shooting raw?

[480sparky]

Sparky, please do not lump all of us "Get it right in the camera" purist in the same boat.

If you read my entire post, you'll find out I didn't.

While I do believe in getting it right in the camera and have for over 40 years now. I still made corrections and edits in the darkroom then and still do now with digital. Get it right in the camera usually means a couple of things, at least to me.
1. Easier to edit with less work in editing.
2. Better final product.

I'll grant you the first. I'll debate the second.

Like I said... raw is a tool, not a crutch. Use it when it's needed.

I can build a house using a 24" hand saw. But I'd much rather use a table saw, a circular saw, and jig saw when the needs arise.

Don't label all of us raw shooters as failures. I don't shoot raw because I can't get it right in the camera.... I shoot raw because it will give the most editing options. Tomorrow, when I first work with the images, and ten years from now when the image will be used for some purpose I never would have imagined.

Fact is, I probably shot more frames with Kodachrome 25 than I gave with digital so far.

 

[imagemaker46]

I shoot jpegs as the type of photography I'm doing does at times require me to turn photos around and have them sent out sometimes within minutes of shooting them. The requirement to get them as close to being correct right out of the camera is important as I do work under deadlines. I could shoot raw and I know guys that do, they also have more time to tweek the images. It is their choice. Personally I don't care one way or the other who shoots raw. In my line of business which requires speed and where losing 5 minutes can decide if the picture gets in before deadline and gets used is a little more important to me than dragging out a little extra from the shadows of a flower.

I don't consider myself as a purist, but I do consider mself as an experienced professional that produces quality work whenever I pick up a camera. It's my job to do it right the first time.

Shoot raw, shoot jpegs, whatever works, for whatever you shoot. I hope I have explained my reasons for shooting jpegs and not raw.

 

[table1349]

Sparky, please do not lump all of us "Get it right in the camera" purist in the same boat.

If you read my entire post, you'll find out I didn't.

While I do believe in getting it right in the camera and have for over 40 years now. I still made corrections and edits in the darkroom then and still do now with digital. Get it right in the camera usually means a couple of things, at least to me.
1. Easier to edit with less work in editing.
2. Better final product.

I'll grant you the first. I'll debate the second.

Like I said... raw is a tool, not a crutch. Use it when it's needed.

I can build a house using a 24" hand saw. But I'd much rather use a table saw, a circular saw, and jig saw when the needs arise.

Don't label all of us raw shooters as failures. I don't shoot raw because I can't get it right in the camera.... I shoot raw because it will give the most editing options. Tomorrow, when I first work with the images, and ten years from now when the image will be used for some purpose I never would have imagined.

Fact is, I probably shot more frames with Kodachrome 25 than I gave with digital so far.

Gladly debate #2 with you.

1st photo in raw with exposure nailed. 2nd photo, same shot 3 stops over exposed. Which do you think will give the better product after a final tweaking? It's easier to polish a diamond than a lump of coal. That is why I generally shoot raw.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Scott you obviously know what you're doing and use what works for your purposes. I've done some hockey for marketing purposes for a local minor league team, and after looking at your site... :hail:. Or even better . If I was doing something like that now maybe I'd be shooting JPEG. For my purposes I find that when I open my images, with the DNG producing both RAW and JPEG, I have an instant comparison and find the RAW usually looks better (even in the thumbnails).

For whatever reason I found that I was doing more editing with JPEGS trying to get a somewhat better quality photo, and I do little or no editing with my RAW images. For me shooting RAW/DNG seems more comparable to shooting film using all manual settings and controlling the camera the way I want.

Brian you made an interesting point about the forum; I looked at the feedback section of the site and may try posting a comment there, although I don't get the sense that it may accomplish much. I'm wondering at this point who runs/owns the site as I don't see the name of a person or business anywhere. id

(edit) And Manaheim, you said the culture here has a little bit of an expectation to it... that's not how it comes across to me, it seems more that there's little expectation on here for people to be reasonably respectful to each other even when they disagree.

Scott you make a point in saying that there's some good info. on here but you have to cut thru the crap... I'm not sure for me that it's worth it.

Sharon

 

[Joves]

Wow!

Just registered on this forum and thought I would have a quick look at the sections available. As a newcomer to this whole place - I thought that I would expect to see the usual "welcome" messages. When all is said and done - it is a section for newcomers.

