C1 LE + PS Elements 8/16 bit?

[Dave_Abrey]

Now that C1 Le is available for the Mac, I was thinking about having a serious go at using RAW with my Canon 10D. However, I've done some reading, and one thing bothers me... From what I understand, RAW images are 12 bit, so converting them to 16 bit will keep the full range of info, but converting to 8 bit will remove some info. AFAIK, PSE 2 doesn't support 16 bit images, so I'd have to work with 8 bit images. Would this offset some of the advantages of working with RAW (ignoring exposure compensation, WB etc.)? Would the difference between an 8 bit and 16 bit image be noticeable?

Thanks,

Dave.

[Jonathan_Wienke]

If you're going to use Capture One in any flavor, your foolish not to use the full flavor of Photoshop. 16-bit files can be adjusted to a much greater degree without causing banding or posterization. 16 bit does make a difference. It's not always huge, but it makes the greatest difference when you need it the most.

[TomByron]

A slightly different take. Until last week I had only PSE2; I finally bit the bullet & ponied up the $300 for the upgrade to CS. 16-bit editing was one of the big reasons to do so. That said, I do feel I had a big advantage using C1 (Rebel) to process my RAW images even without PS CS. I took advantage of the raw data & was able to do most (often, all) corrections using the more robust info in the raw file. So, it's worth a try, especially since C1LE is very reasonably priced & has a nice trial period. You probably will eventually want PS CS to round out your toolbox, as I concluded recently. But I got along fine there for about 6 months. Give it a try!

Tom

[RickBoden]

I understand Elements 3 will support 16bit editing.

Rick

[DonLashier]

I use C1 and have full PS but still do almost all my PS work in 8 bit. The reason is simple - I get all my major adjustments done in C1 so nothing major is being done in PS where 16 bit would make a difference.

- DL

[Dave_Abrey]

[ QUOTE ]
I understand Elements 3 will support 16bit editing.

Rick

[/ QUOTE ]

And it's got a RAW converter built in too. I think I'll be getting PSE3 now [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

Dave.