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16 vs 8 bit processing

IcebearIcebear Registered Users Posts: 4,015 Major grins
edited November 7, 2007 in Finishing School
Since I'm certain it's been beat-to-death here before, could someone direct me to a thread that will help me decide when in the pp workflow to convert a 16 bit (ginormous) file to 8 bit (only huge). I have a basic understanding of why 16 bits of info is better than eight, but since I can only use 8 for output anyway, the whole thing gets fuzzy for me. Maybe the fact that yesterday was my 60th BD explains some of the fuzziness, but there has to be something I'm missing.
John :
Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.

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    arodneyarodney Registered Users Posts: 2,005 Major grins
    edited November 7, 2007
    Icebear wrote:
    Since I'm certain it's been beat-to-death here before, could someone direct me to a thread that will help me decide when in the pp workflow to convert a 16 bit (ginormous) file to 8 bit (only huge). I have a basic understanding of why 16 bits of info is better than eight, but since I can only use 8 for output anyway, the whole thing gets fuzzy for me.

    http://staging.digitalphotopro.com/tech/the-bit-depth-decision.html

    And no, you can use 16-bit for output depending on the driver. Soon, you'll be able to from Epson's drivers (under Leopard) and can today with ImagePrint. Canon using their export module in Photoshop.
    Andrew Rodney
    Author "Color Management for Photographers"
    http://www.digitaldog.net/
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    RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,928 moderator
    edited November 7, 2007
    Icebear wrote:
    Since I'm certain it's been beat-to-death here before, could someone direct me to a thread that will help me decide when in the pp workflow to convert a 16 bit (ginormous) file to 8 bit (only huge). I have a basic understanding of why 16 bits of info is better than eight, but since I can only use 8 for output anyway, the whole thing gets fuzzy for me. Maybe the fact that yesterday was my 60th BD explains some of the fuzziness, but there has to be something I'm missing.

    You can look at this thread for starters. It's pretty long, and sadly rather contentious, but there's a lot of useful info there. In the end, you will need to do what makes the most sense for your own situation.
    My Pics
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    IcebearIcebear Registered Users Posts: 4,015 Major grins
    edited November 7, 2007
    rsinmadrid wrote:
    You can look at this thread for starters.

    Great googly-moogly!! I need to give my eyes a rest after reading that thread. Waaayyyy over my head. I think I learned all I have the knowledge to use (at this point in my journey) and that's that I'll use 16 bit 'till I export to jpeg. Somebody else said it - "it's like chicken soup. Might help - can't hurt."

    I do a lot of architectural photography, mostly interiors. It may be that 16 bit will help with fine gradations in the play of light on walls and ceilings, especially in the highlight areas, like where there's a bright lamp beside a light colored wall. . . ne_nau.gif

    Andrew, Richard, thanks for your help. I love this forum. It's time to buy a big honkin' external hard drive anyway.
    John :
    Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
    D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
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    arodneyarodney Registered Users Posts: 2,005 Major grins
    edited November 7, 2007
    Icebear wrote:
    I think I learned all I have the knowledge to use (at this point in my journey) and that's that I'll use 16 bit 'till I export to jpeg.

    You'll have to convert to 8-bit, JPEG doesn't support 16-bit files and such an option will be grayed out until you do so.
    Andrew Rodney
    Author "Color Management for Photographers"
    http://www.digitaldog.net/
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    IcebearIcebear Registered Users Posts: 4,015 Major grins
    edited November 7, 2007
    I say again . . .
    . . . I love this forum. Andrew, I really appreciate that you came back to offer that bit of advice. Not needed though. I use Lightroom for "exporting" to jpeg, not CS3. Just another reason to like Lightroom . . . it figures all that stuff out for you. I do all my fiddly stuff in CS3, send the .tif back to Lightroom, then when I need to send it to Smugmug, or burn a CD for a client, I just tell the little man in Lightroom what I need, and he does all the heavy lifting. Really, after reading the stuff you guys put me onto, the only reason I can see to convert to 8-bit is to save disc space. With a 2.79 gHz processor and 3G of RAM, speed is no longer a problem (till I break down and buy the Hasselblad anyway). The other day I was appalled when I realized that the 10MP RAW file I'd shot had ballooned to a 147 MB .tif. Holy shit. What kind of file size do guys and gals who shoot the big cameras have to deal with anyway?!?!?!?:wow
    John :
    Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
    D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
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