Are you a RAW shooter.

HackboneHackbone Registered Users Posts: 4,027 Major grins
edited August 20, 2015 in People
Wondered how many folks here are raw shooters and what progam used to convert.

Almost all my work is raw, even sports. I use Capture One to process the images. My reasons are more leeway for exposure error and Capture One seems to have a tad more punch and sharpness to the final image.

Comments

  • jonh68jonh68 Registered Users Posts: 2,711 Major grins
    edited August 8, 2015
    I shoot RAW for paid work and use Photoshop CC for conversion. Most of my work is at the beach in high contrast situations. Being able to recover highlights and shadows is the main reason for RAW. My clients want beach scenery, not washed out backgrounds. I don't see much difference in post processing time in regards to jpg vs RAW. I upgraded my computer so batch processing is a breeze. Even 200 pictures take around 30 minutes. Speedwise there isn't much of an advantage shooting jpg since I tweak anyway.

    However, I shot one session in jpg by accident and was surprised about how good the fuji jpgs are and how much the internal camera processing automatically recovered shadows and highlights. I have much confidence in the fuji jpg processing but I feel I owe clients and myself the most leeway in being able to recover not so perfect exposure. I have recovered shots that looked almost black because I was going from strobed to natural light because kids were doing something cute and I didn't have time to set the camera. Shooting RAW allowed me to recover the shot.
  • HackboneHackbone Registered Users Posts: 4,027 Major grins
    edited August 8, 2015
    Ditto on Fuji color. In the older days of digital I use to use the Fui's S1 and S2 and the color of those files were excellent straight out of camera.
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited August 8, 2015
    I tried shooting in the RAW but clients objected loudly. :D I don't really blame them, my modeling days have long passed.:D

    Sam
  • HackboneHackbone Registered Users Posts: 4,027 Major grins
    edited August 9, 2015
    I'm with you there Sam.
  • divamumdivamum Registered Users Posts: 9,021 Major grins
    edited August 9, 2015
    Raw + LR. I hate the huge files, but appreciate the greater ability to manipulate in post, artistically as well as technically.
  • ThelensspotThelensspot Registered Users Posts: 2,041 Major grins
    edited August 9, 2015
    RAW... using LR and PS (CC) for PPing.
    "Photography is partly art and partly science. Really good photography adds discipline, sacrifice and a never ending pursuit of photographic excellence"...ziggy53

  • MomaZunkMomaZunk Registered Users Posts: 421 Major grins
    edited August 9, 2015
    Raw...with LR for conversion.
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,156 moderator
    edited August 9, 2015
    RAW acquisition plus CaptureOne versions 6 and 8 for people stuff; ACR and Photoshop CS4 for any layer work in landscapes.

    Occasionally, I'll also use RawTherapee (ver 4.2.208). RT has some very special properties that I like to mix with other image editiors.
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • michaelglennmichaelglenn Registered Users Posts: 442 Major grins
    edited August 9, 2015
    I shoot in RAW and sRAW. Then I cull with PhotoMechanic and edit with ACR/Photoshop
    wedding portfolio michaelglennphoto.com
    fashion portfolio michaelglennfashion.com
  • Reflections By BrianReflections By Brian Registered Users Posts: 57 Big grins
    edited August 10, 2015
    I shoot RAW with 99 of my edits in Lightroom. It may not be the fastest but it seems to be the most versatile tools for me.
  • MitchellMitchell Registered Users Posts: 3,503 Major grins
    edited August 10, 2015
    Depends what I'm doing.

    For portraits with natural light or strobes, I shoot RAW. I do take care to shoot a grey card during the shoot.

    During a recent trip to Iceland, I shot RAW. The lighting was so mixed and varied that I didn't want to risk it.

    If I shoot several soccer games in a row and the lighting is consistent, I shoot JPEG. It's not unusual to have over 1000 shots to process after a busy soccer weekend. The camera usually gets it right unless I have to move to some strong backlighting late in the day.

