What’s Your Preference?

GoddyD · #1 (**permalink**) 06-20-2009, 11:33 PM

Hi

I am new to photography and I am loving it. I have head from a lot of people talking about shooting in RAW. so I switched to RAW instead of JPG. I cant see any benefits.

1) The files are too big so and it takes up a lot of space
2) I dont like the xmp files in my folders when I download the pics to my computer
3) Each company has specific RAW formats, meaning everytime I want to give my friends pictures I have taken of them straight from the camera I first have to download a olympus RAW file reader.
4) I can do the same things in photoshop and bridge to the RAW & JPG files.

I cant come up with any advantages. Please advice on how best I can take advantage of RAW files.

Thanx in advance.

#2 (**permalink**) 06-20-2009, 11:46 PM

Why?

Answer: Because.

Read this
Everything you ever wanted to know about photography! On DPS!

FoG · #3 (**permalink**) 06-20-2009, 11:48 PM

Simply put a camera compresses the "RAW" data from the sensor down to Jpeg etc so shooting in RAW alone gives better pictures with more clarity ... I think... I have seen some RAW images that seem to just blow a Jpeg of the same away

Jim Bryant · #4 (**permalink**) 06-21-2009, 12:02 AM

Shooting RAW is the difference between night (jpeg) and Day (RAW). You folks gotta wake up and smell the coffee

Unipsychle · #5 (**permalink**) 06-21-2009, 12:15 AM

There is almost no reason to use a DSLR if you don't use raw!

Check out UFRAW, it is a really awesome converter.

Jim Bryant · #6 (**permalink**) 06-21-2009, 12:26 AM

That is so true!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unipsychle

There is almost no reason to use a DSLR if you don't use raw!

Check out UFRAW, it is a really awesome converter.

dcclark · #7 (**permalink**) 06-21-2009, 12:38 AM

I'm with you GoddyD -- you've listed some excellent reasons. If it weren't for one smart-alecky member of these forums, the following statement would be wholly true:

Nobody has ever said to me "I would totally buy this photo, but you didn't shoot it in raw!"

(Fletch went and made that comment on one of my photos on flickr, just to shush me, I think :P)

There are advantages to shooting raw, and you will probably come to recognize those situations as they come up. But for me, the disadvantages highly outweigh the advantages -- and my results still look great.

WenRob · #8 (**permalink**) 06-21-2009, 02:35 AM

A good example of the advantages of RAW. My DH's grandmother was here to visit us. This was probably a once in a life time trip as she is in her 80's and won't be able to travel much anymore. For whatever reason, my flash was misfiring. Wouldn't you know the pictures that were near perfect in exposure were "eh" and the ones where the flash misfired and therefore badly exposed had the best expressions. Shooting in RAW I was able to bring those up easily. They look great! Had I shot them in jpg I wouldn't have had half the latitude that I did with the RAWs. Maybe I could have brought jpgs up some but not without a struggle and the results would not been half as good. Same thing with a pic of DH and Grandma being overexposed (I forgot to reset after something else.) It was a matter of a couple of sliders to bring it down a bit, easy peasy. Had it been jpg I would have lost all sorts of detail. I always, always take more shots then needed and in these cases I was able to turn the bad ones with great expressions into good ones, if I'd shot jpg my "keepers" would have been the "eh" pics.
So happy with my decision to go RAW all the time, I would have lost pics from a one time only visit.

GoddyD · #9 (**permalink**) 06-21-2009, 07:12 AM

Thanx WenRob.

you have brought better understanding. so the main Adv is in PP as its a digital negative.

Ill continue to shoot in RAW one day i will fully utilise it. Hope they will make standard for raw files to, so any comp can open them with out downloading any software like JPGs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WenRob

A good example of the advantages of RAW. My DH's grandmother was here to visit us. This was probably a once in a life time trip as she is in her 80's and won't be able to travel much anymore. For whatever reason, my flash was misfiring. Wouldn't you know the pictures that were near perfect in exposure were "eh" and the ones where the flash misfired and therefore badly exposed had the best expressions. Shooting in RAW I was able to bring those up easily. They look great! Had I shot them in jpg I wouldn't have had half the latitude that I did with the RAWs. Maybe I could have brought jpgs up some but not without a struggle and the results would not been half as good. Same thing with a pic of DH and Grandma being overexposed (I forgot to reset after something else.) It was a matter of a couple of sliders to bring it down a bit, easy peasy. Had it been jpg I would have lost all sorts of detail. I always, always take more shots then needed and in these cases I was able to turn the bad ones with great expressions into good ones, if I'd shot jpg my "keepers" would have been the "eh" pics.
So happy with my decision to go RAW all the time, I would have lost pics from a one time only visit.