As always it depends upon the final use of the photograph. Some labs do use Adobe rgb, so always check first. Other uses may include the print press which will require a conversion to cmyk. I keep a copyin Adobe rgb and have actions written for the various uses [such as web use where I use sRGB]

Steve, thanks for info. I guess the bottom line is why shoot in RGB 1998 if you receive no benefit from the final print. I am preparing to creae photographs for a large display of my work and the prints will be 20 in X 30 in. Should I shoot in Raw,RGB 1998, convert to 16 bit tiff, edit the photo and then convert to sRGB? Can I just shoot it in sRGB and get the same results that will produce a good quality photo that is 20 X 30. My labs only accept sRGB for printing. I'm just trying to save some time, but still produce good photos. Your opinion, please.
Thanks

Aloha!

Here's what I do. Yes I have my camera set to RGB 1998. It has a slightly wider gamut than sRGB. I shoot raw + basic JPEG. After downloading to my computer, I convert all raw images to DNG (digital negative). I do all my corrections and whatever artwork I do to the DNG file in PhotoShop, (actually a copy of the DNG). Then I save the final image as either a JPEG or TIFF and burn it to disc. Of course I save the DNGs to disc also.

I used to outsource to a lab, and they required sRGB. Even tho my files are RGB 1998, I always told the lab they were sRGB, and not only did they not know the difference, but the prints came out beautifully. I think the main thing with labs is: is it RGB or CMYK? I don't think they care what version of RGB it is. You might ask them, but as I said, I sent RGB 1998, and told them it was sRGB, and...so what?! There is a difference in printing RGB or CMYK however, and I think that's the thing the lab wants to know.

Hey Stan,

I agree that some lab technicians won't have a clue [probably a very good reason to fire your lab!], but other labs actually do show a difference in the output. From what I understand [not much in the printing world] cmyk is mostly a pre-press color space and is not used often by 'regular' print labs.

To get back to the Adobe vs sRGB question, I find it similar to the RAW/jpeg discussion [shoots, I did it again!]: why not capture as much data asyou can and then decide what to do with it later? It's like shooting an original transparency or getting a dupe of that trannie. I'll take the original.