Limitations of the Contrast Slider in Adobe Camera Raw
I'm working on an article, and it turns out the Curves slider in Adobe Camera RAW is very limiting. The graphic above shows the curves required to produce the equivalent of +25, +50, +75, and +100 with the curves slider. The most pronounced curve is the +100, and the least pronounced (from the 1:1 slope baseline) is +25.
I've been meaning to do this for a long time, and honestly I'm a little shocked by the results. Even at +100, the curves slider is weak sauce, and doesn't even begin to harness the power of curves.
What I've seen so far makes be glad I bypass the contrast slider and go right to curves. I'm looking forward to running some more experiments and developing a more in depth article.