D70->Photoshop:16 bit?

jbljbl
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Sorry, but I have another newbie Nikon D70 question:



If I use Photoshop's "Camera Raw" plugin to import the RAW (NEF) files from the D70, should I set the Mode to 16 bit? I thought the NEF files were 12 bit, but Camera Raw defaults to 8 bit when importing these files. If I set it to 16 bit will it actually import all 12 bits of data? Am I misunderstanding how this works? I never dealt with images with greater than 8 bits per color per pixel, and the manual that comes with Photoshop has little information on this topic.



Thanks!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    thedustinthedustin Posts: 176member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JBL

    . If I set it to 16 bit will it actually import all 12 bits of data?



    Thanks!




    Yes sir!



    _thedustin
  • Reply 2 of 12
    jbljbl Posts: 555member
    Thanks! Is there some way to look at the 16 bit pixel values once I have the images in Photoshop?
  • Reply 3 of 12
    the cool gutthe cool gut Posts: 1,714member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JBL

    Thanks! Is there some way to look at the 16 bit pixel values once I have the images in Photoshop?



    I don't think you can see the true values of 16 bit images in Photoshop. They remain with a range of 0 - 255



    I believe that a 16 bit image would have values of something crazy like 0 - 65 000.



    You will notice however that when you make curve changes that your histogram won't break up nearly as much and cause stepping in the image. Once you have a 16 bit image in Photoshop, you'll notice that a lot of your filters will not work, so it's best to do all your colour adjusting first, and then convert the image to 8 bits to do standard manipulation and effects.
  • Reply 4 of 12
    jbljbl Posts: 555member
    Thanks!
  • Reply 5 of 12
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    As mentioned already, do as much processing as you can in 12/16bit, and then, as late in the process as possible, down-quantize it to 8bits.



    The truth is that 24bit color is quite sufficient, but when processing, different (and preferrable) results may translate to the 24bit spectrum if you down-quantize last.
  • Reply 6 of 12
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Why not bring it up to 24 or 32 or anything higher? Why lose 4 bits for nothing?
  • Reply 7 of 12
    the cool gutthe cool gut Posts: 1,714member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Scott

    Why not bring it up to 24 or 32 or anything higher? Why lose 4 bits for nothing?



    It all depends on the device capturing the image, weither it be a scanner or digital camera. If the D70 captures 12 bits, then that's all he's going to get, even importing it in 16 bit mode. It's not like resolution where you can up sample through interpolation.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    fred_ljfred_lj Posts: 607member
    You must convert to 24-bit (8 bits/channel) to be able to save your images in JPEG format, though. But if you're working in high-end graphics, go for it (although the extra bits are imperceptible to the human eye).
  • Reply 9 of 12
    jbljbl Posts: 555member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by fred_lj

    You must convert to 24-bit (8 bits/channel) to be able to save your images in JPEG format, though. But if you're working in high-end graphics, go for it (although the extra bits are imperceptible to the human eye).



    The only reason the are imperceptible to the human eye is that your computer screen can only show you 8 bits/channel, so when you edit a 16 bit/channel document in photoshop it only shows you 8 bits. Your eyes/brain can distinguish a lot more than 256 grey levels.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by the cool gut

    It all depends on the device capturing the image, weither it be a scanner or digital camera. If the D70 captures 12 bits, then that's all he's going to get, even importing it in 16 bit mode. It's not like resolution where you can up sample through interpolation.



    Yes I know. Why are people suggesting to take it down to 8 bit. You're tossing out 4 bits doing that.
  • Reply 11 of 12
    jbljbl Posts: 555member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Scott

    Yes I know. Why are people suggesting to take it down to 8 bit. You're tossing out 4 bits doing that.



    What is the alternative? Monitors, printers and all the standard formats for distribution are 8 bit. Maybe there is some high end stuff out there I don't know about (please tell me) but as far as I know you can only ever actually look at 8 bit images.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    the cool gutthe cool gut Posts: 1,714member
    As well, there are a lot of things Photoshop can't do to a 16 bit image.
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