[Leica] M9 RAW's and B&W

[hopsternew at gmail.com (Geoff Hopkinson)]

Erik the previews in the camera are made by using JPG conversions from the
Raw files (you cannot view the raw files directly as 'normal' images unless
they are converted). This applies whether or not you are also saving JPG
versions in camera. As Rei noted, your DNG files do have embedded previews.
When you process DNG files in your converter, those previews are optionally
updated at some point dependant on exact develop settings and set
preferences in your converter (I'm referring to LR or ACR).

The important practical point is that all of your colour information is
preserved in your DNG files irrespective of the settings that you have made
in your camera for JPGs and any BW conversion is performed (in the
converter) on a saved copy in a different format (typically TIFF or PSD).
You have learnt a practical and effective technique to visualise shots that
you plan to later convert to BW but your DNG information is unaffected apart
from the embedded previews. Your only negatives are space on your memory
cards and processing time in camera. You are not limited to the BW or other
JPG settings applied in camera. All of the settings that you may adjust for
in camera JPGs have no effect on DNGs saved in the camera (and are greyed
out in the menus). That is as it should be.
 Cheers
Geoff
http://www.pbase.com/hoppyman


On 10 May 2010 04:03, Erik van der Meulen <erik at avondel.com> wrote:

> Dear knowledgeable Leica-group,
>
> I seem to be missing something in the way my M9 handles RAW's.
>
> As long as I keep my 'Compression' setting fixed on 'DNG', I have no means
> of altering the 'Color saturation' setting. This remains on 'Standard'.
> This
> seems to me 'normal behavior'; I get the 'raw' data from the sensor.
>
> Now this get interesting; I followed the suggestion found on
> http://www.overgaard.dk/leica-M9-digital-rangefinder-camera.html to set
> the
> 'Compression' to 'DNG & JPG' and the 'Color saturation' to 'Black & White'.
> This way the screen on the M9 nicley shows B&W images which I have shot. I
> was under the assumption that this came from the JPG files recorded along
> with the DNG.
>
> I have no need for the JPG's other than the preview function, I want to do
> the actual B&W conversion manually in Lightroom on the DNG. So I delete the
> JPG's before I import the DNG's files into Lightroom. Much to my surprise
> in
> the import dialog window, the pictures do show up in B&W! Only after the
> import they seem to be converted to colored pictures.
>
> Now what puzzles me is that I would have expected a DNG file to be the
> same,
> no matter that the camera saturation settings would be. Further, if this is
> not the case (as it indeed appears), how come I can only make adjustments
> in
> relation to JPG settings on the camera?
>
> Obviously I am missing something here. If anyone can point me in the proper
> direction, that would be greatly appreciated!
>
> --
>  Erik van der Meulen
>  <erik at avondel dot com>
>
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