Problem with file browser of Photoshop CS

[andrewch]

The pictures looked good when previews on the LCD panel of the camera, but once they were opened in the file browser of Photshop CS, the photos got a strange colour cast to them. Has anyone of you had similar experience?

 

[DaShiv]

Are you opening ERF or JPEG?

I've noticed that the embedded thumbnail in the ERF (which is what the camera displays on the LCD) has a considerably different white balance setting than when I open the file using either Epson Photo Raw or Photoshop CS. That is to say, with both programs, when the files are first loaded and it displays the in-camera thumbnail, the photos have one color cast; once the program has cached the RAW data to produce a more detailed/accurate preview though, the color shifts noticably. I haven't noticed this phenomenon with any of my other digital cameras, such as my Canon 20D.

This has never been a concern for me since I only shoot in RAW, and adjusting white balance using the eyedropper is a given. And especially a non-issue since I mostly convert my R-D1 files to black and white. 😀

 

[andrewch]

Thanks for your reply. I shoot raw, and as you said, there was a quite noticeable shift in white balance when the the prorgram generates more detailed thumbnails. I suppose we have to learn to get used to it 🙂

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Andrew,
When you open a raw file in CS, go to the drop down menu on the right and choose "as shot" this will give you an image as your camera processed it, no color casts.

Todd

 

[andrewch]

I did choose "as shot" in the white balance menu, but it has a colour cast comparing to what I saw on the LCD panel of the camera.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Odd, what camera? I think Adobe has some downloads for specific digital camera files, maybe that is your solution.

Godd luck,
Todd

 

[jlw]

There are two sets of thumbnails involved here. One is built by the camera at shooting time and embedded in the raw file; the other is built by Photoshop from the raw file data.

If you choose the appropriate white balance setting on the camera, it will be applied to the camera-built thumbnails so they'll be a closer match to the Photoshop-built thumbnails (not perfect, but closer.)

The LCD panel of the camera is a different issue entirely. LCD panels usually aren't very good for color accuracy, and your computer monitor almost certainly displays colors differently from the LCD. No real way around this one.

 

[Sean Reid]

I find that the most accurate way to set WB on any digital camera's RAW files is by using the WB or GB eyedropper. I have yet to test a digital camera that nails WB in all conditions using presets. By using the WB to set color and shooting RAW (as you did) you can ignore setting WB in the field.

Sean

 

[andrewch]

I shoot raw and usually have the white balance on auto. And then I tweek the white balance setting in the photoshop raw converter. When the thumbnails were loaded the first time with the file browser, they were generated with the thumbnails that were tagged along the raw files, but once the photoshop started generating its own thumbnails, you can see a change in the color cast of the thumbnails. This is not the first time that this happened, but this time the color shift was very dramatic- the original thumbnails looked as if they were shot outdoor, but the ones generated by PS looked as thought they were shot under fluorescent. That really bugged me a bit, and I just wonder if there is any way of stopping the PS from messing round with the white balance.