Photography Life

PL provides various digital photography news, reviews, articles, tips, tutorials and guides to photographers of all levels

  • Lens Reviews
  • Camera Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • Compare Cameras
  • Forum
    • Sign Up
    • Login
  • About
  • Search
Forums
Photographic Equipm...
Nikon
RAW Histogram -ETTR
 
Notifications
Clear all

RAW Histogram -ETTR

 
Nikon
Last Post by JoopV 1 year ago
11 Posts
5 Users
2 Reactions
793 Views
 JoopV
(@joopv)
Active Member
Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 5
Topic starter January 4, 2024 8:54 am  

I am considering upgrading to a Nikon-Z camera. Are there any signs of RAW histogram and Raw-based ETTR being introduced in-camera in the near future, before I put my money down?


   
Quote
Darin Marcus
 Darin Marcus
(@darin-marcus)
Reputable Member
Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 256
January 4, 2024 6:32 pm  

I haven't heard anything about that...


   
ReplyQuote
PRG Lagarde
 PRG Lagarde
(@prg-lagarde)
Reputable Member
Joined: 2 years ago
Posts: 234
January 5, 2024 4:06 am  

If it's for stills (I mean not Video), your best bet to display histograms reflecting more precisely ETTR in Nikon Z cameras may be to play with camera profiles and so you may check this (the guy gives a kind of method to have this in Z cameras) : https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4465007

You can directly download the profile he's using here : https://www.dropbox.com/s/8scia6r8v99o4z2/Highlight.NP3

I also recommend the reading of this excellent article by Spencer Cox, here on the website, about this subject :

https://photographylife.com/exposing-to-the-right-explained

And the complement by Nasim Mansurov :

https://photographylife.com/exposing-to-the-left

 

BTW, Happy New Year


   
F-starter and Ircut reacted
ReplyQuote
 JoopV
(@joopv)
Active Member
Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 5
Topic starter January 6, 2024 7:51 am  

@prg-lagarde: thanks for the useful information. The biggest boon however would be if camera manufacturers would implement the technique in the cameras, so that we can all benefit from it.


   
ReplyQuote
 JoopV
(@joopv)
Active Member
Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 5
Topic starter January 6, 2024 7:54 am  

@darin-marcus: Thanks for the trouble of replying. I had hoped that the subject would have had a wider response, as a way to alert camera manufacturers.


   
ReplyQuote
 Spencer Cox
(@spencer)
Admin
Joined: 11 years ago
Posts: 198
January 6, 2024 1:23 pm  

@joopv Unfortunately, I think the odds of Nikon or anyone else implementing a true RAW histogram are pretty low. So far, only Leica does it and only in their monochrome camera, as far as I know. It boggles my mind that this is a still a limitation, but so it goes.

It's possible to simulate a true RAW histogram or work around it as covered in my ETTR article, but there's no perfect method that I'm aware of.


   
ReplyQuote
 JoopV
(@joopv)
Active Member
Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 5
Topic starter January 8, 2024 2:17 am  

@spencer, Thanks Spencer, what do you think is the main hurdle for the big companies? Is it developing software, constructing hardware or cost and competition? I am prepared to pay a bit more for inbuilt ETTR, and I think it would give a substantial competitive advantage to whoever is first.


   
ReplyQuote
 Spencer Cox
(@spencer)
Admin
Joined: 11 years ago
Posts: 198
January 9, 2024 4:55 pm  

@joopv Hard to say. Probably more of a software issue than anything. I would also be willing to upgrade to a camera for that feature, especially if it were combined with a programmable metering mode that could follow ETTR to specified strictness.


   
ReplyQuote
 Jason Polak
(@jpolakphotography)
Reputable Member Moderator
Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 192
January 22, 2024 6:07 pm  

I would also love this feature. It's mind boggling that it's not a feature, or something like Raw-based zebras.


   
ReplyQuote
PRG Lagarde
 PRG Lagarde
(@prg-lagarde)
Reputable Member
Joined: 2 years ago
Posts: 234
January 23, 2024 7:16 am  

Maybe I'm completely off, but to my sense, it's likely that processing an histogram from a real 14bit raw live data is way more ressources consuming than from 8bit data => 4,4 trillions vs only 16 millions combinations to analyse/convert to live graph. It's only a camera after all ;).

I bet there may be workarounds, but how reliable they may be is probably questionnable.


   
ReplyQuote
 JoopV
(@joopv)
Active Member
Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 5
Topic starter February 13, 2024 8:21 am  

@prg-lagarde > I am sure that processing power will play a role, but not being an expert on this I would find it disappointing if software would be the only bottleneck. My work-around is to view on the camera after the shot has been taken, and later in post processing to view the RAW file in FRV (Fast Raw Viewer), which gives you the real picture, with options to intervene.


   
ReplyQuote
Please Login or Register to reply to this topic.
Forum Jump:
  Previous Topic
Next Topic  

Currently viewing this topic 1 guest.

Forum Information
Mark all read
Recent Posts
Unread Posts
  • 24 Forums
  • 628 Topics
  • 5,315 Posts
  • 7 Online
  • 1,221 Members
Our newest member: Rebecca122599
Latest Post: Photo Theme Challenge, Week #99: Repeating Patterns [Deadline: Saturday, May 3]
Forum Icons: Forum contains no unread posts Forum contains unread posts
Topic Icons: Not Replied Replied Active Hot Sticky Unapproved Solved Private Closed
Disclosures, Terms and Conditions and Support Options

Learn

  • Beginner Photography
  • Landscape Photography
  • Wildlife Photography
  • Portraiture
  • Post-Processing
  • Advanced Tutorials
Photography Life on Patreon

Reviews

  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews
  • Best Cameras and Lenses

Photography Tutorials

Photography Basics
Landscape Photography
Wildlife Photography
Macro Photography
Composition & Creativity
Black & White Photography
Night Sky Photography
Portrait Photography
Street Photography
Photography Videos

Unique Gift Ideas

Best Gifts for Photographers

Subscribe via Email

If you like our content, you can subscribe to our newsletter to receive weekly email updates using the link below:

Subscribe to our newsletter

Site Menu

  • About Us
  • Beginner Photography
  • Lens Database
  • Lens Index
  • Photo Spots
  • Search
  • Forum

Reviews

  • Reviews Archive
  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews

More

  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Workshops
  • Support Us
  • Submit Content

Copyright © 2025 · Photography Life