Info Needed on Clip Function on M240

[ktmrider2]

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I recently acquired an MP240 and having come from an M9 most of the menu is familiar or explained well in the owner's manual but I cannot find anything on the "clip" function.  Can you explain it to me?  Thanks.

[Jean-Michel]

In PLAY you can press the INFO button, sequentially, to display different views, including one that show total black (in blue) and blown highlights (in red). It's a guide based on the JPG image.

[ktmrider2]

So what do the numbers mean?

[hoppyman]

The values are in the range 0 to 255 for each channel being 8 bit.

You can adjust the warning levels as you like for example to show when you are close to 255 or for your intended use of the images. To approximate what can be rendered in print for example you might set the highest value lower  and the lowest above 0

[jmahto]

The values are in the range 0 to 255 for each channel being 8 bit.

You can adjust the warning levels as you like for example to show when you are close to 255 or for your intended use of the images. To approximate what can be rendered in print for example you might set the highest value lower and the lowest above 0

If you shoot DNG then you decide what is rendered in print on high and low side. The cutoffs are just a guideline for you to guess how much is beyond threshold. Best thing is to experiment and see based on your own processing preferences. For example, shadows can be lifted even if they are lower than threshold display but will be noisy and may or may not be acceptable to you. Same with highlights. Sometimes I don't like the colors when highlights are recovered. Therefore I use lower threshold for highlights alert. But to be frank, it is useful when you have a wide DR scene. Most of the times I don't use it.

[hoppyman]

Print of course is not capable of reproducing the full range of values nor the largest colour spaces. So that any tone below a certain threshold will reproduce as just black and the same situation with highlights. It’s refllective not transmisive of course and you might see a contrast range of maybe 250:1 rather than thousands to one like a good monitor.

So my suggestion with adjusting the clipping warnings is an option to limit the exposure to what may be printable if that Is the main purpose of the image for example. Just a guide option that may be useful perhaps where the image may not be extensively adjust/ edited for example

Edited February 5, 2018 by hoppyman

[ktmrider2]

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So, the settings in the clip function do not effect the actual photo but the playback function if I am reading the answers correctly.  Thanks.

[Jean-Michel]

It does nothing whatsoever to the file. All it does is indicate The ares where there is essentiallly no recorded data, either in not enough light in the deep shadows or too much light in the highlights. In other words: no details recorded in those shadows, or no detail recorded in the blown highlights. It is only a guide, the dng file may contain useable details at either end.

[hoppyman]

and bear in mind that the histogram and preview are based on a jpeg preview so, as Jean-Michel said they are a guide. DNG or JPEG files saved in the camera are not affected by whatever is set in clipping warnings and you may find that there is recoverable/usable information past those clipping warning  guidelines in one or more of the channels too.