DIGITAL CAMERA RAW CONVERTER COMPARISONS
with Canon 1Ds Mk II, Canon 400D XTi, Canon 50D and Nikon D300 images
AAdobe's ACR
(Photoshop & Lightroom), Bibble Pro, BreezeBrowser Pro, Capture One Pro,
Canon's Digital
Photo Pro, SilverFast HDR Studio and Silkypix Developer Studio
Comments On
EXIF (Exchangeable
Image File Format)
and IPTC (International
Press Telecommunications Council)
Embedded data
EXIF |
| Almost all current digital cameras include EXIF data in the image
file. Embedded in this case means that the data is included in the header
of
the actual
JPEG
or TIFF file. EXIF data is a list of technical information about each
photograph such as aperture used, shutter speed, ISO rating, lens used,
focal length, date taken and
just about
anything else the camera manufacturer chooses to include. EXIF data
does not include user inputted remarks or copyright information of any
kind. EXIF data can be a valuable
reference. Also, the information in the EXIF header is an extremely
useful tool for learning to use your digital camera. Comparing images
against
their 'as shoot' data makes it possible for you to figure out your
exposure and camera setup mistakes.
However, there are at least two standards for EXIF and to further muddy the waters each EXIF aware imaging program implements EXIF in its own particular way. The end result is that the transfer of all of the camera's original EXIF data after image editing and saving the file again is a very iffy proposition. Nearly all EXIF aware programs destroy, or alter to some degree, the original EXIF data produced by the Camera. EXIF information from a given image file may read differently in one image editing/viewing program then it does in another. Some available data (EXIF tags) may be interpreted and display properly in one program and not in another. You can use BreezeBrowser to copy EXIF data from the following file types: Canon RAW and THM, JPEG and TIFF. You can paste the copied EXIF data into a child JPEG or TIFF that has had the EXIF data altered or stripped by another program. There is a nice piece of freeware called EXIFER that allows you to edit the data in the following EXIF fields: JPEG comment, description, artist, copyright (photographer and editor), comment, date & time taken, date& time modified, date& time digitized. You can also view and edit IPTC data in EXIFER. EXIFER's main drawback in my opinion is that it only reads EXIF information from JPEG or TIFF. It cannot extract EXIF data from a RAW file. This inconsistent EXIF implementation situation is limiting the effectiveness of a very valuable tool for digital photography. Hopefully EXIF standards and implementations will become more consistent as this technology matures over the next year or two. |
IPTC |
| The IPTC standard we are referring to here was designed primarily
for press and editorial photographers to be able to enter relevant image
data into a TIFF or JPEG file header before it was transferred to their
service
bureau. This
IPTC standard allows the image owner to provide quite a bit of data
about the image without having to send a separate and corresponding informational
file along with
the image file. IPTC Data is divided into five different sections:
Caption, Keywords, Categories Credits and Origin. There are multiple
text fields for each section. You need to
have a IPTC aware program to be able to read and edit IPTC data.
Photoshop
7,
Capture One Pro and BreezeBrowser
support this IPTC standard. |
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B&H is the best online dealer - click the banner above if you need to do some shopping LINKS: Introduction, comments on RAW and features comparison chart Adobe ACR & Lightroom) overview Bibble Pro overview BreezeBrowser Pro overview Canon Digital Photo Pro overview Capture One Pro overview Silky Pix Developer Studio overview SilverFast HDR overview comparison examples - color renditions comparison examples - color and tonal range comparison examples - landscapes comparison examples - artifacts & sharpening comparison examples - studio lights with Kelvin white balance comparison examples - image editing comparison examples - digital noise at ISO 1600 |
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