---- Reported by shotwell-maint@gnome.bugs 2011-04-19 14:35:00 -0700 ----

Original Redmine bug id: 3521
Original URL: http://redmine.yorba.org/issues/3521
Searchable id: yorba-bug-3521
Original author: Ben McTee
Original description:

I recently updated to 0.9.2 by adding the yorba/ppa and installing. This
replaced the default version out of the Ubuntu tree. The purpose of my update
was to overcome the Facebook issue with not being able to select a current
photo album when publishing. I am happy to say that 0.9.2 fixed the Facebook
issue, however, it has created a new one.

My photos are imported from a Nikon DSLR camera which are in the NEF format
(RAW). On the previous Shotwell version, the pictures looked great. Now, the
pictures are very dark and require adjusting the right side of the exposure
bar approximately to the middle to regain normal-looking photos. This happens
with every photo I have encountered so far since the update.

I noticed one of the features of this update is “Improved rendering of
underexposed RAW photosâ€. Could something with this fix be affecting how my
photos now look?

Attached is an NEF that can be used for testing. As stated previously, it
looked normal in the old version of Shotwell, and is not very dark prior to
adjusting exposure in the program.



---- Additional Comments From shotwell-maint@gnome.bugs 2013-05-01 11:46:00 -0700 ----

### History

####

#1

Updated by Ben McTee over 2 years ago

  * **Keywords** changed from _NEW, dark, underexposed, 0.9.2_ to _NEF, dark, underexposed, 0.9.2_

(edit) It will not allow me to upload the photo due to it's size (5.0 MB).

Additionally, the preview (thumbnail) and large views both look normal within
Shotwell. It's when I export the photo – ie Set as desktop background,
upload to Facebook – when I see the issue.

####

#2

Updated by Adam Dingle over 2 years ago

  * **Target version** changed from _0.9.2_ to _0.10_
  * **Priority** set to _High_

Thanks for the bug report. We should investigate this for 0.10.

####

#3

Updated by Anton Keks over 2 years ago

If no automatic levels is used on the raw photos (thanks god!), most of the
raw formats need a base curve to be applied to the raw data to get the right
brightness.

The curve is generally different among manufacturers, but almost the same
among cameras of the same manufacturer, so there should be a 'canon base
curve', 'nikon base curve', etc.

The only open-source image tool that I know that gets it right is Darktable.
Most probably, curve data (ie camera profiles) can be obtained from its source
code and applied after libraw conversion (or maybe libraw can handle it itself
as well). I will investigate this more. Currently, all my Canon 40D photos
look to dark in Shotwell as well.

####

#4

Updated by Adam Dingle over 2 years ago

  * **Target version** deleted (<strike>_0.10_</strike>)

####

#5

Updated by Anton Keks over 2 years ago

http://pastebin.com/ATqSKQcN – here is a copy of src/iop/basecurve.c from
Darktable, containing basecurves for most camera brands. Something similar is
very needed for Shotwell to render RAW photos properly.

####

#6

Updated by Jylan Wynne about 2 years ago

  * **Description** updated (diff)

Just wondering - has there been any progress on this? I've come across from OS
X in the last few days (used iPhoto), and Shotwell seems to be the most
polished GNU/Linux photo manager around.

I can confirm that .CR2 RAW photos from my Canon 40D are very underexposed.
Would love to see this bug fixed as Shotwell is not that usable for me atm. Is
there any way I can help with logs/sample photos/etc?

####

#7

Updated by Adam Dingle about 2 years ago

  * **Target version** set to _0.12_

We haven't yet found the time to investigate this more deeply as we've been
pretty busy finishing up the port to GTK 3. I've marked this ticket for 0.12
and hope we'll be able to improve our RAW rendering for that release.

####

#8

Updated by Lucas Beeler about 2 years ago

@ Jylan,

Shotwell renders RAW images by picking some default tone mapping curves that
work in most cases, but not all. One thing you should be aware of, however is
this: if you shoot RAW+JPEG or even just plain RAW, your camera probably
produces its own JPEG development of your RAW photo at exposure time, either
as an associated JPEG file (in the RAW+JPEG case) or embedded in the RAW file
itself (in the plain RAW) case. Since your camera presumably knows more about
its CCD and the lighting conditions under which your photo was taken than
Shotwell does, it's development will likely look better than Shotwell's. To
switch your RAW developer to your camera, if available, open the image you
want to work with in single-photo mode by double-clicking on it. Then, under
the "Developer" submenu of the "Photo" menu choose "Camera." Due to a known
issue with Shotwell 0.11.x, if "Camera" is already selected you might have to
first switch the developer to "Shotwell" and then back to "Camera" again to
force the change to take effect.

Lucas

####

#9

Updated by Lucas Beeler about 2 years ago

There's an new entry on the Shotwell FAQ here
http://redmine.yorba.org/projects/shotwell/wiki/ShotwellFAQ entitled "I just
imported a RAW photo into Shotwell and it looks overexposed or underexposed,
why is this and how can I fix it?" that explains how using your camera's RAW
development (if available) should solve most RAW rendering problems.

####

#10

Updated by Lucas Beeler about 2 years ago

  * **Status** changed from _Open_ to _5_
  * **Resolution** set to _wontfix_

Marking as wontfix since this describes the expected behavior with the
"Shotwell" developer.

####

#11

Updated by Adam Dingle about 2 years ago

I still hope we'll be able to improve Shotwell's own rendering of RAW photos,
which seems to be consistently underexposed for this and other formats. See
#1694.

####

#12

Updated by Charles Lindsay 7 months ago

  * **Status** changed from _5_ to _Invalid_



--- Bug imported by chaz@yorba.org 2013-11-25 21:52 UTC  ---

This bug was previously known as _bug_ 3521 at http://redmine.yorba.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3521
Imported an attachment (id=262027)

Unknown Component 
   Using default product and component set in Parameters 
Unknown milestone "unknown in product shotwell. 
   Setting to default milestone for this product, "---".
Setting qa contact to the default for this product.
   This bug either had no qa contact or an invalid one.