...But no - the aggression with which a perfectly reasonable question is received on this forum makes it look like this is going to be a VERY interesting place.

My initial observation seems to be that to survive this place one needs to be pretty sure of oneself.

What a disgrace that people should respond to a person's correctly situated and very reasonable response. Quite clearly there are some people on this board who are entirely at home with projecting what amounts to a pretty obnoxious persona.

Perhaps those "welcoming" people might get a grip on their egos and step back a little!!!

Welcome to the forum indeed!!

Well greetings and welcome to the forum. You find this all over the interbutz in every forum. Anytime someone asks about RAW you get those who want to add nothing constructive, because it has been asked a bagillion times. Well so has what is wrong with my photo, or why are my photos soft, and so on. As I look at it if the question annoys you ignore it, and move on to what you want to comment on. Newbies will always ask the same questions that have been asked many other times, I have no problem with it. Everyone was new once.

Sparky, please do not lump all of us "Get it right in the camera" purist in the same boat. While I do believe in getting it right in the camera and have for over 40 years now. I still made corrections and edits in the darkroom then and still do now with digital. Get it right in the camera usually means a couple of things, at least to me.
1. Easier to edit with less work in editing.
2. Better final product.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programing.......

The question is: Do you shoot RAW?

I am with Gryphon on this. And yes I shoot RAW as well as Jpeg, all at the same time even, amazing. I get about a 70% keeper rate as well with my Jpegs, that is because I chose to actually took the time to learn all of the different cameras picture control settings, and how they affected images. I shoot and process the RAWs when I screw the pooch in the Jpegs, and process the RAWs on the good ones as well when I am bored for different effect.

To fsichma here is my suggestion shoot in dual mode, learn how your camera picture controls affect the Jpeg images, and learn how to tweak the Jpegs for now. Then later as you gain experience with processing, return to your older RAW files and process them. You will be surprised at how you can give some older photos new life once you become proficient at working with RAW files. We all have to learn somewhere and working on your Jpegs is a good easy start to learning, RAW is for when you start to see where the limitations are in Jpeg images to be fixed or adjusted. Just work right now on learning to get the images close to right when shot so you have less work to do.

 

[greybeard]

Raw vs JPEG is a like a "odd sock" it just won't go away.....lol.

^^^^^^I agree.
Shoot raw if you have the need and time to do a lot of editing. Shoot JPEG if you don't. It's as simple as that.

 

[Buckster]

^^^^^^I agree.
Shoot raw if you have the need and time to do a lot of editing. Shoot JPEG if you don't. It's as simple as that.

You're quoting and replying to a spammer. We don't quote them here at TPF because it creates more cleanup work for the staff. Instead, we just report them with the Report Button:

 

[480sparky]

^^^^^^I agree.
Shoot raw if you have the need and time to do a lot of editing. Shoot JPEG if you don't. It's as simple as that.

I don't shoot raw because I have a lot of time to edit. Fact is, I would edit a raw file just as much as a JPEG. I prefer raw because it allows far more editing, both when I first encounter the image in my workflow, as well as 10 years down the road.

Another advantage to raw............ I only need one file. I can create multiple versions of the same image, all under one filename. You simply cannot do that with JPEGs.

 

[BrianV]

Using LightRoom, shooting Raw and using the Export function allows all of the images to be resized at the same time. The conversion to JPEG uses the white balance information stored in the file as the in-camera would use it. Noise reduction and other functions can be set on all of the images at the same time, or you can just use a default.

Using LightRoom's Export command to resize the image and convert to JPEG is faster than using Photoshop to resize in-camera JPEG images. With the right software, shooting Raw does not require additional time to edit the image. We're talking a couple of minutes to put the card into the computer, run LightRoom, adding the images to the catalog, and hitting the "Export" button. The Raw images are left intact, and can be edited later as required. Most cameras have an option to record both Raw and in-camera JPEG. This means more space used on the card, and does slow things down a little for filling a buffer.

Basically- shooting raw gives more flexibillty for post-processing an image, and there is software available designed to make it easy and fast. Without software that is designed to batch process Raw files, it can take a lot of time.

