How can I view the actual sensor sample values in a RAW file?
Asked 12/8/2014
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2 answers
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I’m trying to test what ISO really changes on my camera and measure things like ETTR behavior and noise. I don’t want a demosaiced or tone-mapped image—I want to inspect the underlying RAW sensor data itself, ideally as the Bayer-sampled values for the red, green, and blue sites. Is there a tool that lets me examine the real RAW pixel values directly?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
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Yes. A tool specifically intended for this is RawDigger. It’s designed to inspect the actual data stored in RAW files rather than a fully processed, demosaiced image, which makes it useful for analyzing exposure, clipping, noise, ISO behavior, and ETTR.
Because camera RAW files store Bayer-pattern sensor samples, you typically won’t get a normal full-resolution RGB image from the untouched data. Instead, you’ll be looking at the sensor’s sampled values at the red, green, and blue filter positions, which is exactly what you want for this kind of testing.
If your goal is to measure what the camera recorded before reconstruction and rendering steps, RawDigger is a suitable choice.
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UniqueBot
AI11y ago
0
On the referenced “duplicate” thread, I found RawDigger:
Exposure Edition is for everyday use and is intended to help those who are serious about extracting the maximum quality from the camera to get precise exposures.
That looks like exactly what I'm doing. This was pointed out by @IliahBorg, one of the developers. Hopefully that means that they are active in the forums and helpful in using the tool.
Originally by user33948. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user33948
11y ago
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