Raw vs JPEG

bs0604 · Nov 30, 2011

I am relatively new to photography and HDR & thus my question is probably basic knowledge. I was reading an HDR site which said you should shoot the bracketed photos in RAW and then save to your computer as JPEGs and then upload the JPEG pics to Photomatix to process. Why would you want to change the RAW to JPEG prior to putting in to Photomatix? And I would think that shooting in RAW and then saving to the computer as JPEG would negate the advantage of having shot in RAW in the first place?

SCraig · Nov 30, 2011

I haven't used Photomatix in a while but I don't think it will read RAW files.

bs0604 · Nov 30, 2011

I just started doing HDR and using Photomatix a couple of days ago but as far as I know I have been shooting in RAW and staying in this format while uploading to Photomatix. (Acutally it is NEF which I believe is Nikon's RAW equivalent)

Hickeydog · Nov 30, 2011

SCraig said:
I haven't used Photomatix in a while but I don't think it will read RAW files.

It does.

SCraig · Nov 30, 2011

Could be. Like I said, it's been a while.

I will mention that Nikon doesn't always release the full file structure details of their NEF files so some RAW converters do a much better job than others. If you have one that will do it right that would probably be the best way to save your files. Also, save the files at minimum compression or use TIF for the best quality. JPEG can be a very lossy format.

SCraig · Nov 30, 2011

Hickeydog said:
SCraig said:

I haven't used Photomatix in a while but I don't think it will read RAW files.

Click to expand...

It does.

Thanks. You posted while I was writing.

mistermonday · Nov 30, 2011

bs0604 said:
I am relatively new to photography and HDR & thus my question is probably basic knowledge. I was reading an HDR site which said you should shoot the bracketed photos in RAW and then save to your computer as JPEGs and then upload the JPEG pics to Photomatix to process. Why would you want to change the RAW to JPEG prior to putting in to Photomatix? And I would think that shooting in RAW and then saving to the computer as JPEG would negate the advantage of having shot in RAW in the first place?

You are correct. You will always get way better results feeding RAW source files into your HDR s/w. Severe image damage often occurs when converting a RAW file to a jpg. Huge changes occur even moreso to the images in the bracketed set which are at the extremes (overexposed and underexposed). Always input RAW files. All HDR apps read RAW files and most keep the s/w updated to accommodate the latest DSLRs.

Regards, Murray

Rephargotohp · Nov 30, 2011

Photomatix has a built in RAW converter unless it is used as a Plug-in to Lightroom or Aperture where it will use the Host application as the RAW converter

Nik HDRefex Pro requires a Host program

And yes, use the RAW's not Jpegs

fjrabon · Nov 30, 2011

I don't think photomatix is a very good RAW converter, I think it works a lot better as a plug in to Aperture. Though I don't think that has anything to do with whatever reasoning the source you quoted gave for converting to JPEG.

2WheelPhoto · Nov 30, 2011

Rephargotohp said:
Photomatix has a built in RAW converter unless it is used as a Plug-in to Lightroom or Aperture where it will use the Host application as the RAW converter

Nik HDRefex Pro requires a Host program

And yes, use the RAW's not Jpegs

I didn't even realize it could be used any other way nor would i want use mine any different than with Lightroom3

bs0604 · Dec 1, 2011

Assuming I upload my bracketed images to Photomatix in RAW, should I then save the final processed HDR image as RAW or JPEG?

JohnS. · Dec 1, 2011

I believe it's shoot in RAW -> merge to HDR -> save as JPEG.

I accidentally shot bracketed photos in JPEG and when I used PS: CS3 to merge and edit as HDR, when I tried saving, it would only let me save as .PNG. Anyone know why? Does it matter between PNG and JPEG?

Rephargotohp · Dec 1, 2011

bs0604 said:
Assuming I upload my bracketed images to Photomatix in RAW, should I then save the final processed HDR image as RAW or JPEG?

The image AFTER tone mapping can only be saved as a 16 0r 8 Bit Tiff or a JPEG, Before tonemapping (32 bit image) can be Saved as a Radience HDR file.

Rephargotohp · Dec 1, 2011

amej8 said:
I believe it's shoot in RAW -> merge to HDR -> save as JPEG.

I accidentally shot bracketed photos in JPEG and when I used PS: CS3 to merge and edit as HDR, when I tried saving, it would only let me save as .PNG. Anyone know why? Does it matter between PNG and JPEG?

If the image is in 16 bit Mode, you can't save as a JPEG, to save as a JPEG go to Image> Mode> 8 bit and then you will have the option to save as a JPEG