3FR/3fff file sizes - Workflow - Phocus to Tiff 8bit or 16 bit

[pflower]

I usually use Lightroom for everything and work on my 3FR files within LR and then print from them.  However recently I have been looking at Phocus again and whilst I do not like it as a final processing solution it does (possibly) have some edge over LR as regards colour particularly in the highlights.

However exporting Tiffs from Phocus has some size disadvantage.  On my X1D a 16bit Tiff comes in at 305 MB whilst an 8 bit Tiff comes in at approximately 1/2 the size.  Now on every other digital camera I have used when I make a Tiff I always make sure I make a 16bit file.  However I never print larger than A2 and would do pretty minor adjustments in LR on the TIFF file therein.  Is there any advantage to using 16 bit Tiffs over 8bit Tiffs?  Colour in this respect is my major concern.

At the risk of name dropping, I remember having a conversation with Edward Burtynsky some years back at a Prix Pictet event and was surprised first to learn that he used digital Hasselblads (I had assumed he use large format film) and then to discover that he exported them to 8bit Tiffs.  So I suppose if it is (or was) good enough for him .....

Finally can anyone explain why on the X1D (and also on the H6D the last time I looked) the 3FR files are bigger than the 3fff files?  My understanding is that the 3FR is supposed to be the compressed version and the 3fff is the uncompressed version.  Certainly on my venerable H3D-39 the 3fff files are approximately 20MB bigger than the 3FR files. We know that compression has not been effected on the new generation of cameras but isn't it rather curious that the (theoretically) uncompressed files are smaller than the (theoretically) uncompressed files?

[davidthescot]

Hi

I use Phocus (tethered and untethered) on my H6D-100 files to export 16bit TIFF's using Profoto RGB as the colourspace.  The only adjustments I make in Phocus is to reset the white balance.  Everything else is done in LR or if necessary PS CC.  I prefer the raw conversion algorithm that Phocus uses and the  lens correction but the rest of my workflow is in LR.  Having a 16bit files simply means that there is much more data to deal with any subsequent manipulation in my opinion but never having used 8 bit TIFF's I cannot honestly say that the end product print would show the difference.  I have never worried about file sizes as the expenditure on more memory and/or faster processors is dwarfed by the cost of the cameras and lenses

I own a couple of Burtynsky's works and have been to several shows at Flowers gallery depicting his later work which is printed to larger sizes and captured digitally.  It may be that the content of his later works do not need 16bit.

[NickT]

I never export 16 bit files unless I am planning on making dramatic tone moves after export. 16 bit will not give better colours but will give finer tonal variations which will largely prevent banding if doing big tonal adjustments.

[Dustbak]

Same here. Unless I really want to abuse the files I never export to 16bit. 8bit is fine. I would NEVER use LR to export my files. If there is even a slight doubt about using 8bit or 16bit, using Phocus instead of LR is a no-brainer

[pflower]

Since pretty much everything I print is through Lightroom, I also would never export a Tiff  through Lightroom because generally I can't see a need (in my work) to go to Photoshop, for example, and then print.  However recently I have been playing with the Nik range of plug ins which are beginning to look quite interesting - particularly Silver Efex Pro and Color Efex Pro.  Since both of those export 16bit Tiffs I am playing with going to Phocus and exporting a Tiff into LR and then editing in the Nik software.  This does involve an extra, very large, Tiff but one can always delete the original Tiff.

Interesting that no one has picked up on and commented on the size difference between 3FR and 3fff.  Currently I am converting everything within Phocus to 3fff and then importing into LR.  I am planning to print a number of files at A2 size during this week and will see what works best - generate the Tiff through Phocus and then import into LR and edit in Nik, or import the 3fff into LR and then edit in Nik.  Probably I am going to be splitting hairs, but with a fairly light week ahead it might be interesting.