raw file vs jpeg

jarg007 · May 4, 2015

what kings of settings/colors/data can you edit and modify in a raw that you cant do in jpeg? I'm just starting out in lightroom and curious if i need to do everything in raw to be able to edit great photos.

table1349 · May 4, 2015

Everything. Raw is exactly that, unprocessed raw data. Jpeg has been processed in camera, is lossy and is not near as forgiving to editing.

Overread · May 4, 2015

In RAW shots you retain a lot more data. Now whilst Lightroom lets you do a lot to JPEG that it will do to a RAW, the results can and will differ.

As an example if you just clip the whites in a shot, so that its just overexposed. If you hvae the shot in JPEG you won't have any data at all to restore; you can slide the exposure and brightness sliders, but there won't be anything there. In a RAW shot you will have more data present; you'll be able to recover a little more (though not a vast amount - if you over or under expose fully the camera only records white/black data).

You can also see it in background areas, sometimes you might get "lines" appear in the blurred regions which is called banding. In a JPEG this happens because the values for the colours are simplified significantly; thus when you edit and cause them to change sometimes the difference between two spots, even if next to each other, becomes more significant (the "numbers" that make up the colours are more rounded up/down).
In a RAW you've got a lot more colour data, so the transitions are smoother and thus you can push and pull things and the transition will remain faint and smooth.

RAW retains significant portions of information which makes it far more valuable and far easier to edit with. Even if you're not doing extreme things.

Further RAW is a lossless format which means the data is preserved between saving - actually with RAW the original file is never changed, RAW processing software makes a separate file in which it stores all the changes made to the RAW - this is because you can't save a RAW - its not an image format*. Thus whenever you save a RAW as an output it will be in another file format - like a JPEG or TIFF.

JPEG is a lossy format which means each time you save some data is lost. Do it enough times and you can start to see the effect (and edit and it shows up even more).

* the image you see when you view a RAW on your camera, or on software like windows picture viewer and the thumbnails in the file - all those are a JPEG that is made and embedded inside the RAW (there is even software out there which can extract the JPEGs from a RAW). Again this is because RAW is not an image format; thus the camera has to show you something so it processes a JPEG (to its set in-camera editing settings). This is why even if you use RAW you should keep in-camera editing settings to faithful/neutral so that you are reviewing as close to the RAW as you can when previewing on the LCD on the back of the camera.

sarahactually · May 5, 2015

Raw really is the way to go. When I first started out, I only shot in jpeg because I didn't see the need in shooting Raw. It took so much space on the memory card. But after becoming a bit more familiar with my camera and growing as a photographer, I learned that shooting in Raw allows you to create higher quality images.

dennybeall · May 5, 2015

Often times a jpg file is fine but for me I'm never sure if a shot may be really good after I get a chance to do a little post-processing sooooooo shooting raw is insurance. I can always just convert to jpg for a shot to share via email or Facebook.

bopyd · May 5, 2015

Also conisder that with some cameras there are options to set different raw file capture sizes. If you are worried about filling up your memory card you can often switch to something like S-Raw (Small Raw) which is the same raw format, but fewer pixels. That means more images per SD card and less hard drive needed for storing your images as well.

If you are limiting sharing your digital photography to online galleries and maybe some small printing no larger than 8 in x 10in, a small 5 mega pixel raw file will suit most of your needs just fine.