Benefits of shooting in RAW

[amberl]

What are the benefits of shooting your photography in the RAW format?

I have no idea if it matters but I have the Canon Rebel XSI

 

[sovietdoc]

In simple terms - RAW will give you more control over the photo in photo-editing software. If you shoot RAW and make an underexposed shot with poor white balance, you can change it on the computer and get pretty good results, while JPEG offers you very limited editing capability if your shot turns out bad.

Here is the first link I clicked off Google that might be helpful for you.

RAW vs JPG

 

[Eventer]

You can make HDRs of moving images!! Thats what I like about it :greenpbl:

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Ren Kockwell is not the person to be linking to when it comes to Jpeg vs RAW... if there is one thing i vehemently disagree with him on, it's his opinions on RAW.

If you're like Rockwell and shoot 99% family snapshots, than YES, jpeg is the superior format because who the hell cares of the family snapshots are 100% technically to the max? alot of general grab shots i do when i'm with the family are shot jpeg Medium size Basic quality. because i dont' give a f*** about them and i dont' want to process them.

But for when you're taking pictures of things you actually want to look really nice, than yes, RAW is absolutely the best format because of the control you have. It's like going to an auto race driving an automatic(jpeg) instead of a manual(raw).

you can find examples and examples of the differences. Also if you shoot Nikon, there's a huge difference in acuity. The RAW images through ACR are much much cleaner and sharper.

 

[gwenwon]

It depends on the mood. Mostly I would shoot in RAW, but there are occasions when you need to do it in JPG.

 

[LCARSx32]

Here's a good explanation I found. The author goes into great detail but manages to keep your interest.

Understanding RAW Files Explained

 

[natural.disaster]

I just started editing RAW images yesterday....
I love it, however...i never know when ive got it just right.
Mine come out looking too fake.....
Ill be checking out LCARS link as well!

 

[amberl]

Thanks for your help everyone

 

[FroKnowsPhoto]

So right about ken rockwell, i did a full week on my web site breaking down all the false information he is putting out there. Take a look at these "interviews" with ken FroKnowsPhoto RAW vs JPEG vs Ken Rockwell “Interview”

 

[FroKnowsPhoto]

The benefits are immense, you have such control over your files but more important than that is the fact that you have all of the data that the camera captured. I did a full week on this on my web site with tons of examples and explanations FroKnowsPhoto

 

[LarryD]

Think of RAW as your perpetual photo negative... You can convert it to any format, process it over and over again; quality stays the same and you always have an original for the future..

 

[Derrel]

The benefits are immense, you have such control over your files but more important than that is the fact that you have all of the data that the camera captured. I did a full week on this on my web site with tons of examples and explanations FroKnowsPhoto

I stopped by your web site Fro--great stuff!!! Love your brand and logo man!

 

[vansnxtweek]

All good info here. Raw gives you just that much more adjustability.

 

[KmH]

All the photos from dSLR cameras start as a RAW data file.
A RAW data file is like a film negative, can be developed in a number of ways, and can have just portions of it edited (local editing) with out changing any of the pixels (non-destructive editing).

Photos can be left as a RAW data file, or they can be converted in the camera to the JPEG image format.

A JPEG file is intended to be ready-to-print, and has been post processed (saturation, sharpening, contrast) to one degree or another in the camera. There are user selectable camera settings that can be used to change the amount of post processing done.

Some dSLRs offer a 3rd option, TIFF files.

Some dSLR's capture photos as 12-bit depth RAW files, 14-bit depth RAW files, or allow a choice of the 2.

JPEG is an 8-bit depth only format.

14-bit RAW files have 16,384 levels of tone in each color channel.
12-bit RAW files have 4096 levels of tone in each color channel.
8-bit JPEG files have 255 levels of tone in each color channel.

RAW data files are esssentially unedited photos that retain all the captured image data.

JPEG image print files do not retain all the image data the image sensor captured. In fact, at the highest JPEG setting, JPEG - Fine, the file is compressed at 1:4, or the files size is reduced to 1/4 of it's original size. In other words, a 10 MP camera's image sensor captures 10 MP of image data, but in the conversion to JPEG 8 MP of that image data is discarded before you ever see it, leaving you essentially a 2 MP ready-to-print photo.

Most of the image data lost converting a RAW data file to JPEG is color data, because it is not as critical to human perception as is the luminance data in the original RAW file.

Additionally the JPEG conversion forms MCU's (Minimum Coded Unit) blocks, typically 16 pixels x 16 pixels in size, that seriously limit the editing headroom available for any additional post processing work.

 

[supraman215]

If I make changes in RAW then save as uncompressed TIFF, I haven't lost any image quality but have I lost some of the adjustability? I use UFRAW and GIMP.