12-26-2017, 08:26 AM
(12-26-2017, 02:57 AM)godek Wrote: I am using gimp 2.9.8. Right after I use nufraw and open in gimp it is imported as 8 bit. My camera is a slr digital camera from 2005. Could it be possible it is not able to output more than 8 bits? It is a nikon d50 I plan on getting a newer one soon.
Most likely a limitation of nufraw. Digital cameras have 12 or 14-bit sensors (even if due to noise the actual dynamic is around 10-bit at high ISO settings)(your D50 is 12-bit).
But IMHO it would be better to use a more complete Raw application (RawTherapee, Darktable, Photozone) that can do a lot more things using the sensor data (like several different de-noising algorithms) and totally outperform Gimp in the color-processing department. For instance RawTherapee has a large collection of film emulation filters.
When you start using this kind of application to any significant extent (in other words, trying to get something better than the in-camera JPEG) you find that you spend more time with them than with Gimp. It not RT which is a pre-processor for Gimp, but Gimp which is a post-processor for RT (to remove unsightly elements, add signature, etc...).
All these free, open-source applications are discussed on pixls.us.