    I scan through the files in Adobe Bridge and then use Photoshop CC for processing. Three failed attempts for me with Lightroom and I just gave up.
  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited August 10, 2015
    I shoot RAW and have shot in the raw. Laughing.gif Use LR for conversion.
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

    Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums

    My Smug Site
  • jmphotocraftjmphotocraft Registered Users Posts: 2,987 Major grins
    edited August 10, 2015
    Of course. And sports are a huge reason to shoot raw, unless you are printing on-site. Sports are often played in broad daylight, so the extra headroom is useful. Also our town's baseball fields are half in shadow, half in sun. If one can nail all those shots in jpeg, my hat is off to you.

    I use Lightroom. A friend whose abilities I respect took Capture One for a 30 day test drive and concluded it wasn't worth the premium over Lightroom.

    For ultimate Canon image sharpness though, like for a critical landscape, I use Canon DPP with DLO.
    -Jack

    An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
  • HackboneHackbone Registered Users Posts: 4,027 Major grins
    edited August 15, 2015
    If you haven't shot raw give it a try and ask us for some help in the processing. You might be please with how it can be very helpful. Any takers???
  • DKellyCDKellyC Registered Users Posts: 10 Big grins
    edited August 15, 2015
    Hackbone wrote: »
    If you haven't shot raw give it a try and ask us for some help in the processing. You might be please with how it can be very helpful. Any takers???

    Hackbone,
    I have been wanting to try it, but have not as of yet. Had an opportunity today, but shot jpeg instead since I am not familiar with the raw format. Hopefully shortly I will give it a try. I have Photoshop 6, so I should not have a problem reading the files, but I have not used Photoshop yet, it seems pretty complicated.

    I will let you know if I need any help.

    KellyC
  • HackboneHackbone Registered Users Posts: 4,027 Major grins
    edited August 15, 2015
    Kelly, photoshop will not read raw files unless you download the dng converter. However your camera should have come with a program that will convert the files. There are many programs that you can/ should purchase if you are going to shoot raw and they run the spectrum on pricing. Capture One, LightRoom, Photo Mechanic, ACDSee are just some of them.

    Do not shoot a paying job with raw until you have had a good long time playing with it however.
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,156 moderator
    edited August 16, 2015
    DKellyC wrote: »
    Hackbone,
    I have been wanting to try it, but have not as of yet. Had an opportunity today, but shot jpeg instead since I am not familiar with the raw format. Hopefully shortly I will give it a try. I have Photoshop 6, so I should not have a problem reading the files, but I have not used Photoshop yet, it seems pretty complicated.

    I will let you know if I need any help.

    KellyC
    Hackbone wrote: »
    Kelly, photoshop will not read raw files unless you download the dng converter. However your camera should have come with a program that will convert the files. There are many programs that you can/ should purchase if you are going to shoot raw and they run the spectrum on pricing. Capture One, LightRoom, Photo Mechanic, ACDSee are just some of them.

    Do not shoot a paying job with raw until you have had a good long time playing with it however.

    Photoshop CS6 (if that's the version user "DKellyC" has) does indeed come with ACR (Adobe Camera RAW converter), and that version ACR can be updated to read digital cameras' RAW files as recent as:

    Canon EOS 7D Mark II
    Canon PowerShot G7 X
    Canon PowerShot SX60 HS
    Casio EX-100PRO
    Fujifilm X30
    Fujifilm X100T
    Fujifilm X-T1 Graphite Silver
    Leaf Credo 50
    Leica D-Lux (Typ 109)
    Leica M-P
    Leica V-Lux (Typ 114)
    Leica X (Typ 113)
    Nikon D750
    Olympus PEN E-PL7
    Olympus STYLUS 1s
    Panasonic DMC-CM1
    Panasonic DMC-GM1S
    Panasonic DMC-GM5
    Panasonic DMC-LX100
    Pentax K-S1
    Pentax QS-1
    Samsung NX1
    Sony ILCE-5100
    Sony ILCE-QX1
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • WirenWiren Registered Users Posts: 741 Major grins
    edited August 16, 2015
    I shoot RAW and use LR... for sports, I use super fine jpeg... even though I try to keep it around 100-150 shots for an entire game (softball mostly) and sometimes don't even get there, it's too many for RAW in my opinion. But certainly for a client photo shoot, I like the flexibility of RAW.
    Lee Wiren
  • HackboneHackbone Registered Users Posts: 4,027 Major grins
    edited August 16, 2015
    Ziggy, thank you for the info on CS6 and ACR. I know several photographers who use ACR exclusively and wanted to try a few of their techniques. I can be very single minded at times and was not aware that ACR was there.
  • AlexSharkAlexShark Registered Users Posts: 198 Major grins
    edited August 16, 2015
    My workflow:

