What do I need to shoot

[robdavis305]

Im very new to the digital age and am confused on what file to shoot. I like taking pics of cars and trains and enlarging to 20x20. Is it best to shoot in jpeg raw, fine or just regular fine or raw. Im using a Nikon D90. Any replies are greatly appreciated

 

[Big Mike]

It's best to shoot at maximum size RAW.

 

[robdavis305]

Thanks Big Mike

 

[kundalini]

RAW for sure. Why cut yourself short?

 

[Plato]

However, do NOT shoot RAW if you do not intend to do post-processing.

 

[Derrel]

One method is to shoot RAW + JPEG and allow the D90 to process the images using whatever in-camera processing you want to do. Shoot JPEG Fine, Large size. Use whatever Active D-Lighting level you think the scene needs.

The D90 will perform in-camera chromatic aberration reduction, and the in-camera D-Lighting, or whatever other adjustment parameters you decide to apply. You can see a comparison of two scenes, one shot with the D90, the other with the Canon XSi, and compare the results of Nikon's in-camera chromatic aberration reduction against a camera that does not correct for lens chromatic aberration. Nikon D90 review Cameralabs outdoor results

Lens chromatic aberration,often abbreviated simply as CA, is a BIG problem with many consumer-level and even moderate level lenses, and the D90 will remove this for you on its in-camera JPG files,as well as providing a more or less 'finished looking' picture.

It's possible that the D90's in-camera image processing in RAW + JPEG will produce a file that's as good, or better, than what you can produce from a .NEF file converted later in software, since the D90 is a "smart" camera and Nikon has programmed it with the ability to profile away CA, as well as do noise reduction and in-camera sharpening that is better than what anybody except a very competent Photoshop user or Nikon Capture user can produce.

I prefer to shoot RAW + JPEG Large Fine with sharpening in-camera set pretty high, so I can edit images using the JPEGs, and see minor focus problems easier due to the high in-camera sharpening....I send the 'bad' images to the trash, label them blue, then send them back to the .NEF folders, where the color-coded reject blue JPEGS line up right next to their parent NE files, and then go down the list and cull out both the bad JPEGs and the bad .NEF files.

 

[anel]

if you know your photoshop then definitely go raw, there's no match for the processing options it offers.. if u just wanna shoot and develop then jpeg.

 

[Foga]

I would say, depending on what you are doing you would go with aether or, if your shooting moving objects and doing sequence shooting, I would probably advise going with jpg, it'll make your card keep up with the shooting.
If you are doing post processing, then definitely raw, it gives you about 2 stops of under or over exposure which you can use to make exposure corrections and much more since there's a lot info/depth in the pixels you get.

 

[Plato]

One method is to shoot RAW + JPEG and allow the D90 to process the images using whatever in-camera processing you want to do. Shoot JPEG Fine, Large size. Use whatever Active D-Lighting level you think the scene needs.

The D90 will perform in-camera chromatic aberration reduction, and the in-camera D-Lighting, or whatever other adjustment parameters you decide to apply. You can see a comparison of two scenes, one shot with the D90, the other with the Canon XSi, and compare the results of Nikon's in-camera chromatic aberration reduction against a camera that does not correct for lens chromatic aberration.

It's possible that the D90's in-camera image processing in RAW + JPEG will produce a file that's as good, or better, than what you an produce from a .NEF file converted later in software, since the D90 is a "smart" camera and Nikon has programmed it with the ability to profile away CA, as well as do noise reduction and in-camera sharpening that is better than what anybody except a very competent Photoshop user or Nikon Capture user can produce.

I prefer to shoot RAW + JPEG Large Fine with sharpening in-camera set pretty high, so I can edit images using the JPEGs, and see minor focus problems easier du to the high in-camera sharpening....I send the 'bad' images to the trash, label them, then send them back to the .NEF folders, where the color-coded reject JPEGS line up right next to their parent NE files, and then go down the list and cull out both the bad JPEGs and the bad .NEF files.

I should have suggested that. I shoot RAW+JPG with my D80 and it works out just fine. Approximately 80% of the JPG versions are perfectly satisfactory and I work on the remainder as appropriate. It does make my work flow a bit clumsy but it's not a major impediment.