Hey everybody, I was wondering what mode you were converting your RAW files to? I've been working with my wedding, which was all shot in RAW and then converted to 16bit in Camera Raw. These files are huge to start with and easily jump over 100MB each when they are 'done up'.

I was just wondering if I should only work in 8 bit or if these 16 bit files really do much better when you are adjusting the photos.

So, what do you all do?

Anybody?

It depends on what your final plans to do with the image are. 8-bit is excellent for the majority of applications . I have printed 20x30s on 8-bit compression and the quality is perfect. I would say save the space and keep it simple by using 8-bit. For a long time I shot in Raw mode becuase I was determined to get total image quality out of my camera. I have learned to make things easier by shooting in JPEG Fine now and only compress it one time in photoshop. If you have a perfect exposure to beging with, going from 16 to 8 bit wont make much of a difference in quality.


-Sky

archive 16bit, print 8.

just archive your raw files and you're fine, since they are 16.
if you shoot raw, I would do my toning in 16bit then convert to 8.
printers can only use the information from 8 bits per channel, so 16 to printer is pointless.

16 bit gives you 256x more information in your histogram, which is nice. 8 bit has 0-255 "levels" if you will of tonal information and 16b has 0-65,000 (256 ^2) levels of tonal information. so take full advantage of that when you are toning, color correcting, etc.

the raw converters are going to get more and more sophisticated, so keep those raw's archived and see how beautiful your print can be in 10 years when printers can use that extra information!

hope that helps,

garrett