Color Depth

Dizkoteck

Dizkoteck

Well-known member
Hello,

What is color depth? Ive been thinking about purchasing a camera, either an old 30D or the new XSi coming out, which has 42-bit and the 30D has 36-bit. Although I understand bit depth in video game consoles, I see the XSi has a more consumer camera than the other one. However, this difference does make me think over which one to get.
How important is it?
Even the 5D is less than the XSi, is that a big change? noticable change?
will it affect jpg, raw?
thanks
 
My understanding is probably wrong but I will attempt. Please correct me if I am mistaken.

The color that hits your sensor has an infinite amount of color depth. Your anolog to digital converter is going to convert that color information to a digital amount. 42 bit would be 14bit on each channel RGB and 36bit would be 12bit on each channel. The bit depth reflects how many gradations of a color are possible in the file. However, the file you get in the end is probably going to be a 16bit per channel file for extra room to edit with. I don't believe our eyes can see past 8bit but the benefit of a higher bit depth is so that extra dynamic range information can be stored so that we don't loose information in shadows/highlights (highlights in the case of digital)

Sorry if I confused you more.
 
Nice explanation. Thanks!
So would there be a noticable difference in quality for storage from 42-bit and 36-bit?
 
maybe noticable when you need extra information while editing but I believe the sensor is gonna determine how your image looks in the end. Different sensors can produce different qualities. The 5D has a nice large clean sensor so it fairs well compared to a newer XTI plus people say it produces images that have a very organic feel.
 
One of the most practical reasons to shoot in a high-bit format (more color depth) is color control in editing. When tweaking colors, retouching, and converting to CMYK (for press use), your software has a lot more room to finess; and you'll see less color banding and artifacts in broad areas or gradients.

Many filters won't work at higher depths, but most photoshop-native ones will.
 
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