What in camera options are honored by third party softwar

[privatebydesign]

So I know I can get close to an unmolested or pre processed RAW file from my camera, but going through the menus of a new model there are a lot of options available so I wondered who used which ones and if any post processing programs honor any of those options specifically for RAW files. I have no interest in how any of these settings impact jpeg files.

For instance I know HTP has been shown to write to the RAW information and 'limits' the ISO range because of the way it works. Basically it underexposes by one stop and lifts that exposed by one stop to protect the highlights.

But we now have:-
1: Auto Light Optimizer.
2: Long Exposure Noise Reduction.
3: High ISO speed noise reduction.
4: Highlight Tone Priority.
5: Lens aberration correction:
A: Peripheral illumination correction.
B: Chromatic aberration correction
C: Distortion correction.
D: Diffraction correction.

Does anybody shooting RAW and not using a DPP workflow use only of these settings?

 

[neuroanatomist]

I'm not sure any non-DPP RAW converters 'honor' the metadata flags for #1, 3 or 5. ALO, high ISO NR, the DLO lens corrections and the diffraction correction (which is both lens and sensor based), as set in-camera, are Canon-specific. Of course, most RAW converters have their own versions of lighting optimization, NR and optical corrections.

With #2, (LENR) there's really nothing to honor. That setting is the only one that modifies the RAW image data, by taking a dark frame immediately after the regular exposure, and subtracting that dark frame from the image (all done in the buffer). Once the modified RAW data are written to the card, it's just a regular RAW file. Neither the original frame nor the dark frame are saved. Incidentally, LENR actually adds random noise (I once got into a heated discussion with a prominent photography technique lecturer, who knew less than he thought). LENR removes fixed noise (pattern noise, hot/stuck pixels), but random noise (e.g. thermal noise, ISO noise) is, by definition, random – it will be in different places in the dark frame, so subtracting it really just adds it. That's why Canon recommends not using LENR with higher ISO (over 1600).

For HTP (#4), the RAW image data are not directly altered by HTP, however HTP 'lies' in the metadata – the exposure is captured at one stop less than the user selects (e.g., you set ISO 400, it actually exposes at ISO 200 but records ISO 400 in the metadata). That's why you can't set ISO 100 with HTP enabled, it can't expose a stop lower (ISO 50 is just an ISO 100 exposure pulled a stop in-camera). DPP would then apply a tone curve to push the shadows up, but not the highlights.

HTP is handled differently by different RAW converters, but not necessarily fully honored. For example, with the MacOS (Aperture, Photos, Preview and Finder all use the same code), with two images shot in manual mode, ISO 400 set and HTP off vs. on, the RAW engine recognizes the HTP flag, knows the image was really ISO 200 in spite of the metadata, and boosts the exposure by a stop (no tone curve is applied, just a straight push). DxO ignores the HTP flag. If you let it apply the default corrections, it boosts the HTP image more, and if desired you can use a highlight priority setting and push the shadows. But it treats an ISO 400 HTP image as ISO 200, and the default correction is the same that would be applied to an equivalent image non-HTP shot at ISO 200. If you turn off all corrections in DxO, an ISO 400 HTP image shows up a stop darker than the corresponding ISO 400 non-HTP image.

To your last question, I have all of them disabled.

 

[privatebydesign]

Thanks Neuro,

Yep I currently have them all disabled.

With regards LENR I have better results using a single dark frame rather than locking the camera up for double the length of exposure, and whilst it seems obvious the two, image and dark frame, become one it is noteworthy that the RAW file is an amalgamation.

HTP I can handle as effectively as the camera, I can choose how I want to protect the highlights on the fly. Interesting the different way third party programs deal with the tags for that though.

ALO is surely just a modest applied tone curve, so it doesn't matter too much if it is baked or not, in a 14bit file the differences are easily reversed so is effectively irrelevant.

5 A, B, and C are easily replicated in any third party program, heck you can even make custom lens profiles if you are that anal and unhappy with third party lens profiles.

I was interested in 5 D, I wondered if the 'diffraction cancelling'/AA filter cancelling was handled better in DPP but the truth is I can't be bothered to even investigate the prospect of the multi program workflow at this point.

So many thanks, i'll probably do some comparisons at some stage just to see the differences with 'all the toys' switched on and processed in DPP to see where they are at.

So, on to AF settings now!

Thanks again.

 

[Zv]

Thanks Neuro for the details on how these settings work. I also have them disabled except 5 which I guess are only applicable if using DPP? I'll turn them off too. I guess LR does it's own thing with regards to peripheral illumination correction and CA correction.

Very interesting about the LENR. Makes sense. I've never used it but will likely avoid it. I like to do my own NR.

Good question Private. This is how we learn stuff! Makes a change from the usual DRivel!

 

[Sporgon]

I also have them all disabled, but as a 5DII shooter you can imagine the last thing I want is HTP given the way it works !