Shooting RAW vs Raw other and JPG conv

[MTHall720]

I know I have asked a lot of questions already but after Googling anad You tube still not sure. Using the Canon 50D it shows me a choice of RAW or something else. I want good clarity but will not make prints larger than 8.5x11.
Does choosing RAW sound sufficient.
Also wanted to know if there is a good Windows based simple app to allow RAW files to go to the laptop and then convert to JPG?

Thanks to all in advance.

 

[Soocom1]

Actually the RAW converter is typically manufacturer specific and proprietary.
You should be able to get a copy of the Digital Photo Pro from Canon if you register the camera.
I did this with a 1Ds and update regularly.

Shooting RAW has many advantages and usually (though not always) you can shoot both RAW and JPEG.
You must convert the RAW in the DPP to use them. Otherwise stick to the JPEG setting and/or convert to TIFF in other software.

Go to the usa.canon.com and go from there.

 

[Strodav]

Do you do post processing (PP)? Most mid-range and above cameras offer raw or jpg image files. IF jpg, the camera itself converts the raw sensor data to a jpg file selecting the options it thinks you want and compresses your file and throws away some of your data in the process. You cannot recover the original raw data once it is converted to a jpg. If you shoot raw, you have more flexibility in applying digital image processing tools and then make a jpg allowing you to keep the original raw data and selecting the options you want in creating the jpg. You can go back years and play with the raw file as your PP skills improve.

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

As Strodav pointed out, your editing skills will always improve and your preferences will change as well. It only makes sense to shoot in raw for these 2 very reasons. I am not someone that saves every image I shoot, but if I do like one well enough to save for future use, you can bet I save the original raw.

 

[Ysarex]

I know I have asked a lot of questions already but after Googling anad You tube still not sure. Using the Canon 50D it shows me a choice of RAW or something else. I want good clarity but will not make prints larger than 8.5x11.
Does choosing RAW sound sufficient.
Also wanted to know if there is a good Windows based simple app to allow RAW files to go to the laptop and then convert to JPG?

Thanks to all in advance.

Choosing RAW sounds like overkill if all you want is good clarity in prints up to 8.5 x 11. Your camera will make an appropriate JPEG that meets those criteria. You save RAW files if you plan to do your processing. The camera uses the same RAW file when it saves a JPEG so the camera processing software isn't disadvantaged in some way. If you're happy with the JPEG the camera creates great -- select the JPEG L option for best quality. The camera processing software is automated and has a limited range of capabilities but sufficient ability to make a good normal photo.

If you want a JPEG that's different from the one the camera creates and are prepared to do the work to create that then you need the RAW file and software to process the RAW file. With time and the added abilities of your home computer and software you can ultimately do more than the camera software. There is a learning curve.

Otherwise you can tweak the JPEGs the camera creates to make minor adjustments but because the camera's processing work has already been completed and applied there's less you can actually do than if you had the original RAW file.

You do have the option to have the camera save both.

Joe

 

[Derrel]

Spencer 18 Sept., 2005, Canon 20D.Shooting RAW + JPEG (Medium size JPEG, in FINE compression mode (least-compressed of the various choices), in Monochrome Mode, Yellow Filter Effect, Sepia TONING, sharpening HIGH, will give you beautiful B&W JPEGs, straight off the card, as well as full-color .CR2 raw files for color photos. Set the tone control as is appropriate for the lighting.

window-lighted living room
This is from a 1.36 megabyte, Medium-sized, Fine compression jpeg done in Monochrome mode, Sepia Toning, Yellow filter effect,made with the 20D in RAW+JPEG mode at ISO 800. The original capture was 2544x1696 pixels,for a 35.333 inch by 23.556 inch print size. I made this 704x pixel web reduction from the in-cam JPEG,not from the RAW file. This is how the 100mm EF Macro USM~I model looks wide-open from close range, hand-held. I kind of like this lens as a people lens, for small subject areas.

 

[Derrel]

Color MODE...sRGB or Adobe RGB... determines file name convention on many d-slrs...
for web use, most store printing, on-line printing,an all sRGB mode is possibly EASIEST for most people...do some web research and you will encounter advocates for Adobe RGB or other color spaces...kind of a Ford vs Chevy argument, or Windows vs Mac, IMO.

 

[MTHall720]

Thanks very much for all the help. I am planning to do processing down the road aways. Excited about photography after a very long break. I'm one of the dinosaur guys who only did film in the 70s and 80s. Going to become friends with all the computer chip loaded cameras of today.

 

[Ysarex]

Thanks very much for all the help. I am planning to do processing down the road aways.

So down the road you'll want the RAW files. In the meantime you may be very happy to have the camera JPEGs so the simple answer now is save both.

Joe

Excited about photography after a very long break. I'm one of the dinosaur guys who only did film in the 70s and 80s. Going to become friends with all the computer chip loaded cameras of today.

