This is my first post on here so hopefully somebody can help .... basic question as I used to use PM ages ago, but recently thought of coming back because a) Bridge is crap with RAW, and b) Aperture uses too much RAM for my G4 laptop to cope with on a big shoot.
So, can anybody please confirm that I can view and sort RAWs with the following bodies in PM4 ... 1dsMK2, 5D, 20D ?
In the current shipping version of PM, version 4.4.2 you can view the embedded JPEG previews within the CR2 files produced by the cameras you listed. In version 4.4.3 beta on Mac OS X 10.4.6, you can actually view the converted RAW data. The final version will allow you to toggle viewing the embedded preview (for speed) and the RAW data (for sharpness accuracy.)
Would a JPEG preview not be good for judging sharpness if it were a full size preview?
Now you're getting into religious territory. Many folks will tell you that a 100% JPEG is as good as a RAW file if properly exposed. Many folks will tell you the opposite and some will fall somewhere in between.
Some RAW files embed 100% JPEG previews, some embed a half or smaller size preview, or none at all. For those that were previously not previewable (Nikon 1D NEF, and Canon 1D/1Ds TIFF), the RAW rendering capability is a highly enabling feature for previewing those images within PM. On newer cameras this is less of an issue because the embedded previews are usually pretty satisfactory for judging if a photo is a potential keeper or should be deleted immediately.
Personally I think 100% JPEG previews are in general very good for judging sharpness. I do know for a fact that I can view many more of them per hour than I can by rendering RAW files. JPEGs just load much faster.
-Kirk
