What data does the Canon 5D Mark III use for the histogram in Live View?
Asked 2/7/2016
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On a Canon 5D Mark III, when Live View shows a luminance or RGB histogram, is that histogram based on the RAW sensor data or on the JPEG preview processing? I'm trying to understand what the camera is actually measuring under the hood and how closely it reflects the final RAW file.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
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The majority of cameras use the JPEG preview (with picture styles applied) embedded in a RAW file as the source data for the histogram and blinkies. In other words, it's just using what's sent to your LCD display for review. This is probably due to limited processor load and data paths, and is a cause for complaint among photographers--that the data they're seeing represented is based on after-compression data of roughly 1/10th of the image. You may actually have more latitude on either end of the scale with RAW files.
The closest you might be able to get to true representation of the histogram of your RAW file is to use the Magic Lantern firmware add-on and enable RAW histograms.
Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27440
10y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
On cameras like the 5D Mark III, the on-screen histogram and highlight warnings are generally based on the camera’s processed JPEG preview, not the untouched RAW sensor data. That means the histogram reflects the image as rendered for display, including picture style and other JPEG-oriented processing.
In practice, this is why the histogram can differ from what is actually recoverable in the RAW file: RAW often retains more highlight and shadow latitude than the displayed histogram suggests. So the Live View histogram is useful, but it is not a perfect representation of RAW exposure headroom.
A closer approximation to a true RAW histogram may be available through third-party firmware tools such as Magic Lantern, which can provide RAW-oriented histogram options on supported cameras.
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