Question for those who take photos in RAW...

[Felix le Chat]

There are a lot of RAW developers, but I've been using Lightroom since it was released. It has camera matching color profiles, so the images come with the same color they get on camera instead of the stramline Adobe Color profile which renders every DNG the same.

That's the main reason digital photography lost “character”, because everyone uses the same profile and automatic white balance, while each brand of film had their own “embedded” color profile and a set WB.

Drones tend to miss these profiles for some reason, but you can play with other profiles or make your own. RAW is the only way to go.

I recall that some of the older editing softwares had 'filters' that mimicked the look of the classic films (Kodachrome, Ektachrome, Fujifilm Velvia etc.). Darktable has a 'velvia' module built-in that does a lovely job.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

I'm not familiar with how Affinity works but perhaps it's using your Nikon settings as a starting point if it doesn't have a setting for the drone camera. Sometimes settings will stick and they can be hard to notice. Just a guess on my part but I have been a professional color corrector/retoucher in Photoshop/Scitex for over 30 years. Software will do that sometimes. Just a thought.

 

[Fizzbang]

DarkTable
or GIMP
or RawTherapee.

Think of a RAW file image as a film negative, that has not been developed and printed.
Think of the jpg as a print from a developed negative.
(Not true of course but you can do so much more with the original negative than you can with a printed image)

The use of RAW comes into its own when there are 'Unusual lighting' conditions such as very dark; or scenes of high contrast.
In those situations you can enhance RAW images in post processing far more than a jpg file.

So if you are not shooting in extreme conditions or do not want to experiment with post processing, its simpler to stick with jpg images.

 

[Fizzbang]

Hello, thanks for the reply.

I've neen editing RAW images for a couple of years now and have my head around most of the enhacnements like shadows, lighting etc.. but those were being done to RAW images taken on a Nikon camera and the starting point was very good when I loaded thst file in to my software.

It just seems as tho DJI's own version of RAW isn't as straight forward to bring in to th editing software and it struggles to produce the same results.

My software must not have the same camera/lens values so it struggles to interpret the RAW files taken on a DJI product.

DNG files were created by Adobe not DJI.
You can get DJI LUTs to apply to videos but I dont know if you would want to do that to stills.
If you want to batch process still images then I would use RawTherapee in batch mode or DarkTable as I do for panoramas using Hugin.

 

[Furlan]

Bottom line if your happy with your JPEG images stick with it and forget about RAW. If your not adept at editing RAW
files you more than likely will screw them up. As far as sharpness pixel count is secondary to sensor size. The size of the
sensors in a drone will not compare with a APS or full frame camera sensors regardless of pixel count.

 

[Droning on and on...]

As far as sharpness pixel count is secondary to sensor size. The size of the
sensors in a drone will not compare with a APS or full frame camera sensors regardless of pixel count.

Werd, brutha! The 3 inch, 4 pixel sensor in my SLR takes better pictures of 4-element color mondrians than any DJI drone!

 

[Felix le Chat]

The left hand image is the JPG and the right hand image is the RAW. The RAW image is so poor that in my limited ability I can't edit the RAW to the point that it is as good as the JPG version. It means I'm left editing for so much longer trying to get it better looking. I may as well just use the JPG as my starting point for editing and just forget the RAW altogether.

I get that the RAW is unprocessed and it needs work but this isn't the case with the Nikon RAW images which are identical looking to their JPG counterparts.

As was mentioned - maybe Photoshop or Lightroom make for a better starting point for editing RAW files with DJI drones. My own woftware (Affinity Photo) just doesn't seem to give you the same starting point with the drones as it does with my Nikon.

Have you tried looking through the software general preferences to see if you can force "ignore EXIF sRGB tag"? Either that or choose another colour profile to what it's reading.

 

[Dr. Sybren]

If you don't want to use Adobe software and be stuck to a subscription, I can recommend DxO PureRAW. It works great for the raw files I shoot with my Mini 4 Pro.

The DNG files written by my Mini have lots of vignetting, and that's compensated for by the "gain map" stored in the DNG. Not all raw processing softwares support this "gain map" though. So that's what I use PureRAW for: it applies the gain map (+ does some fantastic sharpening) then writes out another DNG so that I can use my regular raw editing workflow (CaptureOne aka Capture1) for further processing.

 

[Dale D]

I have a Mini 3 Pro and always take images using both JPG and RAW formats as RAW supposedly gives more flexibility when it comes to editing them afterwards. However, when I open a RAW image in my photo editing software (I use Affinity Photo) the image is washed out, dull and a lifeless. When I open the JPG version of the image it looks totally fine and just like how the photo was taken at the time. It's a bit baffling and thoguht my software isn't good at editing RAW images taken on a DJI drone.

So for those people out there who shoot and edit RAW images on their DJI drones.. I was just wondering what photo editing software you use?

Does DJI have its own purpose built software for doing this even?

You are opening the old can of worms...I am a devoted Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom/Premiere Pro user. Most on this forum uses free or pay one time software.

 

[Droning on and on...]

If you don't want to use Adobe software and be stuck to a subscription, I can recommend DxO PureRAW. It works great for the raw files I shoot with my Mini 4 Pro.

The DNG files written by my Mini have lots of vignetting, and that's compensated for by the "gain map" stored in the DNG. Not all raw processing softwares support this "gain map" though. So that's what I use PureRAW for: it applies the gain map (+ does some fantastic sharpening) then writes out another DNG so that I can use my regular raw editing workflow (CaptureOne aka Capture1) for further processing.

One of the more useful posts I've come across in awhile. Didn't know about the gainmap, or the PureRAW application.

