Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/02/02

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Subject: Re: [Leica] 32 bit digital cameras
From: Jonathan Borden <jonathan@openhealth.org>
Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2004 21:02:49 -0500
References: <BC43A3D2.610%s.dimitrov@charter.net> <p05100316bc44336b65e6@[10.0.1.5]> <401E9F12.9020308@openhealth.org> <p05100319bc448063871e@[10.0.1.5]>

On Feb 2, 2004, at 5:42 PM, Henning Wulff wrote:

> At 2:03 PM -0500 2/2/04, Jonathan Borden wrote:
>>> ...
>>
>> Photoshop can read 48 bit TIFF files -- indeed the TIFF format is the 
>> only one I use with Photoshiop (7/CS) as it can save layers, alpha 
>> channels etc. It is unfortunate that the cameras don't save in TIFF 
>> format directly, but in any case one might consider converting from a 
>> device dependent RAW TIFF colorspace into a device independent 
>> colorspace (e.g. Adobe1998/ProPhoto etc.) for editing purposes.
>>
>> Jonathan*
>>
>> *who exclusively uses digital Leica products, the Digital M3 -- Tri-X 
>> etc. souped in whatever and scanned into Photoshop -- 5400 x 7000+ x 
>> 48 bit resolution for under a grand :-))
>
> I believe you're talking about a couple of different and not 
> necessarily related items.
>
> Photoshop can read and write a large number of file formats, including 
> TIFF at various bit depths, and the .psd format, which is its own and 
> will retain the greatest amount of information, as far as Photoshop is 
> concerned. If you intend to work further on a file, it's best to save 
> it in the Photoshop format.

According to Blatner and Fraser p665: "... Photoshop 7 has made the 
Photoshop format both less necessary and less convenient ... almost 
anything you can save in a Photoshop file you can also save in either a 
TIFF or PDF file..."

>
> Photoshop can also now read certain RAW formats, as long as they 
> aren't proprietary, encrypted, or made available since the last 
> Photoshop plug-in revision.
>
> Some cameras _can_ save in TIFF format directly, and they can be 
> colour space tagged. The reason few companies do this and few people 
> that have cameras that can do this use it is that TIFF files are 2 to 
> 3 times as large as the RAW formats, which are losslessly compressed 
> and hold the same information. So TIFF for the most part is pointless, 
> as the data throughput issues are already a limiting factor with 
> almost all cameras and storage media.

Err no. It is entirely possible to use lossless compression with TIFF 
files. It is the industry standard. Now it is also possible to have 
uncompressed TIFF files, so although your TIFFs might be 2-3 times as 
large as your RAW files, this need not be the case.

Beware that if you archive your files as RAW, you may not be able to 
recover them in several years i.e. once the particular RAW format has 
been discarded, forgotten and no drivers exist for whatever computer 
you will be using. On the other hand, the TIFF format which is a 
standard and is well document and supported by many many programs on 
essentially all platforms, will likely be readable into the future.

I've been doing digital imaging for 25 years now  and I've been burned 
more times than I care to admit by so-called "RAW" file formats. I'm 
still snapping up M3s/M6s, and Deardorffs for that matter, at good 
prices. That said, what it is possible to do with a good scan, and 
particularly with color, in Photoshop is pretty amazing -- I'm just 
waiting for Photoshop to be upgraded to be able to use more than 2 gb 
of memory.

Jonathan

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Replies: Reply from Henning Wulff <henningw@archiphoto.com> (Re: [Leica] 32 bit digital cameras)
In reply to: Message from Slobodan Dimitrov <s.dimitrov@charter.net> (Re: [Leica] 32 bit digital cameras)
Message from Henning Wulff <henningw@archiphoto.com> (Re: [Leica] 32 bit digital cameras)
Message from Jonathan Borden <jonathan@openhealth.org> (Re: [Leica] 32 bit digital cameras)
Message from Henning Wulff <henningw@archiphoto.com> (Re: [Leica] 32 bit digital cameras)