to be just that, a raw file, waiting for you to discover its beauty in your way. Using software specific to a camera may allow you to benefit more from the camera settings, such is the case with the nikon software. As others have said, find your program, learn it well and don't worry about what all the other software does until you switch over to some other program.