Shooting RAW

This page is not a tutorial but a simple demonstration on the difference between images that are shot RAW
and then modified via a RAW converter namely Photoshop CS2 RAW

Looking at Vignetting and Chromatic Aberration

Here to your right you can see every 4 seconds the difference between a RAW image shot as the sensor captured it (before) and how the image appears (after) applying modifications to adjust multiple attributes of the image consisting of

  • White Balance Temperature & Tint

  • Exposure - Shadows - Brightness - Contrast & Saturation

  • Sharpness - Luminance Smoothing - Colour Noise Reduction

  • Chromatic Aberration - Red/Cyan Fringe & Blue/Yellow Fringe

  • Vignetting Amount & Midpoint

   
Here we look at specifically the Vignetting caused by light fall off of the fisheye lens. You can clearly see the Vignetting has been improved greatly. This will help a great deal when two separate images are stitched and blended together.
   
In this view we look at Chromatic Aberration. (More so the RED fringing) though fringing can be any colour. Pay attention to the roof guttering and the hand rail.

It should be noted that modifying a RAW file doesn't permanently modify the RAW image and any changes made can be undone at anytime in the future. What you do is apply YOUR settings to the RAW file and then save a copy of the image in a "normal" image file like .tif, .jpg, .png etc.

A separate file is made when modifying your RAW image that contains the information you set typically this is know as a "sidecar" or an .xmp file and this file once made and saved can then be applied to all other images in the same batch. You can even use it as a starting point on another completely different project on a different day. Most likely if the lighting conditions haven't changed all that much and you are using the same equipment you could use the very same .xmp file again without modifying it at all.