what image quality should I shoot in?

[Devananda]

working with the D80....
trying to get a grasp on the whole image quality thing.
is shooting in Raw that must better? than say Jpeg fine?
also I was just reading in manual that you need a pic software to few raw..
was think about PS elements 5.0 any body know if that SW will work with Raw?
I do understand some of the basic stuff like Raw is bigger & and be processed on a comp better.
feedback~ thoughts
PS would really like to see A photo of the same thing in Jpeg and raw to see the difference.
:thumbup:

 

[JD in Socal]

For now, select the highest quality jpeg setting and use it.

RAW has some advantages that are very worthwhile, but you won't learn how to use it overnight. PS Elements does have a converter/viewer that works well. Use your camera in jpg mode for now, and start reading up on raw format. You will have to learn Elements (or another program) in order to gain anything from raw, and you need to understand histograms and a few other things to get any improvement out of raw.

Straight from the camera, the jpeg will look as good, probably better (due to in-camera sharpening and processing). The benefit of raw is that it is much more workable and can give you a significantly better final image if you do the right processing. It is very much worth learning, but don't let lack of that knowledge get in the way of taking pictures.

JD

 

[Devananda]

thanks JD!
yea I set my camera to fine J peg....and was takin a few.
for now I keep it in Jpeg in till I get and learn a PS software!
thanks again

 

[Garbz]

I can bearly see a quality difference between jpeg fine and jpeg normal. When it comes to getting the top quality I need I then shoot raw+jpeg fine anyway. Balance it between the type of image you are taking, the quality, and how many pictures you want to fit on your memory card.

 

[darich]

i was under the impression that the difference wasn't really in quality but in the ability to alter and change exposure levels in a RAW image.
JPEGs are processed by the camera according to how you set it up eg sharpness, vivid, contrast etc but RAW ignores all that and captures the image without any processing.

Once an image is processed in the camera in JPEG mode, that initial image that camera saw no longer exists - because the camera has processed it and changed the sharpness, contrast etc. It is then compressed to a smaller more convenient size that we all know JPEGs are.

However with a RAW image the camera captures precisely what it sees and because the processing has not been done in camera, it must be done in a computer. Asking to see the difference between a JPEG and a RAW image isn't really a fair comparison because the RAW image will depend almost entirely on the ability of the post processor and his/her knowledge of the softare used. Any RAW image can be made to look poorer than a JPEG either through delibrately poor processing or lack of knowledge/experience.

But as to what you should shoot in - i'd reckon with fast moving kids and exposures changing i'd agree with the poster who suggested RAW - it'll be much easier to alter or fix if you decide it's not right.

 

[The_Traveler]

The only thing I would add to the previous fine explanation is that on the rare occasion when I shoot in multi-shot mode I shoot in JPG because I can get more shots in buffer. (I think)