Raw files

nossie · Oct 23, 2007

This ape only ever shoots in RAW.
Some say to shoot in RAW + JPEG simultaneously because if you got the shot then you don't need to post process but fek that coz most of the time you're gonna wanna fiddle about to see if you can get anything more out of it.
Big Mike ever resourceful posted useful some links. Go with the Raw option.

i'll be honest...if you have to ask what RAW is you really don't need a D80...

Dunno about that?! Could be a world class photographer just making the move to digital

Helen B · Oct 23, 2007

Commonman said:
I have learned much from this forum so I thank you all. Sweetsomedays,
are you saying that you could not shoot in RAW format with the D40? I was leaning towards the D80 anyway but if the D40 will not shoot in RAW I will not get it - especially after learning what I've learned about RAW.

The D40 and D40x shoot in raw. It is compressed, slightly lossy raw but it is still raw, and it is difficult to tell the difference on those Nikons that have the option of lossless raw and lossy raw. I decided to buy a D40x after I bought one for someone else, then while showing them how to use it I discovered how high the image quality was. It is a nice, small camera. I use it in manual most of the time, with AI-S lenses.

Best,
Helen

Jestev · Oct 23, 2007

I spent the first year with my Nikon D50 shooting only high and large JPEGs and won tons of competitions and awards with it, and then finally switched to RAW. The first batch I ever shot and edited in RAW got me Grand Prize in a competition for professionals, amateurs, and youth even when I entered as a youth.

This shows that you can get great images and win with JPEG or RAW IQ, but I can say from experience that RAW images on Nikons do give better results than JPEGs. It is worth shooting RAW simply because it doesn't compress the data so you make more, better decisions about exposure in post-processing.