Fuji X-T5 Raw Files Seem Underexposed

[cedric (Ted Cousins)]

@paperdigits

@cedric

I leave those settings at their default values because I always shoot raw.

On a lot of camera systems, the jpeg rendition [affects] the metering, so setting a lower contrast jpeg file gets you closer to linear (though not quite there on any system I’ve seen) and thus closer to a “raw histogram”. On many systems, leaving the default jpeg will leave a lot of unused headroom in your raw file.

Fortunately, most of us know that and apply an adjustment to the camera histogram so as to compensate

[paperdigits (Mica)]

@cedric

Fortunately, most of us know that and apply an adjustment to the camera histogram so as to compensate

And how do you apply that offset?

[cedric (Ted Cousins)]

@paperdigits

@cedric

Fortunately, most of us know that and apply an adjustment to the camera histogram so as to compensate

And how do you apply that [adjustment]?

Via exposure i.e. by setting the aperture and shutter speed.

[afre (Alan)]

Are you compensating based on the exposure indicator and what you know about the camera’s headroom?

[cedric (Ted Cousins)]

@afre

Are you compensating based on the exposure indicator?

No

and what you know about the camera’s [raw] headroom?

Not sure why that was asked. On my Sigma SD10, the raw saturation values are passed in the raw file metadata.

Oops - I misread it as “what do you know …” please ignore my response.

[afre (Alan)]

That was the method I used for my old camera.

1. Observe the exposure indicator.
2. Set the aperture and shutter speed based on what I knew about the indicator’s bias.
3. Voila — I used the headroom (at the risk of clipping).

[cedric (Ted Cousins)]

@afre

That was the method I used for my old camera.

1. Observe the exposure indicator.
2. Set the aperture and shutter speed based on what I knew about the indicator’s bias.
3. Voila — I used the headroom (at the risk of clipping).

Sounds reasonable, there being many ways to skin that particular cat.

[sillyxone]

@afre

Are you compensating based on the exposure indicator and what you know about the camera’s headroom?

I think it’s basically what we all do. I process the RAW, I realize how “off” it is from ETTR, I set the EC dial on the next shoot according to my best guess. Rinse and repeat, not too hard to have it almost there after a few cycles. For my X-T2, I basically set EC to -1/3 most of the time, the camera’s metering is pretty consistent to what I want.

When I shoot theater, dance performance, or light show, it’s a whole different story. Can barely have a few seconds between shots, no chimping at all. At least the “zebra” feature showing clipping in real-time is reliable, and experience learned from previous mistakes. If it’s a controlled setting (theater), it’s easy to just have fixed A+SS, AutoISO already capped at 800 to reduce clipping. Otherwise, adjusting the EC dial on the fly, sometimes all the way down to -3.

I guess direct access to the SS, A, EC dials is what keeping me from moving out of the X-T line.

[afre (Alan)]

@cedric

Oops - I misread it as “what do you know …” please ignore my response.

No problem.

@sillyxone

For my X-T2, I basically set EC to -1/3 most of the time, the camera’s metering is pretty consistent to what I want.

Note that I do not compensate using EC. I deliberately clip to the extent I know is safe and suitable for the composition. The result is a nice JPEG as well as a proper ETTR raw file. For more challenging scenes, I do not worry about accidental clipping because very likely the dynamic range is too great anyway. Maybe, take another darker shot to keep track of the bright coloured lights for post-processing restoration.