Olympus Viewer 2

[Rider]

I just processed a couple of RAW images with Olympus Viewer 2, and they were NOT identical to the in-camera JGEGs (E-PL1).

 

[grebeman]

Perhaps a read through of this thread https://www.mu-43.com/f35/return-jpeg-6580/ will help, or confuse :smile:, it has certainly generated some strong reactions and made me question my understanding of RAW images as supplied from the camera.

Barrie

 

[Rusted Chrome]

RAW should not be identical to in camera jpegs. With jpegs, you basically let the camera handle all the processing for you. With RAW, you get exactly what the sensor recorded, ready for you to tweak to your liking. They will naturally look rather flat and dull on their own. There is nothing wrong with shooting jpeg if you don't like post-processing.

 

[Rider]

RAW should not be identical to in camera jpegs. With jpegs, you basically let the camera handle all the processing for you. With RAW, you get exactly what the sensor recorded, ready for you to tweak to your liking. They will naturally look rather flat and dull on their own. There is nothing wrong with shooting jpeg if you don't like post-processing.

I don't know if you're aware but there is a software program called "Olympus Viewer". This software is supposed to contain the same algorithm for turning RAW images into JPEGs that the Olympus cameras have internally. In my testing, it did not produce an identical images to in-camera processed JPEG.

 

[Rider]

Perhaps a read through of this thread https://www.mu-43.com/f35/return-jpeg-6580/ will help, or confuse :smile:, it has certainly generated some strong reactions and made me question my understanding of RAW images as supplied from the camera.

Barrie

I saw that but didn't read the whole thread. My question is much more narrow: I was under the impression that the "Olympus Viewer" software is able to mimick the in-camera jpg engine. In my test, it did not.

 

[grebeman]

I have no experience with Olympus View so am able to offer no relevant comments, however from the thread I quoted it would appear that RAW editors in general do not mimic the in camera settings, not even white balance which has come as a surprise to me, so perhaps that also applies to Olympus View.

Barrie

 

[Rider]

The name is actually "Olympus Viewer 2". I went back and changed the thread subject line.

I can't remember where I read that it's supposed to give you the same results as the in-camera process. The menus in the "RAW Development Window" mirror the ones in the camera, with a couple of additional functions.

 

[grebeman]

I can't help but think that Olympus Viewer 2 is going to behave as any other RAW editor. An unedited RAW file will not be the same as the in camera jpeg. This is as good an explanation of RAW format as I have come across.
Understanding RAW Files Explained

Barrie

 

[Rider]

I can't help but think that Olympus Viewer 2 is going to behave as any other RAW editor. An unedited RAW file will not be the same as the in camera jpeg. [/url]

Barrie

That's really not true. There is no technical reason why a RAW editor couldn't have the exact same algorithm as the in-camera engine. Third party RAW editor like Adobe Camera Raw can't do it because camera makers don't reveal their algorithms, and reverse engineering them would not be permitted.

Note that Olypmus Viewer has two modes. One is just like any other RAW editor. The other mode is specifically designed to be just like the in-camera JPG engine. I ran a few more tests, and it's actually very very close when the sRGB color space is used. It looks like either the camera or the software is getting the Adobe RGB color space wrong under some circumstances, however. Which is not a big deal. I just saw a posting on Steves Digicams where someone pointed out a minor omission: Viewer does not offer the lowest JPG compression (highest quality) that the camera offers, which is a strange omission but not a huge deal.

Overall, I am satisfied that I can recreate in-camera jpgs if I shoot RAW. (Personally, I would never shoot in JPG only mode, and RAW+JPG mode is cumbersome and wastes a ton of space.)

 

[grebeman]

Glad you've been spurred into further investigation and are now happy with your software.

Barrie

 

[Malo1961]

Being in love with the OOC Jpeg quality of the E-PL1 on one side and facing the dilemma of wanting some sort of insurance (RAW) on the other side I was very pleased to see OV2 lets you create pre-sets of any OOC jpeg setting.

In Raw mode you can simply load a pre-set based on any setting you can think of and apply to any particular .ORF. (VERY NICE !!)
Also the possibility to add a complete copyright notice as extra ITPC info during saving was a very pleasant surprise.

I guess OV2 will from now on be my first choice raw converter.
OLYMPUS....