Raw...?

[DuckieLauren]

So, What is RAW and why should you use it opposed to the other (jpg?) setting.
What do they do that makes one better than the other?

I don't really know a whole lot about photography, but I'm learning.
also, can you only shoot in RAW on DSLRs? or can you change it on point and shoots too?

[dcclark]

Please search around a bit -- this is a very commonly discussed topic.

A quick forum search for "RAW vs. JPEG" gives this as a top result:
JPEG vs RAW

Very short summary: RAW is "raw data straight out of the camera's sensor". It MUST be processed to become an image. You can change SOME settings (color balance, for example) after you've shot the photo if you use RAW. The files are big. JPEG is a processed version which is a directly editable image, and is much easier to work with.

My personal recommendation: if you don't understand it, then don't worry. Focus on composition, use of colors, light, shapes, etc. If you start to feel limited in some way, come back and find out more!

[DuckieLauren]

Alrighty, thanks a lot. even just that short summary helps a lot!

[Doug Pardee]

Originally Posted by DuckieLauren

can you only shoot in RAW on DSLRs? or can you change it on point and shoots too?

A few of the top-end digicams provide Raw capabilities. The main advantage there is that the Raw data doesn't have any noise processing done yet. You can apply just the amount of noise processing, and the type of noise processing, that you want when you post-process the data into an image.