Pixel Binning Software for CR2 files?

[Geoff]

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<p class="MsoNormal"]Can anyone suggest software that could perform true binning
on Canon CR2 files?
<p class="MsoNormal"]<o></o>
<p class="MsoNormal"]This is my first &ldquo;substantial&rdquo; post to the forum.<span> Thus, I appreciate your patience if I haven&rsquo;t
followed the proper forum posting etiquette or if the answers have been posted
previously.
<p class="MsoNormal"]<o></o>
<p class="MsoNormal"]I&rsquo;ve been interested in pushing the ISO of my 50D for low
light applications and had read various posts on the web that mentioned that
the SRAW2 format did some type of pixel binning&hellip;presumably at the 2x2
size.<span>
<p class="MsoNormal"]<o></o>
<p class="MsoNormal"]So last night, I thought I would do a quick &ldquo;kitchen&rdquo; experiment.<span> I took two photos with the 50D mounted on a
tripod.<span> I used a 28-70 mm 2.8L lens
with at 1/200^th f2.8 and 33 mm of focal length.<span> I took two pictures, one with the RAW setting
and the exact same scene with the SRAW2 setting.
<p class="MsoNormal"]<o></o>
<p class="MsoNormal"]I then converted the RAW (4752 x 3168 pixels) and SRAW2
(2376X1584 pixel) images to 16 bit tiff images using DPP.<span> (The RAW image made an 88 MB image!!).<span> I loaded the tiff file based on the RAW file
into MATLAB (scientific and engineering software), and did a 2x2 binning on
each color layer.<span> I then saved the
binned image as a tiff file.<span> This
software binned file was then the same dimensions as the SRAW2 file.
<p class="MsoNormal"]<o></o>
<p class="MsoNormal"]I then pulled up the SRAW2 tiff file and the software-binned
file that I had derived from the original RAW file in my favorite image viewer.<span> I found that the software binned file had
significantly less noise.<span> My conclusion
was that the SRAW2 wasn&rsquo;t truly binning the image down properly.<span> Thus, for applications where I need to push
the sensitivity but don&rsquo;t anticipate printing huge photos, I&rsquo;d shoot RAW and
bin the files down in post-processing.<span>
Apart from file size, I don&rsquo;t think that the SRAW2 has much
advantage.<span> Have others had similar
experiences?
<p class="MsoNormal"]<o></o>
<p class="MsoNormal"]I could embark on the long, hard project of writing binning
computer code myself, but if there is something out there that can handle the
cr2 files directly without having to go through a tif conversation, that would
be best.
<p class="MsoNormal"]<o></o>
<p class="MsoNormal"]Any thoughts on existing software packages in the market <span>that can truly bin down images?
<p class="MsoNormal"]<o></o>
<p class="MsoNormal"]Images:<span> 1) Full view
from RAW file.<span> Red box denotes area of
enlargement in second image
<p class="MsoNormal"]2) Comparison of SRAW2 and Binned RAW files at ~ 300%
magnification.
<p class="MsoNormal"][img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.31.80/IMG_5F00_7229-_2D002D00_-full-view.jpg[/img]
<p class="MsoNormal"][img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/800x584/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.31.80/sraw-vs-software-bin.jpg[/img]
<p class="MsoNormal"]<o></o>