I Searched for this and could not find it

[pbelarge]

I have a Canon T1i
When setting the color space, there are two choices:
sRGB
&
Adobe RGB

I have read conflicting info in regards to setting this color space.

Does anyone know the answer as to which I should set it at?

 

[ann]

sRGB, if your not going to print your own photos in RGB color space and you don't have a high end monitor you will not see the difference.

 

[Dao]

I stay with sRGB. I could be wrong, but most of the time when I heard people complained about photo were all messed up when print were related to Adobe RGB. Seldom the other way around.

 

[Hamtastic]

If you have to ask go with sRGB.

The key to color space is to make sure that if you are switching between them to convert the right way. The main places you need to worry about color space is in your camera, in your processing software, and in the printing/display device. You either want them all to be the same color space, or make sure you are converting correctly when you switch color spaces.

Your monitor probably has a color space more similar to sRGB. The web is sRGB. Your lab probably wants the files in sRGB. So the easy way is to stick with sRGB all the way through.

If you are shooting raw I don't think it matters what the camera is set to. Raw doesn't have a color space. It is assigned by the raw processing software. I suppose it's possible that some software might assign a color space based on the camera settings, so that's something to check.

My cameras are set to Adobe RGB, but I'm shooting raw so it really doesn't matter. All my Photoshop programs are set to ProPhotoRGB. When I open a raw file it assigns ProPhotoRGB. One of my last steps in the processing of any photo is to convert the color space to sRGB. That's what the lab wants.

I shot for years using an all sRGB color space workflow, and the photos looked fine. I switched to ProPhotoRGB when I started using Lightroom, because that's the color space (or closest to it) Lightroom works in automatically. I don't use LR anymore, but I've stuck with the wider color spaces because everyone says they are "better". I question whether they really are all that much better. I can't say I've noticed any difference. I've been told there are richer greens and blues in the wider color spaces. I love green and blue, but don't notice any difference.

 

[Overread]

sRGB if you have to ask the question.

Essentially working in other colour spaces can give you advantages, especailly when you come to editing an image to a very high degree. The thing is most people don't go that far into editing their images, so the benefit of working in the other colour spaces is quite small. By all means do look at the subject area, but be prepared to have to learn quite a bit to get the full benefit out of it.

 

[pbelarge]

I want to say thanks to those who responded. I have read some more on this and now understand (somewhat) about which, why and what to set the color at....black & white.

 

[rokclmb]

From Page 93 of the T1i instruction manual.

About Adobe RGB
This color space is maily used for commercial printing and other industrial uses. This setting is not recommended if you do not know about image processing, Adobe RGB, and Design rule for Camera File System 2.0 (exif2.21).
Since the image will look very subdued with an sRGB computer environment and printers not compatible with Design rule for Camera File System 2.0 (Exif 2.21), post-processing of the image with software will be required.

Link to pdf of manual from Canon's T1i web page = http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/6/0300002246/01/eosrti-eos500d-imh-en.pdf

 

[Garbz]

In reality the application for wide gamut colour spaces are very limited.

- If you have a normal monitor then you're viewing sRGB colours anyway.
- Everyone on the internet is viewing sRGB colours anyway.
- Most cheap print labs work in sRGB colours anyway.
- Lots of nature is in sRGB anyway, and by that I mean unless you're shooting wonderful sunsets, neon lights in vegas, LEDs, Lasers, or with a polariser and saturation boosted up you won't get a difference on many of your shots.
- Some more expensive print labs can't print better than sRGB anyway depending on the paper.
- A decent lab with a proper chemical process can and will get the extra data out of it. But it'll be too expensive to do for the hobbyist anyway. Ok that's a lie, we can afterall afford our cameras. But realistically out of the 60000 images I have taken, only 3 have been given this treatment since the lab charged me $40 and the framer $100.

From a technical standpoint however there's lots of good things about AdobeRGB. It captures a wider range of colours. Green is greener, blue is bluer, etc. The downside to this is that it's actually BAD to do this when you shoot in JPEG since the 8bit per pixel limit of the JPEG standard doesn't give you enough dynamic range to record every possible colour in the AdobeRGB space.

So to that end there are only two settings in your camera that make any kind of sense at all. sRGB, or shoot in RAW where it doesn't matter since your software on the computer will ultimately decide what colour space to work in.

 

[KmH]

The following link is the first of series discussing color management.

The series will eventually cover color spaces: Overview of Color Management

 

[Big Mike]

or shoot in RAW where it doesn't matter since your software on the computer will ultimately decide what colour space to work in.

Ding Ding! We have a winner.

 

[pbelarge]

Again, thanks for the responses. I had read the T1i manual, but I believe there is enough experience on this site for others to possibly tell me to ignore 'this or that' and try something else.
I did change my camera setting, and saw right away the difference, I did change it back.
I believe in constantly pushing my envelope...with my knowledge of photography, pushing the envelope is more like 'nudging' :mrgreen:

P.S.
I shoot in manual a lot, and save in raw-jpeg for almost every shot.