Does the in-camera sRGB/Adobe RGB setting affect RAW files?
Asked 6/8/2017
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On a Nikon D750, if I change the Photo Shooting menu color space from sRGB to Adobe RGB, does that change anything in the NEF RAW file itself? I know it affects JPEGs, but it is unclear whether RAW capture is affected. I’d also like to know whether the same applies generally to recent Nikon and Canon cameras.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
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It has no impact on the RAW data. It may not even affect the embedded JPEG used as preview but I am not certain about that.
The point is that RAW images do not have color info at each pixel and so are not in any color-space. They have color primaries correspond the the wavelengths that the Bayer filter on each pixel but that is fixed and cannot change with any camera setting. They output you get in the RAW file is simply linear intensity values at each pixel from a single primary.
You specifically asked about NEF which is Nikon and most cameras work exactly the same way, even Fuji uses the same primaries but they are just arranged in a pseudo-random way. The only exception to this are Sigma cameras with Foveon sensors. Still, they have their own color-space which must be processed into sRGB or AdoneRGB to turn into a JPEG.
Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1620
9y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
No—the camera’s sRGB/Adobe RGB setting does not change the actual RAW sensor data in a NEF/CR2/CR3 file. That setting applies to JPEG output and typically to the embedded JPEG preview that the camera shows on its LCD and that many image browsers display before full RAW rendering.
RAW data is not stored in a standard output color space like sRGB or Adobe RGB. It contains the sensor’s recorded light values, which your RAW converter later interprets into a viewable image. The chosen color space is normally applied during JPEG creation or during RAW conversion/export in software, not at capture.
So on the D750, and generally on recent Nikon and Canon cameras, changing sRGB to Adobe RGB won’t alter the underlying RAW capture; it mainly affects in-camera JPEGs and likely the embedded preview/look of the RAW file.
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