Why Shoot in RAW???

[pjl]

I'm trackin', Fletch!
I wuz a slow larner'...
An' stubburn, hard-heddid...

Fletch be right, it's an easier go with the WB sliders, etc.

Each their own; larnin' curves be what dey be!

[DannyF1966]

I'm still in two minds about all this... I've been shooting in RAW pretty much since I got the camera, but found that the pics looked pretty much ok as they were, I didn't think they looked flat or washed out or anything like that.

A couple of weeks ago I did a test shooting in RAW+jpg, and compared the two files side by side. I must admit I was hard-pressed to see any difference in them at all, even when viewing actual size rather than reducing the image to fit on the screen, even though the RAW was 6Mb and the jpg was about 750K! The colours looked the same, and I couldn't see any artefacts in the jpg.

Admittedly I haven't tried getting any photos printed up yet, certainly not at a size I can hang on the wall, so maybe I'll be proved wrong in time. I'm happy to post a RAW and the associated jpg somewhere if anyone wants to have a look and show me where the differences are!

[Swisstony10]

Try opening the RAW file in Photoshop/ACR or the RAW processing software that came with your camera, and make a few adjustments to things like exposure and white balance.

Now do the same with the Jpeg version. Oh, wait...

I think the reason the people who tend to prefer RAW over Jpeg prefer it, is because of the flexibility that it allows us after we've taken the image and opened it up in our editing software. For those people who are already able to take awesome pictures that need hardly any adjustments out of the camera (and I'm not being sarcastic, I've seen plenty of examples of people who do just that), then good on you. For the rest of us, RAW lets us put right a lot of the things we got wrong when we took the pictures.

Russ.

[fletch]

Originally Posted by Swisstony10

I think the reason the people who tend to prefer RAW over Jpeg prefer it, is because of the flexibility that it allows us after we've taken the image and opened it up in our editing software. For those people who are already able to take awesome pictures that need hardly any adjustments out of the camera (and I'm not being sarcastic, I've seen plenty of examples of people who do just that), then good on you. For the rest of us, RAW lets us put right a lot of the things we got wrong when we took the pictures.

Thats almost why I use it. I find that RAW gives me much more flexibility and freedom before I shoot. I don't have to worry about any of the camera JPEG settings at all, no WB, sharpening, saturation, ?vividness?, nothing and I don't have to resort to default settings. I am free to concentrait on exposure and composition with the freedom nothing else has been set in stone.

Once you realise the importance of white balance (and how bad Auto WB can be) it is very difficult to resist the lure of shooting RAW.

[kencaleno]

I will never use Raw processing-I cannot see the point-I get white balance,exposure,etc correct in the camera,and this is my total workflow:

Image>Adjustments>Auto Levels
Ctrl+J
Image>Adjustments>Equalize
Blend mode>Soft Light-(Adjust opacity slider)
Flatten-Save

[fletch]

Originally Posted by kencaleno

I cannot see the point-I get white balance,exposure,etc correct in the camera,and this is my total workflow:

Image>Adjustments>Auto Levels
Ctrl+J
Image>Adjustments>Equalize
Blend mode>Soft Light-(Adjust opacity slider)
Flatten-Save

The point is that you don't need to get WB right in camera (you do with exposure). Getting a precise WB can be a time consuming process and in changeable light can detract from taking pictures. I'd rather not have to worry about it then.

[BryanC]

Originally Posted by kencaleno

I will never use Raw processing-I cannot see the point-I get white balance,exposure,etc correct in the camera,and this is my total workflow:

Image>Adjustments>Auto Levels
Ctrl+J
Image>Adjustments>Equalize
Blend mode>Soft Light-(Adjust opacity slider)
Flatten-Save

You could have virtually the same workflow with a RAW file. Instead of 'save' it would be 'save as'...(choosing JPEG). It would then be a first generation JPEG instead of second generation. More often, it isn't detectable by eye, but why degenerate when you don't have to?

[BryanC]

Originally Posted by fletch

The point is that you don't need to get WB right in camera (you do with exposure). Getting a precise WB can be a time consuming process and in changeable light can detract from taking pictures. I'd rather not have to worry about it then.

A great point that's seldom brought up in this much discussed topic. I would rather jack around with those Kelvin numbers on the computer, not while shooting in changing light as you mentioned.

[tmphillips]

I'll chime in.. I've only been exploring photography and abusing my dslr for about a year and a half now and a few months in I went raw, but what I found was that it leaves too much guesswork for me. I spend sooo much time fiddling with stuff when all I have is a raw file.. I don't have a reliable batch method (finding that I get different results with every software that I try, although I must admit, I've never tried the cam manufacturers software ).. Ultimately, I can't do raw+jpeg with my dslr, or I'd likely go back to stuffing my drives with more raw. I do occasionally turn it to raw when I am in the slow mode, working on one shot with the tripod etc, where I can take the jpg shot and then also take the raw shot, but I am usually in a 'click at everything like a rabid fiend' mode so I just don't use it.. I think as my skills improve I'll lean back toward more raw mode for the added tweaking possibilities... I am going to drop a KR bomb here, because I like some of what he has to say on the matter.. (I hope it's not against board rules to mention him)...

[Jim Bryant]

Ken Rockwell is do-do! Get yourself up to speed with RAW images....it's the only way to go. Shooting jpeg is for lazy folks, who don't want to take the extra time to learn how to do it right the first time. I can't believe you guys are using auto levels. Use the sliders in levels rather than clicking on auto level. Better yet learn how to use curves..it's more precise.