sRGB vs. AdobeRGB for D200 shooting RAW Newbie question....

[Lil Judd]

OK, I've done some research & my brain is just not "there" on this one.

I shoot for my own pleasure & at this point only do my own printing etc as I've really only worked with the camera since January.

I'm re-reading my D200 manual & realizing that I "missed" a lot the first time around. In too much a rush to "play" with the camera & go out & shoot things.

Well, I'm now shooting everything in RAW. Love the fact that I can play so much in post that way. I've been shooting everything sRGB until yesterday when I for the first time worked with AdobeRGB.

I have a nice monitor & I have very high resolution on it. But I don't really see any difference. I've done some research & I'm trying to decide if I should shoot sRGB or AdobeRGB. I can't decide...... Do I get that much more of a color spectrum? I've just realized that I will add a step to convert the files to sRGB as most of my shots I share with family & friends are on the web.

I work in CaptureNX & Elements at this point.

Someone got any ideas for me...... I'm at a loss for deciding.

Thanks for helping out.

Lilizzy:

 

[Rich Gibson]

From a print standpoint I couldn't tell sRBG from Adobe 98 without holding the images side by side. When you read articles about comparisons in the web the proponents like to show images with objects which have colors that emphasize the differences. In real life it's much more difficult to notice.

I do know that Adobe 98 images come up drab when uploaded to the web. In this case sRGB is better. I use Adobe 98 because I've always done it and it is habit now. If you're used to sRGB just leave it.

Rich

 

[yoyo]

Your monitor only displays sRGB.
Most labs/printers work with sRGB only.

Only use Adobe RGB if your stock-agency asks for Adobe RGB.
Else use sRGB.

 

[RaceTripper]

I know this isn't really your question, but my understanding is if you shoot RAW, it just dumps image data directly from the sensor with no processing at all. No color model is applied, so you can decide after the fact whether you want to process using sRGB or Adobe RGB. I think the D200 might record some EXIF data about what model you have chosen in the camera setup, to drive the default settings for Capture NX.

I would like to be corrected if I'm wrong.

 

[Tri-Elmar]

I have a nice monitor & I have very high resolution on it. But I don't really see any difference. Lilizzy:

Very logical. Almost all monitors can not see anything more than sRGB.

Adobe RGB is a wider gamut space than sRGB. If you want the best, you want Adobe RGB (for prints that is). For sharing your pictures in the web, stick to sRGB.

 

[Lil Judd]

Thanks Rich.

Lil

 

[Lil Judd]

Thanks all, Yoyo, Dean & Jordan

for your input. For now the only logical setting would seem to be sRGB for me.

Thanks again. SOmetimes information overload is a problem....

Lil

 

[bruceh4]

If you would like to read a little more about comparing sRGB with Adobe RGB here is a website with an article about it.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/adobe-rgb.htm

 

[RaceTripper]

If you would like to read a little more about comparing sRGB with Adobe RGB here is a website with an article about it.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/adobe-rgb.htm

Yeah, but you have to take Ken Rockwell with a grain of salt. There are many that do not agree with his views.

 

[silver]

if shooting raw then the colour space can be changed between adobe and srgb with no impact to the file / image.

Sil

 

[jaymc]

If you are a Windows XP user I recommend you download this Color Control Panel Applet; a tool for Microsoft Windows XP that makes it easier for you to manage Windows color settings.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=1E33DCA0-7721-43CA-9174-7F8D429FBB9E&displaylang=en

- Jay

 

[Lil Judd]

Thank you all......

Bruce, for giving me the web site for Ken Rockwell's thoughts on the matter.

Dean for voicing in...

Sil for your thoughts on the matter

&

Jay for giving me the reference for the Windows Color Control Panel Applet

More research to be done, but thanks for giving me some help on the issue.

Lil:smile:

 

[GlenF]

Lil I know exactly where your at. I was there Very recently, scrambled brain and all. I read and read - Ken Rockwell (grain of salt for sure) and many others, talked to some local pros, local photo shop and slowly started to put it together. What the others before me, with much more experience than me, in this thread have said is what I have learned too. The only thing I'm not sure of is if you can change sRGB to adobe 98 with Capture NX. Is that possible with NX or CS3 anyone?

 

[Lil Judd]

Glen, what I've been told is that if I shoot aRGB & open it in NX, I can convert it to sRGB in NX. So if shot in aRGB it can be made into sRGB in NX. Don't know about the other way around. Also, don't know about adobe 98.

