shooting raw

two questions about raw images:

1. what are the advantages of shooting raw?
2. What do you need to convert raw images?

Thanks,
Dani.

 

Some of the advantages I can think of are;

control over white balance
control over exposure

I also like working in 16 bit mode, I seem not to have the problems with haloing/separations that I have with .jpg.

I'm certain there are a zillion other advantages, but these are why I shoot nearly everything in RAW.

I pick 'em up with CS2. Don't know how it works, just does.

-Hope you get more responses than this .

 

I have been shooting with my Canon XTI for a very short time but it only took me about 2 weeks before I realized the advantages of RAW. NOw I shoot everything in RAW and JPEG, or just RAW if I don't have much room on my card.

Advantages are basically what the above poster said: the ability to tinker with all the curves and balances, adjust shot settings AFTER the shot (IE: if you forgot to change it from "fluorescents" to "sun" you can do so after), decrease noise, contrast etc etc. Basically, RAW is the complete package of information your shot captured BEFORE it is converted into JPEG format. This is important as the image actually loses information in the conversion process.

I use the editing software that came with my Camera and it does me fine. Though I may look around for a more comprehensive one.

GOod luck!

 

Thanks for the replies.
Does anyone know if Gimp can handle raw images?

Dani

 

No it can't as far as I know.

 

This topic REALLY needs to be a sticky.

 

picasa is the pro i use to convert raw to jpeg.

its a free download and you can mess about your pics on there as well

 

Yes it should be a sticky, but Big Mike is convinced they are not used to any great degree.

 

YOU SHOULD ALWAYS SHOOT RAW.
No reason not to, and every reason in the world to do it.

 

A great program for processing RAW images is Adobe Lightroom. The beauty of the program is it allows you to make all the changes of a RAW convertor, except that it doesn't touch the original file. It saves the changes as instructions, so when you view the image it knows what to display back to you. But none of the changes are permanent or file altering, until you export the file. Even then, the RAW file remains untouched, the program just creates a new copy of the image in whatever file format you chose to export as (jpg, tiff, psd, etc.).

It also integrates well with Photoshop, allowing you to open the image in photoshop, make your detailed edits there, then when you save it saves back into lightroom for catalouging the pictures.

To top it all off, it is a great tool for organizing and catalouging your pics... lot's of options for sorting and ranking pictures and applying keywording.

Now, it does depend on the type of editing you're looking at doing. Lightroom is capable of a lot, it makes a great RAW convertor, and you can change a lot of the basic things such as white balance, exposure, levels, etc. What it can't really do is pixel level editing, which is where photoshop (or some other editing program) comes in.

Myself, I'm currently using Lightroom for almost all of my editing and conversions. If I need to do further work, I have Photoshop Elements, which is a fairly capable program too.

Hope this info helps.... if you want any clarification of anything, just ask.

 

Thanks for the replies.

Big Mike, this article is great help. Thanks.

I'm trying not to buy any editing software yet so I'm currently using Gimp. I might try picasa if it handles raw images better.

Dani.