Dark Images when shooting RAW in R6

[Scott2742]

Greetings! Is there a setting I can change in my R6 that will prevent my RAW images (pre-processing) from being too dark? JPEGs look fine but the RAW versions need to be lightened up. Thanks!

[jrhoffman75]

What software are you using to view your RAW images?

The JPEG is simply the RAW file processed by the camera. Do you have some settings set incorrectly?

You might want to reset all camera settings, set the camera to “P” mode and shoot some images in good daylight. Noonish on a sunny day is best for testing.

Post some RAW images to hearing service like Dropbox or OneDrive so we can look at them and check the EXIF data.

[Scott2742]

Hello John and thanks for the reply. When I first transfer the image files from the memory card to the Windows 10 "Pictures" folder, the JPEG photos appear "normal" prior to any post processing work while the RAW versions are consistently darker and need at least to be lightened. Thus I thought there might be a need to change the R6 internal settings, but don't know what to adjust.

[jrhoffman75]

Hi Scott. I wouldn’t rely on the Windows Pictures for RAW images. Download and use the free Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP4) from the Canon support site.

[ebiggs1]

There is two different situation's going on. Canon's in camera and Windows. I will bet the issue is with Windows and there is no exposure issue with your Raw files. Try using a "good" post editor like Lightroom or one of the free ones like Darktable.

[Waddizzle]

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@Scott2742wrote:

Greetings! Is there a setting I can change in my R6 that will prevent my RAW images (pre-processing) from being too dark? JPEGs look fine but the RAW versions need to be lightened up. Thanks!

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What are the histograms for RAW and JPG files showing you? If you are not using a monitor that can be color calibrated, then I would put more faith in the histograms than what the monitor is currently displaying. Most consumer laptops cannot be calibrated like an IPS monitor can.

[Peter]

Without a tone curve added, raw viewers show raw files darker.

darktable was mentioned, and the same goes for that one. Without its base curve turned on and set to Preserve color to None, the raw file will look flat and dark.

JPEG to the left, raw file without a tone curve to the right

JPEG to the left, raw file with tone curve to the right

HTP will increase the difference between the raw file and JPEG.

[Tintype_18]

I have had the same thing. JPEG are fine but the RAW images darken after a few seconds. Odd, but I have had RAW photos that didn't darken. Will go back and review the replies again.

John, are you saying to download the photos directly to DPP4? Or download to Explorer and transfer?

[jrhoffman75]

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@Tintype_18wrote:

I have had the same thing. JPEG are fine but the RAW images darken after a few seconds. Odd, but I have had RAW photos that didn't darken. Will go back and review the replies again.

John, are you saying to download the photos directly to DPP4? Or download to Explorer and transfer?

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You cannot download to DPP4. DPP is just a file browser; it has no storage capability on its own. DPP4 needs to access the file folder that the images are in. It would be possible to use DPP4 to view the files that are on the card, but I would not recommend that.

My recommended workflow is to download images from card into a folder and then work with the files. Although unlikely, a computer glitch could cause a problem with the card and all images would be lost.

[ebiggs1]

"... are you saying to download the photos directly to DPP4? Or download to Explorer and transfer?"

When you u/l your Raw files to your computer and view you are essentially viewing a jpg. You can not view a Raw file directly. Even when you are looking at the back of the camera. It is a jpg conversion. Although most all in camera settings are not saved to a Raw file those settings are used to make you the viewable image you see. Each of the post editors, no matter which, LR, DPP4, Windows Viewer,etc. has its own conversion scheme. Some say DPP4 is best because it uses Canon's own proprietary method but some prefer, me for instance, Adobe's ACR and so on.