Specifications

III. NEW AND IMPROVED DESIGN FEATURES 18
Recording System
New CR2 Raw Format
Compliance
e
arlier, these settings can be applied to Adobe RGB as well as sRGB images.
Fin
ally, there is a remarkable new monochrome setting, a
fir
st for Canon digital single lens reflex cameras, which
permits
the direct capture of black and white images. The
sel
ectable controls in this case are five levels each of
c
ontrast and sharpness; five filter effects (none, yellow,
orange, red and green) and five color tone options (none,
sepia, blue, purple and green). The filter effects are a first for all digital SLRs. They use
digital processing to provide alterations like those of color camera filters when shooting
black and white film: similar lightens and opposite darkens. Blue sky tones can be
darkened progressively with yellow, orange and red filters; green foliage can be lightened
with the green filter. The digital toning option creates images that appear to have been
treated in a toning bath. Goodbye toxic fumes and stained clothing.
The EOS 20D is compatible with CompactFlash cards up to 2 GB and higher. The recording
options, selectable from the menu, are: JPEG alone in recording resolution of 8.2, 4.3 or
2.05 megapixels (Large, Medium or Small) with a choice of Fine (low compression) or
Normal (high compression) for each, Canon’s new CR2 RAW format alone, or a combination
of RAW plus JPEG in which all the JPEG options are available in addition to CR2 RAW.
RAW and JPEG images files are recorded separately on the CF card rather than being
embedded in one file. Embedding requires dedicated software to extract the JPEG file
from the RAW file, consuming post-production time and compromising security.
When the image is captured, main, secondary (EXIF data), manufacturer’s and
thumbnail information is recorded. The image recording format complies with both
DCF 2.0 and EXIF 2.21.
The Canon EOS 20D incorporates the same new RAW format
featured in Canon digital cameras from the EOS-1D Mark II
on
ward. The file extension is .CR2 (Canon RAW, 2nd
edition). The RAW data records the white balance (preset,
correction, bracketing information), processing parameters,
and other settings. When a personal computer is used to
edit the image, all of these settings can be left “as is” or changed via compatible conversion
software such as Canon’s EOS Viewer Utility. Because it is raw data, the image can be
edited freely with image editing software such as Canon’s Digital Photo Professional.
The EOS 20D complies with DCF 2.0, revised to support Adobe RGB, and Exif 2.21. Images
taken in Adobe RGB will have the Adobe RGB color space information, not the ICC profile,
appended to the Exif information. (If Adobe RGB is selected from the 20D’s Color Space
menu, all processing parameters are available.) Therefore, applications and devices