RAW: What settings matter?

jpl

What camera settings matter when shooting in RAW mode? I'm looking for a definitive list. My camera is a Nikon D40.

Does this setting affect the RAW file:
shutter speed: yes
aperture: yes
ISO: yes
focus: yes
flash: yes
flash compensation: yes
flash sync: yes
metering: not directly but metering affects SS and A if you let the camera choose SS or A
exposure compensation: ???
white balance: no?
noise reduction: no?
image sharpening: no?
tone compensation: no?
color mode: no?
saturation: no?
hue adjustment: no?


I think my NOs are right but please correct me if any of them are wrong. The only one I really have no idea on exposure compensation. I don't know if it adjusts a setting on the sensor before the image is captured of if it applied post capture. I assume there are other settings you can adjust on fancier cameras but I think this is it for the D40.

gluwater

jpl wrote:

I think my NOs are right but please correct me if any of them are wrong. The only one I really have no idea on exposure compensation. I don't know if it adjusts a setting on the sensor before the image is captured of if it applied post capture. I assume there are other settings you can adjust on fancier cameras but I think this is it for the D40.

Your list looks accurate. Exposure compensation directly affects your aperture in Shutter priority or your shutter speed in Aperture priority. If you are in Aperture priority and you put in a positive EC it will slow your shuuter speed. If you put in a negative EC it will raise your shutter speed. So you do need to get EC close in camera.

jpl

Ya know I never noticed that exposure compensation affects the shutter speed and aperture. That would explain why the exposure button becomes an aperture button in manual mode. It makes sense now.

(I'm a beginner in case you couldn't already tell )

Tee Why

Exposure compensation and metering mode matters.
Generally what RAW offers over JPEG is that there is no processing after the image is captured by the sensor.

So things like color/bw, WB, saturation, contrast, sharpening, noise reduction, and color space will have to be done by you and not the camera's processing program.

David_S85

jpl wrote:

Ya know I never noticed that exposure compensation affects the shutter speed and aperture. That would explain why the exposure button becomes an aperture button in manual mode. It makes sense now.

(I'm a beginner in case you couldn't already tell )

If your cam is set to aperture priority, exposure compensation will alter the shutter speed. If your cam is set to shutter priority, EC will alter the aperture.

MooreDriven

jpl,

If your using Capture NX for post-processing, then it will read some of the settings and apply them to the image when opened. I don't use NX a lot, but remember reading that some of the settings are applied. If your using a differnent application (LR, CS, etc.) then no settings are applied.

In general, shotting RAW is the best method in my opinion. It's provides more flexibility to correct an image post processing than JPG will.

Dale

Manamarak

exposure compensation: Yes


But only if you're not in manual mode. Exposure compensation affects the Raw image by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.