Having issues trying to know how to read histogram

[Scott Welsch]

I turned to RAW mode to see what I assume is what the camera is actually capturing instead of whatever default settings I have it set at.

Now the default (I reset curves, FLUT etc... To default settings so I don't know why it isnt matching RAW look)

On the RAW it almost looks like her face is slightly slightly too bright on one side and I'm curious is that normal to try and recover?

RED Epic Dragon M
85mm L lens
I'm curious to figure out what I may be doing wrong here. I apologize for newbie questions, I'm searching the RED site but it isn't telling me much more about the histogram other than if it's slightly on the left side it may be too dark (If it's on the left side in my photos attached it's because the dark clothe in the background I assume)

Are there any tutorials out there online?

http://i.imgur.com/emROH5h.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jt6csVM.jpg

Forgive my screenshots.

 

[Akin A]

I turned to RAW mode to see what I assume is what the camera is actually capturing instead of whatever default settings I have it set at.

Now the default (I reset curves, FLUT etc... To default settings so I don't know why it isnt matching RAW look)

The camera is actually capturing red, green and blue light hitting the sensor and recording the intensity levels of the light at each photosite of the sensor. That's RAW data. It's not something you can view. It has to be debayered to look like an image.

There is nothing RAW about the RAW Display Mode. The name is deceiving and it would make sense to change it.

RAW Display Mode is just a preview of the debayered RAW data using these settings:
Color Space: Redcolor2
Gamma Space: REDlogFilm
White Balance: 5600K
ISO: 800
Tint: 0

You can manually set the camera to those settings and it will match what RAW display mode is showing.

The reason your shot looks brighter in RAW display mode is that "RAW" is giving you an ISO 800 preview, but you are shooting at ISO 320.

 

[Scott Welsch]

The camera is actually capturing red, green and blue light hitting the sensor and recording the intensity levels of the light at each photosite of the sensor. That's RAW data. It's not something you can view. It has to be debayered to look like an image.

There is nothing RAW about the RAW Display Mode. The name is deceiving and it would make sense to change it.

RAW Display Mode is just a preview of the debayered RAW data using these settings:
Color Space: Redcolor2
Gamma Space: REDlogFilm
White Balance: 5600K
ISO: 800
Tint: 0

You can manually set the camera to those settings and it will match what RAW display mode is showing.

The reason your shot looks brighter in RAW display mode is that "RAW" is giving you an ISO 800 preview, but you are shooting at ISO 320.

Is RAW mode the closest to what the default image will look like?

 

[Bob Gundu]

Is RAW mode the closest to what the default image will look like?

Hmmmmm. That's a tough question as a true RAW view doesn't have a visual representation. It needs to be interpreted somehow and what you view in RAW view is the most practical and reasonable view to judge about 90 percent of the data available.

 

[Akin A]

Is RAW mode the closest to what the default image will look like?

There is no default image. When RAW is debayered, it can be viewed in whatever Color Space, Gamma Space, WB, Tint, ISO you want.
RED recommends using their latest Color Space, which is Dragoncolor2.

A colorist might prefer to start with:
Color Space: Dragoncolor2
Gamma Space: REDlogFilm

Somebody who wants to view an image with contrast might start with:
Color Space: Dragoncolor2
Gamma Space: REDgamma4

BTW, check out this video to understand RAW sensor data:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-stCNB8jT8

 

[Scott Welsch]

For some reason it always seems darker when I'm trying to record something, I click the default and it looks much darker but also on my computer the way I record looks darker as well. How can I ensure it's perfectly exposed, I don't see those goal posts going off, I'm using video mode to check as well

 

[Akin A]

Perfect is subjective, but you can try using the Gio Scope and testing what values produce images that are bright/dark enough for you in post:

http://youtu.be/OmZZjAjJAPQ

Related thread:
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?127855-Scarlet-Dragon-Gio-Scope-Exposure-Test-(LLO-OLPF)

 

[Mike P.]

I think raw view uses the RLF gamma curve on top of the linear raw data, so it would probably have a tendency to *look* brighter than a more traditional/709 gamma curve. Just use GioScope and you can find out where the high and low sides of her face reside... problem solved.

 

[Christian Fitzpatrick]

I was going to ask about this RAW mode today also. I thought that the goalposts were based on RAW sensor data, and not affected by look. However switching back and forth between my DC2/RG2 preset and the RAW display does affect the goal posts. Switching to RAW today actually reduced the height of the left goal post (indicating less pixels in noise?). This confuses me as I though those goal posts were based on RAW sensor data and not affected by any look. . .Is that wrong?