
We generally use the RGB colorspace, so there is a Red channel, a Green channel, and a Blue channel, which collectively creates our colors in digital photography. Because there are 3 color channels, we have to account for that. To save you from having to do the math, that comes to 256.īut we’re not done yet.

The number of choices is 2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2 or 2 8. In the case of an 8-bit file, you have eight switches. The 2 comes from the 2 possibilities in each bit. The way you will measure bits is 2 to the power of however many bits you have. Next, you need to understand how bits are measured. The more bits you have within each pixel, the more possibilities you have. All that matters is that a bit is an either/or proposition, meaning that there are 2 possibilities in every bit. You can think of it as on/off switch, or a 1/0 binary switch, or a Canon vs. Each pixel is defined by how many bits it can carry within it. What is a Bit Anyway?Ī file created by a camera is made up of pixels. In the end, you’ll have a valuable insight into the technology you are using that will improve your photography. 16-bit files will come up in other articles at Outdoor Photo Academy, so I want to have an article explaining the basics. I am sure the topic appears tedious, but I promise to make this topic as readable and simple as possible. There is a technique called “Expose to the Right” that results directly from the concepts in this article. Understanding bit-depth will also help demonstrate how to expose your photos.Bit-depth determines the maximum dynamic range of your camera.In fact, bit-depth is what determines the number of colors available. Some cameras create files with more bits than others. Understanding bit-depth may help when you are choosing between cameras to purchase.It turns out that understanding this issue will pay dividends to your photography. But it may not seem like something to worry about much. You may even understand how the number of available colors decreases as you start dealing with darker shades. You glean that 16-bits must be better than 8-bits, so when possible work with 16-bit files. If you’re like me, you don’t really care much. But you may wonder what impact this actually has on our pictures. That gets repeated a lot, and it one of the justifications for encouraging everyone to shoot Raw files.

You have perhaps heard that JPEGS are 8-bit files, while RAW files are up to 16-bit files.