Big thanks, bro!

 

[kilhan]

So for those people out there who shoot and edit RAW images on their DJI drones.. I was just wondering what photo editing software you use?

Does DJI have its own purpose built software for doing this even?

If you finally need a professional quality, taking RAW is the only option. I take ONLY Raw files (with JPG disabled) in all my devises (Nikon DSLR, Olympus mirrorless, and Mavic 3 Classic, as only the Hasselblad 4/3 camera meets my needs). I edit all photos (and videos) first in Camera Raw (now with identical functions as Lightroom) and then in Photoshop.

I don’t know any free software you are talking about. I use only Adobe Cloud software (fortunately I have it free as a high level Adobe Stock contributor). As to DNG files form DJI drones, you don’t need a Lightroom or Photoshop lens profile, as it is embedded in the DNG file from a drone (eliminating geometrical distortion, vignette, chromatic aberrations etc.) as drones like Mavic have no interchangeable lenses and no zooms, so the lens characteristic is known by the drone. To be clear – even Mavic 3 Pro has no optical zooms but three independent cameras and lenses with fixed focal lengths, plus digital zooming (what means just cropping bigger images in the camera).

Now, if you don’t need professional quality, and have no good knowledge of photo edition, and are not expert in using professional tools like e.g. curves for separate colors, taking RAW is useless and can be frustrating. If you need only nice photos for your family, friends or social media, I recommend to disable taking RAW. The software in cameras making JPGs gives nowadays more than sufficient quality for such needs.

IMHO, the conclusion is clear: RAW format id for professionals, JPG for all amateurs. If you are asking what to do with RAW files, so you surely don’t need them.

 

[Droning on and on...]

IMHO, the conclusion is clear: RAW format id for professionals, JPG for all amateurs. If you are asking what to do with RAW files, so you surely don’t need them.

Oh puhleez

That conclusion is only clear for the arrogant.

RAW media and post-processing is for everyone that wants to learn about it. I'm not a professional photographer – I don't sell my photos or video – but I definitely am interested in superior results, so I've learned about these things, and have gained some skill with experience.

I found your posting shouting in all-bold a bit insulting, and in the context of this thread, completely lacking in any useful information.

 

[RBI55]

I'm suspicious of the profile and color settings you have configured in your camera, drone's camera and each photo editing software to ensure you're getting quality images in RAW mode. Set the wrong profile and color settings and your images can seriously suffer.

 

[kilhan]

Oh puhleez

That conclusion is only clear for the arrogant.

RAW media and post-processing is for everyone that wants to learn about it. I'm not a professional photographer – I don't sell my photos or video – but I definitely am interested in superior results, so I've learned about these things, and have gained some skill with experience.

I found your posting shouting in all-bold a bit insulting, and in the context of this thread, completely lacking in any useful information.

Sorry, When I read my post once again I must admit you are right that it was arrogant. BTW, the bold font was an accidental mistake and not intended

 

[Droning on and on...]

Sorry, When I read my post once again I must admit you are right that it was arrogant. BTW, the bold font was an accidental mistake and not intended

Thank you for being open to seeing this. A rare demonstration of admirable character around here.

If I may be so presumptuous, I discern that what you were trying to say is post-processing RAW photos is complex and requires a lot of learning and practice to get good results, so probably not worth it for the hobbyist unless they want to take their pictures to a more professional level.

How's that?

Hat's off to you, you're a good man

 

[kilhan]

I discern that what you were trying to say is post-processing RAW photos is complex and requires a lot of learning and practice to get good results, so probably not worth it for the hobbyist unless they want to take their pictures to a more professional level.

How's that?

That's it. And expressed in a polite way.

I’m an old photographer and I am sometimes exasperated when someone compares JPG and DNG and is surprised that JPG is much nicer than DNG. It resembles me the situation in traditional photography when someone compares diapositive film with negative film and wonders why diapositive is much nicer. If I happen to take some typical family photos in RAW forgetting to enable JPG, I refuse to show what I shot, saying that there is nothing to see yet, I have negatives in the camera and must make them at least in the Lightroom like in the darkroom in the past.

Someone asked why DJI doesn’t make its own software to edit/optimize DNG. But it does. JPG is just a DNG edited/optimized by DJI software in the camera by AI.

​

 

[Meta4]

If you are asking what to do with RAW files, so you surely don’t need them.

That is completely true

 

[Droning on and on...]

That is completely true

What someone else needs is entirely, and properly up to them.

 

[Meta4]

What someone else needs is entirely, and properly up to them.

Uh huh
If someone has no understanding of a topic, it's difficult for them to know what they need.

Unfortunately in this forum, people with little or no knowledge of photography, photographic editing etc, are influenced to believe that they really need to shoot dng and edit raw images.
The first post in this thread is a good example of this.

Post #31 put it succinctly.
If you don't understand raw images and editing them, that's a good indication that you need to learn more about general photography and advanced photographic techniques before worrying about dealing with dng images.

 

[Droning on and on...]

In any pursuit professional or leisure, there are experts who look with disdain on the curious who want to join in on advanced aspects of the pursuit. They will judge their need for such knowledge, always with far too little understanding of their lives, what's important to them, and discourage them from learning.

There are also other experts who welcome the curious. Their interest is sufficient motive to help them learn, expand their knowledge and skills, and become a "member of the club".

I count myself among the latter. I enjoy helping others understand complex and technically difficult topics. I find it gratifying when that light bulb turns on, there's an "AHA!" moment, and they get it. And now they can help others too.

When I'm on the other side, it's always painful to ask a question, and rather than get an answer, be told I don't need to know that for my intended use.