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A short guide to photography
In the RAW image-quality mode, the image size is set at full and cannot be changed. The image
size will not be displayed on the monitors. The digital zoom, enlarged playback, data imprinting, and
print functions cannot be used.
Unlike the other image-quality modes, RAW image data is unprocessed and requires image pro-
cessing before it can be used. To view the RAW data, the DiMAGE Viewer software is required. This
software can reconstruct the image and apply the same image processing controls as the camera.
RAW data is saved as a 12-bit file; the DiMAGE Viewer software can convert this data into 24-bit or
48-bit TIFF files.
A RAW image is stored with a file header that contains white-balance information, changes made to
contrast, saturation, and color with the Digital Effects Control, any image processing applied in a
subject-program setting, and changes to sharpness. The changes in camera sensitivity are applied
to the RAW data; ISO values can be manually set to control noise (p. 74).
The camera’s image-processing controls apply the affect of the color modes to the live image on
the monitors, but the stored data may not be influenced by the setting. The black and white color
mode has no effect on the final image; a raw image taken in the black-and-white color mode can be
restored to a color picture. However, black and white filter effects (p. 79) are not applied to a RAW
image. The saturation difference between the Natural Color and Vivid Color modes is preserved in
the RAW data, but the solarization color mode does not alter the image data. For more on color
modes, see page 102.
About Raw Image Quality
In the center of the Sakai plant in Japan is Okina bridge. In the 15th century, Sakai was a pros-
perous free city, and Okina bridge spanned the moat at one of the entrances into the walled
town. For centuries, this bridge carried pilgrims on their way to two of Japan’s sacred places:
the mountain monastery of Koyasan and the great Shinto shrine, Kumano Taisha. The bridge in
the courtyard dates from 1855, see photo on the next page. In 1968, Minolta offered to pre-
serve the bridge when the city government announced they would fill in the moat for a planned
highway. The bridge now spans a specially constructed goldfish pond. The writing on the
stone bollard at the front of the bridge prohibits vehicles from crossing.
Konica Minolta history