 

[gregtallica]

I wish my camera would save as .png files so I could do my edits in MS paint

 

[Buckster]

Sparky, please do not lump all of us "Get it right in the camera" purist in the same boat. While I do believe in getting it right in the camera and have for over 40 years now. I still made corrections and edits in the darkroom then and still do now with digital. Get it right in the camera usually means a couple of things, at least to me.
1. Easier to edit with less work in editing.
2. Better final product.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programing.......

The question is: Do you shoot RAW?

I am with Gryphon on this. And yes I shoot RAW as well as Jpeg, all at the same time even, amazing. I get about a 70% keeper rate as well with my Jpegs, that is because I chose to actually took the time to learn all of the different cameras picture control settings, and how they affected images. I shoot and process the RAWs when I screw the pooch in the Jpegs, and process the RAWs on the good ones as well when I am bored for different effect.

Then you're not who Sparky was addressing, which is those who say they ONLY shoot JPG and NEVER shoot RAW because they're SO GOOD they NEVER NEED it. He also never lumped all "Get it right in the camera" purists in the same boat, but was, again, specifically addressing those who claim to never shoot RAW because they're THAT AWESOME at "getting it right in the camera" that they NEVER need a RAW file in post.

Most of us try to "get it right in the camera", and I'm sure Sparky does as well, and of course there's nothing at all wrong with that. But as you know yourself, based on what you said above, there's also nothing wrong with having that RAW file as a backup for when you need it in post. Those of us that aren't perfect, that is.

 

[imagemaker46]

I wonder who the "get in right in the camera" person was? Or they are so good the never need to shoot raw files. That never shoot raw because they are just that awesome they don't need it.

 

[Buckster]

I wonder who the "get in right in the camera" person was? Or they are so good the never need to shoot raw files. That never shoot raw because they are just that awesome they don't need it.

Yeah, gee... I wonder...

 

[imagemaker46]

I wonder who the "get in right in the camera" person was? Or they are so good the never need to shoot raw files. That never shoot raw because they are just that awesome they don't need it.

Yeah, gee... I wonder...

I answered a simple question with how I work. I don't believe that I said the way I shoot is the only way, or the correct way, of that how anyone else shoots is wrong. I really don't care what people choose, if they want to shoot raw, that's great. I explanied why I shoot jpegs. I try to get it right in the camera everytime I shoot, don't you?

When I shot film, I had to get it right in the camera, it was expected by clients when they got the film back, the images were right, it wasn't an option to screw up. So I shoot digital with the same approach, do it right the first time. It is still expected by clients, and more so, it is for me to do it right.

Does it really matter to you that much that I know what I'm doing with a camera or how I shoot, or to answer the Op's question that I choose to shoot jpegs.

 

[Buckster]

I wonder who the "get in right in the camera" person was? Or they are so good the never need to shoot raw files. That never shoot raw because they are just that awesome they don't need it.

Yeah, gee... I wonder...

I answered a simple question with how I work. I don't believe that I said the way I shoot is the only way, or the correct way, of that how anyone else shoots is wrong. I really don't care what people choose, if they want to shoot raw, that's great. I explanied why I shoot jpegs. I try to get it right in the camera everytime I shoot, don't you?

When I shot film, I had to get it right in the camera, it was expected by clients when they got the film back, the images were right, it wasn't an option to screw up. So I shoot digital with the same approach, do it right the first time. It is still expected by clients, and more so, it is for me to do it right.

Does it really matter to you that much that I know what I'm doing with a camera or how I shoot, or to answer the Op's question that I choose to shoot jpegs.

Are you feeling guilty or something? I don't recall pointing any fingers at you or throwing you up against a wall and demanding an explanation for why you do whatever you do...

Of course, if the shoe fits, feel free to wear it if you like. You DO have a tendency to let everyone know on frequent enough occasions how perfect you are when it comes to photography. Practically a god (like your photographer father before you), in that respect, from what I've read over time in your posts. You DO never need to shoot RAW because you ARE a professional who gets it right first time, every time, in the camera, as you've readily explained, unlike us mere mortals who are far, FAR beneath you.

And no, none of that matters to me at all - it's just an observation. While you are obviously at the center of your own universe and glow with the brightness of a million suns, you're not even in the same solar system with me in mine, so it doesn't matter to me what you do or how you do it - not one whit. In fact, from my POV, you're quite insignificant in the overall scheme of things, to be perfectly honest.

Have a great day!