Not that I know if that helps any....

Lil

 

[jaymc]

Glen, what I've been told is that if I shoot aRGB & open it in NX, I can convert it to sRGB in NX. So if shot in aRGB it can be made into sRGB in NX. Don't know about the other way around. Also, don't know about adobe 98.

Not that I know if that helps any....

Lil

You can change the default in Capture NX - Edit > Preferences > Color Management:

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- Jay :smile:

 

[GlenF]

Thanks so much Lil and Jay. It seems I am still at the playing with the new toys stage. Time to read the manuals. <sigh>

Thanks again!

 

[Lil Judd]

Glen,

I just decided to really complicate my life on this one. I checked what I have available in my color profiles. I found a total of 29 different color profiles available to me. Not to mention that I decided to put the camera back in aRGB & am playing with the Optimize image settings.

I've been shooting a lot in basic Auto up till now. Now I have about 100 new decisions to make & have literally opened up another 100 cans of worms....

I'm not going to sleep for weeks now. HELP!!!!!!!!!

Lil :biggrin:

 

[GlenF]

Lil, ha ha! I think you will be taking some awesome pics in the near future if you aren't already. It's just starting to get green here. Yea!

I think it's great that we Have all these options. With digital and software we have our own darkroom without the endless expense of film and darkroom supplies, not to mention the boxes of slides and a slide projector, a lightbox, a darkroom........on and on. That said, I loved it then as well as now.
See ya

 

[stevehughes]

Glen,

I just decided to really complicate my life on this one. I checked what I have available in my color profiles. I found a total of 29 different color profiles available to me. Not to mention that I decided to put the camera back in aRGB & am playing with the Optimize image settings.

I've been shooting a lot in basic Auto up till now. Now I have about 100 new decisions to make & have literally opened up another 100 cans of worms....

I'm not going to sleep for weeks now. HELP!!!!!!!!!

Lil :biggrin:

Lil,

I also wrestled with this for a while. I also use NX. When I started I read that colour mode II looks more natural, and aRGB gives a wider gamut so I thought "beauty. I'll shoot everything in mode II / aRGB then". Of cause I soon found that if you post an aRGB file or view it a non colour-aware program or send it to a printer that doesn't understand aRGB you get washed out colours. That was a bit of a trap that I didn't appreciate, and I could see myself making time-wasting mistakes and printing a whole bunch of yucky looking prints by accidentally producing aRGB files.

Now if you bring a RAW file into NX you can force the colour mode and profile to ANYTHING you like. If you set your cam to colour mode Ia or IIIa NX will default the profile to sRGB, but if you set the cam to mode II it will default to aRGB.

So what I've done is to set the cam to Ia (sRGB) and leave it there. Then if I use NX to do a quick jpg conversion in a hurry it will be in sRGB and I won't accidentally get faded colours. However because I do like the look of colour mode II I've created a base settings in NX which I apply to most of my photos. The base settings forces colour mode II (which also selects aRGB) + a few other things that I've standardised on, and then also does a colour profile change back to sRGB. This gives me mode II colour in an sRGB file. Again, no accidental posting of faded photos if I'm in a hurry.

Then finally if I really do want an aRGB file (because my favorite print house does accept them) I just disable the edit step that switches to sRGB and spit out my aRGB file.

Make sense ? Let me know if I speak gibberrish. Works for me ...

Cheers,

Steve.

 

[Lil Judd]

Lil, ha ha! I think you will be taking some awesome pics in the near future if you aren't already. It's just starting to get green here. Yea!

I think it's great that we Have all these options. With digital and software we have our own darkroom without the endless expense of film and darkroom supplies, not to mention the boxes of slides and a slide projector, a lightbox, a darkroom........on and on. That said, I loved it then as well as now.
See ya

Glen,

all I can do is try.... But placing the camera in Vivid under Custom made the colors really jump.

I've been shooting a little the last few days with my 24-120VR (still not sure of that lens) & yesterday I did some PP in some of those shots. In aRGB the colors seem very true & rich, then I do the conversion & the colors seem to change rather drastically, but then when I open them up in Elements they seem back to fine.

Anyhow, here's a shot taken in aRGB color mode II camera set to Vivid in Custom with the 24-120VR . . . . This is a test shot & not one for the art books.

Enjoy, (I hope)

Lil

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