 

[Strodav]

I know I have asked a lot of questions already but after Googling anad You tube still not sure. Using the Canon 50D it shows me a choice of RAW or something else. I want good clarity but will not make prints larger than 8.5x11.
Does choosing RAW sound sufficient.
Also wanted to know if there is a good Windows based simple app to allow RAW files to go to the laptop and then convert to JPG?

Thanks to all in advance.

View attachment 171164

Choosing RAW sounds like overkill if all you want is good clarity in prints up to 8.5 x 11. Your camera will make an appropriate JPEG that meets those criteria. You save RAW files if you plan to do your processing. The camera uses the same RAW file when it saves a JPEG so the camera processing software isn't disadvantaged in some way. If you're happy with the JPEG the camera creates great -- select the JPEG L option for best quality. The camera processing software is automated and has a limited range of capabilities but sufficient ability to make a good normal photo.

If you want a JPEG that's different from the one the camera creates and are prepared to do the work to create that then you need the RAW file and software to process the RAW file. With time and the added abilities of your home computer and software you can ultimately do more than the camera software. There is a learning curve.

Otherwise you can tweak the JPEGs the camera creates to make minor adjustments but because the camera's processing work has already been completed and applied there's less you can actually do than if you had the original RAW file.

You do have the option to have the camera save both.

Joe

I agree with your premise to a point. I mainly shoot wildlife especially birds. A lot of promising shots have to be rescued in Post Processing including several stops under or over exposed (dark birds against the sky) or a color temp problem, which can easily be corrected with raw files, but not as effective on a jpg file. jpg files out of the camera are sharpened, which does not always work on softer images, but you can apply advanced sharpening techniques to a raw file that does not work as well with a pre-sharpened jpg file.

 

[Ysarex]

I know I have asked a lot of questions already but after Googling anad You tube still not sure. Using the Canon 50D it shows me a choice of RAW or something else. I want good clarity but will not make prints larger than 8.5x11.
Does choosing RAW sound sufficient.
Also wanted to know if there is a good Windows based simple app to allow RAW files to go to the laptop and then convert to JPG?

Thanks to all in advance.

View attachment 171164

Choosing RAW sounds like overkill if all you want is good clarity in prints up to 8.5 x 11. Your camera will make an appropriate JPEG that meets those criteria. You save RAW files if you plan to do your processing. The camera uses the same RAW file when it saves a JPEG so the camera processing software isn't disadvantaged in some way. If you're happy with the JPEG the camera creates great -- select the JPEG L option for best quality. The camera processing software is automated and has a limited range of capabilities but sufficient ability to make a good normal photo.

If you want a JPEG that's different from the one the camera creates and are prepared to do the work to create that then you need the RAW file and software to process the RAW file. With time and the added abilities of your home computer and software you can ultimately do more than the camera software. There is a learning curve.

Otherwise you can tweak the JPEGs the camera creates to make minor adjustments but because the camera's processing work has already been completed and applied there's less you can actually do than if you had the original RAW file.

You do have the option to have the camera save both.

Joe

I agree with your premise to a point. I mainly shoot wildlife especially birds. A lot of promising shots have to be rescued in Post Processing including several stops under or over exposed (dark birds against the sky) or a color temp problem, which can easily be corrected with raw files, but not as effective on a jpg file. jpg files out of the camera are sharpened, which does not always work on softer images, but you can apply advanced sharpening techniques to a raw file that does not work as well with a pre-sharpened jpg file.

What I wrote was for the OP not for you. My take given the OP's question and other recent posts of his is that he's getting started with a new digital camera. Telling him, as I did, that he can save both raw and JPEG was appropriate advise and telling him he should save only raw would be inappropriate advise. Do you not think a Canon 50D under most circumstances will make a JPEG with good clarity for prints up to 8.5 X 11? The OP made no mention of backlit birds and I think it's fair to exclude those right now as a special case.

Joe

 

[Strodav]

I know I have asked a lot of questions already but after Googling anad You tube still not sure. Using the Canon 50D it shows me a choice of RAW or something else. I want good clarity but will not make prints larger than 8.5x11.
Does choosing RAW sound sufficient.
Also wanted to know if there is a good Windows based simple app to allow RAW files to go to the laptop and then convert to JPG?

Thanks to all in advance.

View attachment 171164

Choosing RAW sounds like overkill if all you want is good clarity in prints up to 8.5 x 11. Your camera will make an appropriate JPEG that meets those criteria. You save RAW files if you plan to do your processing. The camera uses the same RAW file when it saves a JPEG so the camera processing software isn't disadvantaged in some way. If you're happy with the JPEG the camera creates great -- select the JPEG L option for best quality. The camera processing software is automated and has a limited range of capabilities but sufficient ability to make a good normal photo.

If you want a JPEG that's different from the one the camera creates and are prepared to do the work to create that then you need the RAW file and software to process the RAW file. With time and the added abilities of your home computer and software you can ultimately do more than the camera software. There is a learning curve.

