I’m in the process of comparing the latest versions of various Raw file converters, and as part of that I’ve been rendering the same image in multiple pieces of software and comparing the results. Stay tuned for the scientific version where I use actual color targets and math, but in the meantime, I’ve been trying to get a feel for the differences by eye. However, I found something I didn’t expect…

Especially because each converter has its own algorithm for lens corrections, there are plenty of spatial differences between renderings, in addition to color differences. You can see them by loading each rendition into Photoshop as a layer, and then using the Subtract setting to apply the top layer. In this case, the image is the default Nikon NX-D rendering of a Nikon D810 image subtracted from the Photoshop CC 2014 version of the image (with Photoshop set to use what Adobe calls “Camera Standard.”)

Now, I’ll admit to being easily amused, but I found the results themselves to be visually interesting. I don’t doubt that some enterprising soul could make a fairly interesting “artsy” filter out of this process. In the meantime, I’ll press on with the more serious side of my investigations. For reference, the unaltered image as rendered by Photoshop is below:

Nikon D810 with Nikon 24-85mm AF-S VR Lens
Photo by Annie Cardinal