"RAW" Questions

[rateeg]

Hi everyone.
I've been shooting on my camera using Jpeg since i bought it... and i really like shooting portraits.

My question is, how important is shooting RAW and what benefits does it make compared to Jpeg?

Do you guys recommend shooting RAW most of the time?

When do i exactly need to shoot in RAW?

Thanks

 

[tirediron]

This question has been asked and answered MANY times here. The 'Search' function is your friend.

In short: RAW provides far greater exposure correction latitude, white balance correction and colour adjustment as well as shadow/highlight recovery. If you want to produce the best possible photographs, it's not important, it's essential. I recommend ALWAYS shooting in RAW. The only thing you will need is a RAW editing application. Adobe Lightroom is the industry standard, but all good image editing software (GIMP, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, PaintShop Pro, Aperture, etc) come with at least some RAW editing capability, and there are some pretty good freeware applications available as well.

 

[Big Mike]

This has been discussed many times on the forum. A search should turn up a few threads.

Also, here in an article entitled 'Why RAW'. It's a bit old, but I think it addresses the issue very well. Why Raw -- Part I

For the record, I shoot RAW 99% of the time.

 

[JasonLambert]

The only time I shoot anything other than raw is when I use my iPhone or I'm shooting a very large pano or shooting in the Brenizer Method where it helps save time in post.

 

[KmH]

Visit these tutorials and find the one explains why to shoot Raw. Also look at the sections that cover 'Bit-Depth' and 'Color Management'. Digital Photography Tutorials