I’m wondering what the benefit is to shooting in RAW versus jpeg. I understand it has some sort of benefit if post processing is applied but I don’t understand why it’s better.
I took a bunch of photos in RAW today only to find out what a pain in the butt it is to view and convert files. Even after I’m accustomed to doing this it would just add a few more steps so I’m curious if it is really worth all of the effort.
JPEG is compressed data - every time you edit a JPEG it loses more data (quality). Raw is uncompressed data - you do not lose quality when editing. In fact, every time you open and save a JPEG, even without having made any edits, you lose quality. Every time you do edit, it is even worse and you lose even more data. This also means that JPEG files degrade when simply migrating them from one HDD to another for storage or backup (though this aspect is very minor).
JPEG is 8-bit colour. Raw is (generally) 16-bit colour. That not only means that JPEG has less colours, but that colour banding can more easily occur during editing.
JPEG shows all the data. Raw doesn't. That means that a white or black area in a JPEG is white or black, and can never be anything other than a patch of grey. With raw files, there is still per-pixel information in those areas (usually two f-stops of information) so you can regain details in the shadows and highlights. It not only gives you room to correct for exposure error, but can allow significant local editing capabilities.
When a JPEG is created, your camera is making processing decisions for you. When a raw file is created, you get to make all the processing decisions. If you think of JPEG as being like a Polaroid instant print, and a raw file as being like a negative, you're on the right track.
If you hit "save" during an edit of a JPEG, it can write over the original file. You can't do that to a raw file, so your original data is always safe (it will save as a TIF, PSD etc - never as a raw .DNG, .CR2, .NEF etc).
That covers most of what I like about raw. But it's always a personal preference thing.
I always shoot in Raw. It gives me a lot more flexibility in processing, especially for white balance and adjusting exposure afterwards. So for example if you were shooting something during a sunny day and the sunlight has washed everything out, you've got a lot more chance of getting back some detail with Raw.
Even still, it was a little annoying to import, process and convert the files to JPG -- until I got Aperture, and now it's super-simple. I just import, do my adjustments, and hit Export. I would definitely suggest trying out Aperture or Lightroom if you don't already - they make handling Raw much easier!
I shoot RAW + jpeg. It's good to always have RAW for post processing work and as a backup with full information of the photo. If I am lazy or want to do little adjustment I use jpeg file otherwise I work with RAW.
@jinximages lol, love how you dissect the reasons and give a clear and cogent argument for RAW, and then say "but it's always a personal preference thing"!
@vikdaddy It's a caveat, in case anyone feels offended. ;) Haha! Well, there are some reasons to shoot in JPEG - less storage space, and, umm, I can't think of anything else. :D
I always shoot raw. Have you tried importing directly into lightroom? You can then do a quick batch export of the photos you want into jpeg or tiff. Very easy to use. If you do one by one with photoshop it is quite time consuming. I recommend lightroom and then edit the ones you really want to make detailed processing to in photoshop or any other program directly out of lightroom. Hope this helps!
I just love how much data a raw file holds!
@1invisiblegrl RAW lets you make certain changes without destroying the quality of your photo. Loads of changes can be made and then undone if need be. They are bigger files because they take in loads of extra information so that the changes can be made non-destructively.
There are good cases for both ways. I'm a definite RAW shooter and have been for many years. It's all about choice I suppose.
@1invisiblegrl Agree with the above. I switched to raw three years ago and appreciate that I will always have the "original" data and can always create the original image. Like @jinximages implies, RAW is not a photo or image, it's simply data, which is why you are manually converting it. Find the photo app that can read your camera's method (I think you use Canon) of encoding RAW and automatically display an image. I use Aperture for Apple, Photoshop elements and CS does it as well, and I am sure there are many less expensive alternatives.
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JPEG is 8-bit colour. Raw is (generally) 16-bit colour. That not only means that JPEG has less colours, but that colour banding can more easily occur during editing.
JPEG shows all the data. Raw doesn't. That means that a white or black area in a JPEG is white or black, and can never be anything other than a patch of grey. With raw files, there is still per-pixel information in those areas (usually two f-stops of information) so you can regain details in the shadows and highlights. It not only gives you room to correct for exposure error, but can allow significant local editing capabilities.
When a JPEG is created, your camera is making processing decisions for you. When a raw file is created, you get to make all the processing decisions. If you think of JPEG as being like a Polaroid instant print, and a raw file as being like a negative, you're on the right track.
If you hit "save" during an edit of a JPEG, it can write over the original file. You can't do that to a raw file, so your original data is always safe (it will save as a TIF, PSD etc - never as a raw .DNG, .CR2, .NEF etc).
That covers most of what I like about raw. But it's always a personal preference thing.
Even still, it was a little annoying to import, process and convert the files to JPG -- until I got Aperture, and now it's super-simple. I just import, do my adjustments, and hit Export. I would definitely suggest trying out Aperture or Lightroom if you don't already - they make handling Raw much easier!
@ukdanae Thanks for the tip, I just got lightroom and I'm still learning how to use it, so far so good.
@1invisiblegrl @terek55 - You're welcome. :)
I just love how much data a raw file holds!
There are good cases for both ways. I'm a definite RAW shooter and have been for many years. It's all about choice I suppose.
thanks a bunch for the info everyone!