RAW or JPEG???

Daydream22 · Jul 6, 2013

Hello all,

When taking photos should I be using raw or jpeg. I took a class and the teacher said to shoot in raw. A friend took another class teacher said to shoot in jpeg. Any suggestions?

Thanks

weepete · Jul 6, 2013

Raw for ones you want to keep and edit. Jpeg for snapshots and ones you won't edit. Really the benifit in shooting raw is the extra headroom in post.

Light Guru · Jul 6, 2013

Daydream22 said:
Hello all,

When taking photos should I be using raw or jpeg. I took a class and the teacher said to shoot in raw. A friend took another class teacher said to shoot in jpeg. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Do a search this has been discussed countless times. You will find more then enough discussion on the topic.

KmH · Jul 6, 2013

The difference between Raw and JPEG is mainly about bit depth.
But a Raw image is an unfinished image the photographer has to, well finish, using Raw conversion software.
JPEG is intended to be a finished ready-to-print file type that has already been 'finished' in the camera. Many photographers prefer to do the 'finishing' them selves because the camera is just a dumb (inanimate) machine that is running a program written by software engineers long before you ever took the photo.
Put another way, how much artistic control are you willing to grant the machine?

DSLR cameras make 12-bit or 14-bit Raw image files. JPEG is limited to an 8-bit color depth.

A 8-bit digital number - 11111111 - can represent only 256 distinct gradations of tone (color).
A 12-bit digital number - 111111111111 - can represent only 4096 distinct gradations of tone (color).
A 14-bit digital number - 11111111111111 - can represent only 16,384 distinct gradations of tone (color).

Since digital images are based on the RGB color model, a digital image has 3 color channels - Red, Green, and Blue.

So a JPEG is also known as a 24-bit image because it has 3, 8-bit color channels - 3 color channels x 8-bits per color channel = 24-bit digital image.
By the same token a 12-bit digital image is also known as a 36-bit image - 3 color channels times 12-bits per color channel = 32-bit digital image.

Raw files have to be converted into an actual image outside of the camera in one of the many Raw Converters.
JPEGs are most often made right in the camera, thought eh camera starts with a Raw file for every image it delivers.
But to make a JPEG in the camera, the camera has to discard a lot of the color information the camera image sensor actually recorded.

FWIW, the image sensor in a digital camera actually cannot record color, the image sensor can only record luminosity. Color has to be interpolated based on a filter (Bayer Array) in front of the image sensor.
These and and other fundamental concepts are found in this group of related tutorials - Photo Editing Tutorials

Juga · Jul 6, 2013

RAW! Because if you yell it with a deep and scratchy voice it kind of sounds like a dinosaur...which is cool for everyone involved.

tecboy · Jul 6, 2013

I started out shooting jpeg until this forum convinced me to shoot raw file format. I used to shoot raw, edit, export to hi-res jpeg, and delete all my raw files to save storage space. Now, I keep all my raw files because on the market, portable hard drives are getting cheaper and the capacities are getting larger . If you going to be a photographer far a long time and enjoy editing photos, shoot raw. You get better quality and you can edit photos again and again.

Buckster · Jul 6, 2013

weepete said:
Raw for ones you want to keep and edit. Jpeg for snapshots and ones you won't edit.

I never know for sure which ones I will want to keep and edit and further distribute by some means. Even when I think I'm just making a few snapshots and expect them be throwaways, I could get a shot that just screams WOW for some reason.

Therefore, I always shoot RAW, all the time, no exceptions - ever.

480sparky · Jul 6, 2013

Buckster said:
.......Therefore, I always shoot RAW, all the time, no exceptions - ever.

The only time I shoot JPEG is when it's either to simply post a sample on the innernets, or to email someone. Past that, it's raw all day, every day.

The 'keepers' I'm scanning from my Kodachrome archives are full-bore 7200 dpi TIFFs, since the scanner doesn't do 'raw'.

kathyt · Jul 6, 2013

For all of my pro work I shoot in RAW, and then for most of my personal work I shoot in Jpeg. Unless it is something really cool that I know I will be blowing highlights left and right. Then I will shoot both so I know I will at least have the RAW files if I need them. If I don't then I will dump them.

DarkShadow · Jul 6, 2013

started out jpeg then moved to raw for all shots.

JClishe · Jul 7, 2013

Buckster said:
Therefore, I always shoot RAW, all the time, no exceptions - ever.

Ditto.

I'm on vacation with the family as I type this, got in from the beach about 30 minutes ago. Took some snapshots of my boy's playing in the water with my EOS-M and they were in RAW. I'll use an auto develop preset on them when I import them into LR but you never know, there might be a couple in the bunch that I really like and either want or need to clean up further.

hopdaddy · Jul 7, 2013

I shoot RAW only. If I wanted to us the camera's default JEPG settings, Couldn't I just use ,or set-up a pre-set in ACR?

Superfitz · Jul 7, 2013

JPEG! Raw is a crutch used by lesser photographers who lack the self confidence/knowledge to get it right in camera.

mwild · Jul 7, 2013

I use jpeg when the photos are more for personal documenting. I don't have the time to edit all the photos I take.. I'd live in a cave glued to my computer 24/7 if I did! When I'm shooting for a client then definitely RAW is the way to go.