Now to some of you, the title and question of this thread may seem like some sex question.. However, it is not. RAW photographic files are the unprocessed images from a DSLR as opposed to JPEGs. So, quick question. Do you shoot RAW, if so. Why? And if not, why not?
A JPEG image is what most entry level cameras produce, it is also what all camera phones produce. It is also the main photo type image used on the Internet. It is a standard file type. JPEG images are also compressed, so they are small in size considering what it is they are showing.. RAW files are litterally the raw data from the Digital SLR camera. Not converted into JPEGs or compressed in any way. They are bigger than JPEGs, so far fewer pictures can fit on a memory card if the Photographer uses RAW to save their images. Also RAW files are not standard, so Canon uses a different kind of RAW file to Nikon, as do Sony and any others. Some RAW files change over time, so a Nikon RAW file from 5 years ago might not be compatible with a newer Nikon camera. Whereas JPEG files are a common standard. RAW files also need processing on a Computer, using a program such as Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop. Some other programs can handle them but because there is no standard file type a little bit of internet investigating might be needed to ensure 100% compatable software is bought or downloaded.
Always shoot RAW even my compact camera has RAW. If you don't you are throwing away a vast amount of information captured by your camera. On occasion due to space constraints I have switched to jpeg only and regretted it, CF & SD cards are cheap so better to buy many of them so you never worry about space constraints. One of the reasons I prefer older high end camera's because you get the top level image quality from a second hand camera in relatively small files. I have gone on about having worked in a darkroom for many years and basically all that extra information is what you are playing with in the digital darkroom in Adobe Lightroom. They are all basically flavours of TIFF with some some extra custom EXIF formatted data added. Basically if you want to fix a blown sky forget it in jpeg but it's absolutely no problem in RAW as you have all the RAW data captured by the sensor so you can recover the highlights with ease. Similar if you have excessively drowned dark shadows, there is much more data there than you can at first see. I will try to find some before and after examples after work.
I always shoot RAW now as well. At first it was because as a newbie, I was happier amending the colour balance in Adobe before converting to JPEG and then having the finished product. But after getting Lightroom I have found I can do far more with the files. Plus the RAW files don't take up too much room (unless I shot hundreds of pictures).. Plus I like to go crazy sometimes with the colour depth, increasing blacks and stuff...
Lightroom is wonderful. Seven years worth of RAW and Jpeg images along with a small amount of duplication has got me to the point where I have a hard time backing up 360 GB collection.
Original from RAW on my compact. After some corrections and adjustments in Lightroom Exposure 1/3 of a stop increase Tones (high low) +24 -18 Crop And a little highlight recovery +32
This is a better example. A little bit of exposure adjustment and the rest mostly fill light and a bit of cropping. You just can't do that much to a jpeg and keep it looking good.
Lightroom Mike, effectively Adobe ACR. I bought it at version 1 and would always upgrade to the next version as long as they don't get stupid on the price. Version 2 to 3 was the biggest step up, as they radically improved the RAW processing algorithms on a per camera basis, even really old shots suddenly looked a stop or a stop and a half better, it was really remarkable how they drew more detail from the RAW images at the same time as they improved the noise processing. Thanks for the kind words about the pic Mike, that was my daughter back at Christmas 2010 and is one of my faves. It's the lower left corner in the curtain that really demonstrates the benefits of good RAW processing.
Sorry for the late reply Jim. Please remind me what camera(s) do you use. What is your most used lens, and why? Seems like the "L" lenses are always expensive. I want to take photos of my children. Well, our daughter is 14 months and our son is due in less than 10 weeks. I want to take videos also. I am battling trying to decide on a 7D or a 5D mk II at the moment and thinking the 7D would be better with children's fast movements. What do you think?
