"Bill Hilton" wrote in message
One of Margulis’ fans (I think Mike Russell, but may be wrong) created a challenge a few
years back offering a prize ($50? $100?) for anyone who could show that a file edited in 16 bits was visually superior at output to the same file edited with the same steps in 8 bits.
As I remember, he lost the
bet when someone came up with such a file, but probably 90-95% of the files submitted didn’t seem to be any different. (Maybe Mike can fill in with more accurate details, I didn’t participate in it myself).
LOL – yes, that was me. There were a few problems with the 16 bit challenge, not the least of which was the tremendous number of emails and posts complaining about the concept of the challenge. Much more verbiage was spent on that, than on the contest itself..
The basic idea was for people to send me images corrected in 16 bits, and have them judged, side by side, with an image corrected by myself, starting with an 8 bit version of the 16 bit original. To make a long story short, I lost the contest because I overdid the detail in the shadows and the highlights in one of the images.
I send the $100 check to the winner – a photographer in Greenland – and considered it a cheap education in humility, which many have remarked I am in dire need of. In this, my own change of attitude mirrors Bill’s, who started on the other side with the assumption that 16 bit originals would be better.
As time passes, and the technology moves forward, I think the question of whether to capture in 16 bit is becoming moot. It is easy now to capture 12 bit raw images, and I have verified that they do contain much valid shadow detail that is not available in the 8 bit version of the same exposure. As ADC’s become cheaper, scanner manufacturers have moved their image processing into the digital realm, and this means that hibit scans have more detail than they did several years ago.
The final answer may change, but the criteria are the same. If you are a consumer of technology, first educate yourself, then believe in what you can see, yourself, in your own images. Anything else is just smoke and mirrors. This remains the best insurance against buying bridges from naked emperors. Personally, I still use 8 bit for nearly all of my images, but I recognize and respect the importance of hibit editing to many of my customers.
In a few years, perhaps, we will have a digital camera that captures floating point HDR images, and the question of whether to edit in that number system will present us all with a different set of choices, and challenges for toolmakers such as myself. These are exciting, and sometimes overheated times.
The technology changes, and those of us who are flexible will change our minds.
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Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com