Otherwise you can tweak the JPEGs the camera creates to make minor adjustments but because the camera's processing work has already been completed and applied there's less you can actually do than if you had the original RAW file.

You do have the option to have the camera save both.

Joe

I agree with your premise to a point. I mainly shoot wildlife especially birds. A lot of promising shots have to be rescued in Post Processing including several stops under or over exposed (dark birds against the sky) or a color temp problem, which can easily be corrected with raw files, but not as effective on a jpg file. jpg files out of the camera are sharpened, which does not always work on softer images, but you can apply advanced sharpening techniques to a raw file that does not work as well with a pre-sharpened jpg file.

What I wrote was for the OP not for you. My take given the OP's question and other recent posts of his is that he's getting started with a new digital camera. Telling him, as I did, that he can save both raw and JPEG was appropriate advise and telling him he should save only raw would be inappropriate advise. Do you not think a Canon 50D under most circumstances will make a JPEG with good clarity for prints up to 8.5 X 11? The OP made no mention of backlit birds and I think it's fair to exclude those right now as a special case.

Joe

It's an example, not a special case. Maybe I didn't make the point clear. Ill try again. Let's say your took a precious, once in a lifetime, very special, very important picture. You rush home, pull up the jpeg on your computer monitor and are extremely disappointed because you screwed up the shot. IF you had the raw data you have a much better chance to fix it than if all you have is the jpeg file. I think that is extremely relevant to the topic. I used an example from my own experience like birds in flight where I have "fixed" the raw file. I hope this is useful to the op and I saw a recommendation to store both raw and jpeg, which is a great idea.

 

[Derrel]

Shoot RAW + JPEG. Problem solved.Loads of options with the raw file , should such options be needed, and also a ready-to-go JPEG that is easily viewed without need for special sofware.

 

[MTHall720]

I am really at the very beginning of digital photography. I am using a Canon 50 d since it fit the budget. It is so heavy it reminds me of my old, heavy film camera. It feels like a big learning curve for me right now. Excited to move forward

 

[Ysarex]

I know I have asked a lot of questions already but after Googling anad You tube still not sure. Using the Canon 50D it shows me a choice of RAW or something else. I want good clarity but will not make prints larger than 8.5x11.
Does choosing RAW sound sufficient.
Also wanted to know if there is a good Windows based simple app to allow RAW files to go to the laptop and then convert to JPG?

Thanks to all in advance.

View attachment 171164

Choosing RAW sounds like overkill if all you want is good clarity in prints up to 8.5 x 11. Your camera will make an appropriate JPEG that meets those criteria. You save RAW files if you plan to do your processing. The camera uses the same RAW file when it saves a JPEG so the camera processing software isn't disadvantaged in some way. If you're happy with the JPEG the camera creates great -- select the JPEG L option for best quality. The camera processing software is automated and has a limited range of capabilities but sufficient ability to make a good normal photo.

If you want a JPEG that's different from the one the camera creates and are prepared to do the work to create that then you need the RAW file and software to process the RAW file. With time and the added abilities of your home computer and software you can ultimately do more than the camera software. There is a learning curve.

Otherwise you can tweak the JPEGs the camera creates to make minor adjustments but because the camera's processing work has already been completed and applied there's less you can actually do than if you had the original RAW file.

You do have the option to have the camera save both.

Joe

I agree with your premise to a point. I mainly shoot wildlife especially birds. A lot of promising shots have to be rescued in Post Processing including several stops under or over exposed (dark birds against the sky) or a color temp problem, which can easily be corrected with raw files, but not as effective on a jpg file. jpg files out of the camera are sharpened, which does not always work on softer images, but you can apply advanced sharpening techniques to a raw file that does not work as well with a pre-sharpened jpg file.

What I wrote was for the OP not for you. My take given the OP's question and other recent posts of his is that he's getting started with a new digital camera. Telling him, as I did, that he can save both raw and JPEG was appropriate advise and telling him he should save only raw would be inappropriate advise. Do you not think a Canon 50D under most circumstances will make a JPEG with good clarity for prints up to 8.5 X 11? The OP made no mention of backlit birds and I think it's fair to exclude those right now as a special case.

Joe

It's an example, not a special case. Maybe I didn't make the point clear. Ill try again. Let's say your took a precious, once in a lifetime, very special, very important picture. You rush home, pull up the jpeg on your computer monitor and are extremely disappointed because you screwed up the shot. IF you had the raw data you have a much better chance to fix it than if all you have is the jpeg file.

Probably why my post contained this: "You do have the option to have the camera save both."
and this: "....but because the camera's processing work has already been completed and applied there's less you can actually do than if you had the original RAW file."

I think that is extremely relevant to the topic. I used an example from my own experience like birds in flight where I have "fixed" the raw file. I hope this is useful to the op and I saw a recommendation to store both raw and jpeg, which is a great idea.

You mean like this: "You do have the option to have the camera save both."

Joe