Which format for what situation?

[stryder's in Anacortes]

I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 with the following formats: JPEG (EXIF 2.2) Fine / Standard and RAW. Would you address the pros and cons of each format? And if you have the time, what photo event/situation would you use each format?

[Sterling]

Quick and dirty explanation:

RAW: Often used to produce the highest quality results. However, post processing is mandatory to achieve this. File size is the largest.

JPEG: Can produce quality images straight from the camera. In this format the camera applies some basic post processing automatically. The Standard vs. Fine is just a relative quality level. Experiment to see what is acceptable to you, but basically, Standard is likely to be OK for web images and small prints. Standard will also produce the smallest file size.

[MrBeta]

What I shoot in depends on what I'm shooting. If I'm shooting an important event that I absolutely MUST get the majority of the photos "correct", I'll shoot in RAW. This generally allows the most flexibility to "fix" bad images. I generally suggest that you load up on memory card, as they're cheap and easy to carry around.
HUGE file size.
Most editable

If I'm covering an event like a concert or party where I'll be shooting a hundreds of shots, I stick with JPEG. I know my camera well enough and I can chimp the settings to get the best overall image. JPEG is still very editable so just play with them both. You might stick with RAW until you really know your camera and how to edit (if you don't already).
Smaller file size
Less editable
Quicker card dumping.

[kirbinster]

Memory today is dirt cheap, so I cannot see any reason when shooting jpeg to not shoot at the highest quality and highest pixel count that your camera can handle. That said, I only shoot raw anyway.