File Format Issues when Shooting

jlg84

I have been shooting digital for several years, mostly as an adjunct to my 35mm photography. Lately, however, as I acquired a Canon 10D and a Sony DSC-F828, I have started shooting digital more or less exclusively. Up to now I have always shot in JPEG format, especially since these cameras make pretty big files. But now I am beginning to wonder whether I should be shooting in RAW mode. What do you shoot in, and why? And are there large enough CF cards out there to be able to shoot a reasonable number of RAW shots between downloads to my photo vault?

Andy

jlg84 wrote:

I have been shooting digital for several years, mostly as an adjunct to my 35mm photography. Lately, however, as I acquired a Canon 10D and a Sony DSC-F828, I have started shooting digital more or less exclusively. Up to now I have always shot in JPEG format, especially since these cameras make pretty big files. But now I am beginning to wonder whether I should be shooting in RAW mode. What do you shoot in, and why? And are there large enough CF cards out there to be able to shoot a reasonable number of RAW shots between downloads to my photo vault?

shoot raw + jpg on your 10d - yeah you can get 1Gb and 2gb cards and even bigger on your 828, shoot raw if doing landscapes or other tripodded work, where speed of writing to the card isn't an issue - cuz the 828 is a bit slooow in the raw-writign department

there's tons of info here on dgrin regarding why raw is good - and it's advantages... try the search you'll see.

welcome to dgrin!

Shay Stephens

I shoot all day weddings in RAW. I can get about 100 photos per one gigabyte card (20D camera). For me I go through and average of one card per hour.

The reason I have chosen to go with RAW is many-fold:
1) The best color control over WB. Nothing else touches it.
2) The best control over exposure. Again nothing else I have tried touches it.
3) Control over noise, vignetting, contrast, saturation, etc all at the same time, which saves me time from having to adjust each setting myself manually to a batch of images.
4) With Photoshop CS2 I can now crop and rotate within the RAW converter which save me time too.

So for me the main reason to go RAW was better control over the final output, better quality results, and easier/quicker automation.

I have not shot any JPG for over a year now.

Khaos

What Shay said.

Safari

jlg84 wrote:

I am beginning to wonder whether I should be shooting in RAW mode. What do you shoot in, and why? And are there large enough CF cards out there to be able to shoot a reasonable number of RAW shots between downloads to my photo vault?

1 GB memory stick and compact flash will hold a reasonable number of images. They're still scarce and somewhat expensive in Canada, but seem to be readily available online and in the US. You can squeeze in a few extra RAW images on your F828 by changing your JPG image to high compression and standard quality instead of fine.
I've been slow to start recording RAW on my F828, partly because of the slow recording speed but mostly because of the poor selection of RAW software - I have Photoshop 7, not CS. However a recent test has convinced me. I opened a RAW file, then the corresponding JPG image, in the free IrfanView program and compared them. Unbelievable! Before making any changes, the RAW image has more accurate colour, more colour depth, better contrast and sharpness. The difference was even more dramatic in Google's free Picassa program. Now all I need is decent software - I may have to spend the money on Photoshop.
Try the test yourself - record a couple of RAW files, then compare the images with their JPG counterparts.

jlg84

RAW + JPG seems a good way to go
It seems to me that shooting both JPG and RAW together is the way to go; I can get away with smaller files in JPG since I'll have the RAW image to play around with, and the JPG will be small enough to use to post online or send in email after the shots are taken (much of my photography is done while traveling). I just bought Photoshop CS2 and now need just to go and buy a couple of large CF cards...

mercphoto

jlg84 wrote:

What do you shoot in, and why? And are there large enough CF cards out there to be able to shoot a reasonable number of RAW shots between downloads to my photo vault?

It depends on WHAT I am shooting as to whether I shoot RAW or JPG. I do not believe in the RAW-only mantra (nor the JPG-only mantra either). If I am shooting a portrait, or if I were to shoot a wedding, I'd shoot RAW as it gives the most flexibilty to fix errors made when taking the shot. If I'm shooting a race I shoot JPG. I do not have the time to convert 1,000 images per day and post them to the web in time. Nor are those shots all that critical to spend the extra effort for RAW. Lastly, those shots I already know how to get correct the first time -- I don't need to do white balance and exposure changes to those pictures, so RAW is a waste of time and space.

If you can get the exposure and the white balance correct (or close) when you press the shutter, the need for RAW is very diminished.

ziggy53

I agree with Bill J. I use the appropriate file format for the intended use of the photo.


I use RAW when the lighting is of mixed origin, or the exposure latitude is too great, or if I need precision on a limited number of images. (RAW can take a while to post-process.) RAW can also capture more tone subtleties, so I might use it for a sunrise/sunset or when I need a very pure sky or very young skin rendition.

I use JPG-Fine for personal photos and sports shots. It takes less time to write to the card and clear the buffer, and I get more shots per unit card storage.

I use JPG-Standard for those shots which will never be more than Web or printed 4"x6" or so.

Sometimes I'll have a "hunch" to use higher quality than I need and sometimes the feeling pays off. (Often not.)


ziggy53