    1. Lightroom CC for:
    RAW to DNG
    Catalogue stuff
    Import pre-processing
    Cropping and other minor perspective/color/grain/contrast adjustments
    Essentially I treat Lr as if I was processing film

    2. Photoshop CC:
    Layers work
    Masking and composing
    Ps is like processing print

    3. Alien Skin Exposure 7
    (usually immediately after importing DNG into Ps, on the Background layer, then back to Ps)
    This is my 75% color adjustment work and almost 100% B&W conversion
    Photography is about what does not meet the eye
    Be my guest: Alex Braverman Photography
  • FoquesFoques Registered Users Posts: 1,951 Major grins
    edited August 17, 2015
    I started shooting RAW years ago when Hackbone, Ziggy and Cuban(I think.. unless it was Diva) sat me down and slapped me silly. For which I am forever grateful.
    Arseny - the too honest guy.
    My Site
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  • wave01wave01 Registered Users Posts: 204 Major grins
    edited August 17, 2015
    I shoot RAW and use apples aperture for my conversion.
    Shame that it is no longer supported so may have to go to Lightroom

    Sent from my KFSOWI using Tapatalk
  • AceCo55AceCo55 Registered Users Posts: 950 Major grins
    edited August 18, 2015
    Sam wrote: »
    I tried shooting in the RAW but clients objected loudly. :D I don't really blame them, my modeling days have long passed.:D

    Sam

    Aaaaaarrrrrhhhhh .... what is seen can not be unseen. Damn you Sam, damn you.:jawdrop
    A sleepless night for me!!! :cry
    My opinion does not necessarily make it true. What you do with my opinion is entirely up to you.
    www.acecootephotography.com
  • HackboneHackbone Registered Users Posts: 4,027 Major grins
    edited August 19, 2015
    Any questions about shooting RAW? We all will try to help.
  • BilsenBilsen Registered Users Posts: 2,143 Major grins
    edited August 20, 2015
    Shoot everything in Raw. Use ACR for correction and conversion and then CS6 (local) for final edits.

    I like RAW/ACR for a bunch of reasons and, believe it or not, a big one is that I hate the crop tool in CS6. I also like the eventual jpg better than when I shoot in jpg in the camera.

    Lastly, even using a gray card/custom WB, I have never been totally happy with Canon colors so I like the ability to make minor WB adjustments in ACR.
    Bilsen (the artist formerly known as John Galt NY)
    Canon 600D; Canon 1D Mk2;
    24-105 f4L IS; 70-200 f4L IS; 50mm 1.4; 28-75 f2.8; 55-250 IS; 580EX & (2) 430EX Flash,
    Model Galleries: http://bilsen.zenfolio.com/
    Everything Else: www.pbase.com/bilsen
  • NikonsandVstromsNikonsandVstroms Registered Users Posts: 990 Major grins
    edited August 20, 2015
    RAW + LR CC for most work like events or classes. And for my other work there are additional edits in PS.
  • gatorbehindlensgatorbehindlens Registered Users Posts: 9 Beginner grinner
    edited August 20, 2015
    I shoot RAW and use Lightroom. I like the ability to adjust the white balance and exposure after the fact. My photography is just a hobby, but still find I get much better results that way than taking the JPGs straight off the camera.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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