Post-processing TIFF vs. RAW - big differences? Phocus > C1 vs just using Lightroom

[peterm1]

I use both Capture One and Lightroom, but am considering switching to C1 entirely. However, as everyone knows, C1 doesn't process Hasselblad files natively.

What I am thinking of doing is first importing my RAW files into Phocus for automatic lens corrections and color profiling, and then converting those files to 16-Bit TIFFs for importing into and further post-processing in Capture One.

So my question is: how much latitude and file quality am I giving up by post-processing the TIFFs in C1 vs. using Lightroom to post-process my X2D files in RAW instead? For example, are blownout highlights that may be recoverable in the RAW just gone in the converted TIFF (although for that use case I can always adjust overexposure in Phocus)? Are there other image degradation issues as well? While I hear about the quality and flexibility differences between processing RAW and JPEG files, I am trying to get a better sense of what, if anything, I am giving up by doing my main post-processing on TIFFs as outlined above.

Thanks!

Peter

 

[Godfrey]

I have done this with other cameras, and when scanning film, for years. The key is to get as much of the "close to the edge" adjustments done in the raw conversion to TIFF process, and then to finish the rendering lightly in TIFF. The TIFF file should be most of the way to finished when you bring it into whatever other image processing app you want to use for the finishing.

At least that's my take on it. It's a technique I find useful for several different things. An example is in scanning film: when I have a tweaky negative which is too thin or too contrasty, I capture it with raw using one or another cameras. The adjustment of the raw file can be quite tricky because I have to bend the Tone Curve weirdly to fit the image data properly, and the tonal adjustment controls work in reverse (for negative to positive translation). If I get the rendering close and then output to 16bit TIFF, opening up the TIFF for adjustment now gives me a tone curve which is much more normal, filling the entire map, and the tools to adjust it work in the normal, non-reversed manner. This photo was rendered using the raw to TIFF workflow from an extremely thin negative:

Two Trees Frame A Hidden Gate
Kodak Retina IIc - Xenon 50mm f/2.8
Ferrania P30​

G