new 6D - a little help

[rfdesigner]

Hi

I'm getting used to and thoroughly loving my new 6D.

I've measured the noise and gain, and lo and behold it seems to be a fraction of a stop better than published data suggesting I got lucky.

What I have noticed is the "blinkies" seem to be a little over nervous.. i.e. it claims to be clipping maybe as much as 1/3rd of a stop before it really does so. Ideally I'd like it to actually tell me the exact point of clipping. I'm shooting RAW + Ljpeg at the moment

Also on processing, I'm finding dealing with 20Mpix as opposed to the 8Mpix previously is making processing painful.

Now my main machine has a measly 4G of ram with an Intel core2 DUO T6570 2.1G processor, so a memory upgrade is likely to bear fruit.. but how much is really necessary or am I processor limited... any ideas?, (currently using DPP3/4 & CS2.. very likely to jump to lightroom) also I tend to end up with firefox, tbird, dpp and something else all running at the same time.

thanks for any suggestions

 

[verysimplejason]

Hi

I'm getting used to and thoroughly loving my new 6D.

I've measured the noise and gain, and lo and behold it seems to be a fraction of a stop better than published data suggesting I got lucky.

What I have noticed is the "blinkies" seem to be a little over nervous.. i.e. it claims to be clipping maybe as much as 1/3rd of a stop before it really does so. Ideally I'd like it to actually tell me the exact point of clipping. I'm shooting RAW + Ljpeg at the moment

Also on processing, I'm finding dealing with 20Mpix as opposed to the 8Mpix previously is making processing painful.

Now my main machine has a measly 4G of ram with an Intel core2 DUO T6570 2.1G processor, so a memory upgrade is likely to bear fruit.. but how much is really necessary or am I processor limited... any ideas?, (currently using DPP3/4 & CS2.. very likely to jump to lightroom) also I tend to end up with firefox, tbird, dpp and something else all running at the same time.

thanks for any suggestions

If your machine and OS are 64 bit then upgrading your memory to at least 8gb will greatly speed up your system. You can refer to your histogram if you feel you are clipping the highlights. That said, I tend to overexpose by 1/3 of a stop to make sure I've got a lot of working space when editing. I do this mostly except for those extreme-contrast cases. For those cases, I use exposure bracketting or a flash to compensate.

 

[Orangutan]

What I have noticed is the "blinkies" seem to be a little over nervous.. i.e. it claims to be clipping maybe as much as 1/3rd of a stop before it really does so. Ideally I'd like it to actually tell me the exact point of clipping. I'm shooting RAW + Ljpeg at the moment

Bear in mind this is second-hand information. The post-capture image on the back display is generated from the processed JPEG image, not from your RAW image. Depending on the settings (picture style, etc), the processing could vary somewhat. However, it's still not the full DR of your RAW data, so the blinkies represent a clipped JPEG image, not clipped RAW. I have a 70D not a 6D, but I find blinkies are at least 1/3 stop below the RAW clipping point; so if I have a chance to take multiple frames of the same image, I'll often intentionally increase exposure 1/3 to 2/3 stop into blinky territory. (and bracket, of course)

 

[neuroanatomist]

The post-capture image on the back display is generated from the processed JPEG image, not from your RAW image. Depending on the settings (picture style, etc), the processing could vary somewhat.

True, and the same applies to the histograms displayed on the camera.

 

[rfdesigner]

The post-capture image on the back display is generated from the processed JPEG image, not from your RAW image. Depending on the settings (picture style, etc), the processing could vary somewhat.

True, and the same applies to the histograms displayed on the camera.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew this, I've gone with fixed colour temp when shooting so AWB doesn't leave a single channel, but hadn't twigged that 255 on the Jpeg need not mean a clipped RAW.

thanks.

On the PC side.. looks like windows update was broken.. it's all getting rather involved, but explains where about 2G of memory and 50% of all my processing power was going.

Never the less I'll see if I can add another 4G of ram.. looks like that's all I can add to this machine.

 

[zim]

.. very likely to jump to lightroom) also I tend to end up with firefox, tbird, dpp and something else all running at the same time.

