Which colourspace do you set?

[RVF]

Hi folks

Just wondering what peoples thought are with regard to which colourspace to set in the camera.
The default appears to be sRGB, but after a little research it appears that the Adobe RGB seems to offer a wider range.

Your thoughts would be appreciated

 

[Chappers]

Most devices will operate around the sRGB colourspace. That is your monitor,and printer, if you have one. So it would seem that sRGB is a good option to choose.

The only drawback, and it is only a small one for most people, is that if you opt for sRGB for your files any colours that are outside that colourspace are lost forever. Yes you can switch back to Adobe RGB if you wish, but that will only reference the sRGB colours to Adobe RGB colourspace. Any colours that were available in Adobe RGB will not be available.

Now as I said this is not normally a problem for most people. There are advantages to sRGB which can out way this slight disadvantage. Remember that it is unlikly that you will be able to see the additional colours in the larger colourspace unless you have high end monitors able to work in Adobe RGB.

Also when it comes to printing you may see anomalies in colour if your printer is unable to handle the larger colourspace. It's only really high quality printers ( Epson 7000 series) that can get anywhere near Adobe RGB at the moment anyway.

So unless you really have an overwheling desire to use Adobe RGB stick to sRGB.

 

[Chaz Photos]

It help to have Max info of you are going to PP it then you can convert it back to sRGB
For me I shoot in RAW and AdobeRGB convert to 18bitTIFF in Photoshop after any edit I then take it back to 8bit Jpg for output
Hope this helps
For got to add this link to help you inderstand
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/sRGB-AdobeRGB1998.htm

 

[paleblue]

I'm not 100% sure how this applies to photographs, but most press printers use the CMYK print process. Newspapers, magazines, and most mass-printed media is done on a CMYK press (usually offset litho) so they may require CMYK photographs. For screen, web and home printing, RGB is used. May be off topic a little, but I thought I'd throw it out there. :shrug:

 

[Arkady]

Adobe RGB - I prefer to start with the widest gamut available and downsize if need be rather than the other way round...

 

[Kev M]

For screen, web and home printing, RGB is used.

Other way round, for screens and therefore the web can only generally manage sRGB. You will see some difference in RGB if you select it as a profile but not to it's full extent unless you're running a very high end screen. Same goes for printers.

 

[Chappers]

I'm not 100% sure how this applies to photographs, but most press printers use the CMYK print process. Newspapers, magazines, and most mass-printed media is done on a CMYK press (usually offset litho) so they may require CMYK photographs. For screen, web and home printing, RGB is used. May be off topic a little, but I thought I'd throw it out there. :shrug:

CMYK is not really a colour space. It's a print process which has as many "flavours " as print combinations. If you are sending images for repro, stick to sRGB or Adobe, and let the page composition software do the conversion.Much safer.

 

[pxl8]

As always, if you need to ask, stick with sRGB.

If you're using AdobeRGB but the shot doesn't need the extra satuation and/or the device isn't able to display it then you've gained nothing, in fact you've throw away a lot of bandwidth in the tonality.

Read the thread linked in my sig, or indeed the link that ChazPhotos posted which also explains the loss of tones/bandwidth

 

[simonkit]

After much initial research I started out using Argb but after a while I realised it was a waste of time and effort for my useage..my shots are displayed on the web, printed on my personal printer and sent to online labs for printing - all of these only work with Srgb - I've now simplified my workflow to all Srgb with no obvious effects on image quality

Simon

 

[hollis_f]

Shoot in raw and pick the correct space when you convert to jpeg. I use sRGB for everything except Alamy contributions, which are aRGB.

 

[RVF]

Hi Folks, sorry for the late reply I only tend to switch the pc on at/or near a weekend.

Thanks all for your replies, much appreciated.

pxl8, the info in the thread in your sig is excellent & IMO should be made a 'sticky'. You've made the subject much clearer for me, many thanks

 

[snapzz]

AdobeRGB offer more colours but are more mutted. sRGB offer less colour but more saturated which is better for web display. Also most mini labs now print using sRGB colour space. Some people prefer to shoot in AdobeRGB and then convert to sRGB but I am unsure as to the effectiveness of this. Another option is to shoot raw and convert to whichever colour space is required.