Cost difference is an issue but you may want to consider Capture One I've been really impressed with how quick it processes 7D raw files (20-30GB) and more importantly what it does with those files. I'm coming from DXO though, maybe Lightroom is also fast. I loved DXO prime, its really good, until I trialled C1 the control you get with Capture One just allows you to lift the image even more. Just wish it was a little closer to LR in cost but it is a pro app, as an amateur that's an unrealistic wish!

 

[Big_Ant_TV_Media]

Hi

I'm getting used to and thoroughly loving my new 6D.

I've measured the noise and gain, and lo and behold it seems to be a fraction of a stop better than published data suggesting I got lucky.

What I have noticed is the "blinkies" seem to be a little over nervous.. i.e. it claims to be clipping maybe as much as 1/3rd of a stop before it really does so. Ideally I'd like it to actually tell me the exact point of clipping. I'm shooting RAW + Ljpeg at the moment

Also on processing, I'm finding dealing with 20Mpix as opposed to the 8Mpix previously is making processing painful.

Now my main machine has a measly 4G of ram with an Intel core2 DUO T6570 2.1G processor, so a memory upgrade is likely to bear fruit.. but how much is really necessary or am I processor limited... any ideas?, (currently using DPP3/4 & CS2.. very likely to jump to lightroom) also I tend to end up with firefox, tbird, dpp and something else all running at the same time.

thanks for any suggestions

here's some help if u can take it back and get 5d3 lol

 

[Sporgon]

To try and get a little more accuracy from the blinkies you can try setting Neutral (or Faithful) Jpegs with the contrast moved down to -4 or whatever the minimum setting is, and reduce saturation as well. However even this is way off the mark with the latest raw converters such as ACR, which seems to be able to record much more highlight information than DPP.

In scenes of high EV range it is a real benefit to be able to max out the highlight with your exposure on the current Canon cameras. However I guess now with the 1DxII you'll be able to merrily under expose just like with a Sony

 

[rfdesigner]

To try and get a little more accuracy from the blinkies you can try setting Neutral (or Faithful) Jpegs with the contrast moved down to -4 or whatever the minimum setting is, and reduce saturation as well. However even this is way off the mark with the latest raw converters such as ACR, which seems to be able to record much more highlight information than DPP.

In scenes of high EV range it is a real benefit to be able to max out the highlight with your exposure on the current Canon cameras. However I guess now with the 1DxII you'll be able to merrily under expose just like with a Sony

I've played the ETTR game more than once.. I had faithful selected but not minimum contrast, we'll see if that helps.

Never the less this is giving me much more latitude and sufficient for what I do... at the moment

 

[cpsico]

Hi

I'm getting used to and thoroughly loving my new 6D.

I've measured the noise and gain, and lo and behold it seems to be a fraction of a stop better than published data suggesting I got lucky.

What I have noticed is the "blinkies" seem to be a little over nervous.. i.e. it claims to be clipping maybe as much as 1/3rd of a stop before it really does so. Ideally I'd like it to actually tell me the exact point of clipping. I'm shooting RAW + Ljpeg at the moment

Also on processing, I'm finding dealing with 20Mpix as opposed to the 8Mpix previously is making processing painful.

Now my main machine has a measly 4G of ram with an Intel core2 DUO T6570 2.1G processor, so a memory upgrade is likely to bear fruit.. but how much is really necessary or am I processor limited... any ideas?, (currently using DPP3/4 & CS2.. very likely to jump to lightroom) also I tend to end up with firefox, tbird, dpp and something else all running at the same time.

thanks for any suggestions

here's some help if u can take it back and get 5d3 lol

Lol only for autofocus the 6d has better dynamic range and IQ

 

[Maiaibing]

I've measured the noise and gain, and lo and behold it seems to be a fraction of a stop better than published data suggesting I got lucky.

What I have noticed is the "blinkies" seem to be a little over nervous.. i.e. it claims to be clipping maybe as much as 1/3rd of a stop before it really does so. Ideally I'd like it to actually tell me the exact point of clipping. I'm shooting RAW + Ljpeg at the moment

here's some help if u can take it back and get 5d3 lol

Lol only for autofocus the 6d has better dynamic range and IQ

Not only this. Not less of a basic problem with the 5DIII and with autofocus the difference goes both ways as the 6D is somewhat better with low light (using the center point). Disappointing 5DIII autofocus in the dark was my main reason for keeping my 5DII's instead if getting the 5DIII.