Options
Shooting Raw
WolfOnDigital
Registered Users Posts: 146 Major grins
I have yet to switch to Raw.
I am still shooting on high quality Jpg.
I started to shoot landscapes and models after being inactive for a long time.
Anyone have feedback on why I should not advance to raw mode?
It is very easy to get used to normal settings and default of shooting in Auto mode.
I know the Canon 20D has much better quality settings.
Looking for feedback to help me make the leap.
I am so use to my old Canon FTB film camera that when I jumped to digital I had a hard time adjusting to 20D.
It isn't the camera as it is a great camera.
Just me being afraid to wean myself off of the auto hand holding modes
What do people shoot in?
Raw and program mode or av etc.
Has anyone eliminated the auto program mode 95% of the time.
Feedback please!
Thanks,
Jeff
I am still shooting on high quality Jpg.
I started to shoot landscapes and models after being inactive for a long time.
Anyone have feedback on why I should not advance to raw mode?
It is very easy to get used to normal settings and default of shooting in Auto mode.
I know the Canon 20D has much better quality settings.
Looking for feedback to help me make the leap.
I am so use to my old Canon FTB film camera that when I jumped to digital I had a hard time adjusting to 20D.
It isn't the camera as it is a great camera.
Just me being afraid to wean myself off of the auto hand holding modes
What do people shoot in?
Raw and program mode or av etc.
Has anyone eliminated the auto program mode 95% of the time.
Feedback please!
Thanks,
Jeff
0
Comments
I also use a 20D and I shoot RAW 100% of the time. As long as you are willing to spend some time in Photoshop, LR or any other post processing program, you will get much better control over exposure, white balance and other global adjustments. That's not to say that you can't get great pics shooting JPG, but I would say that you can get great pics more often with the added control. You make the decisions rather than leaving them to an algorithm in the camera.
As for shooting mode, I generally shoot in Av mode, except for when I am using flash, when I switch to full manual. I keep exposure compensation enabled on the large dial and keep an eye on the histogram for fine tuning. Once in a while I use Tv for action pics, either because light is scarce and I want to be sure not to get motion blur or because I want background motion blur on a panning shot. The great thing about shooting digital is that you can experiment at no cost till you discover what works best for you. I used P mode for a time when I first got the camera, but never touch it now. In addition to the various shooting modes, you should also play around with different metering and focusing modes, as these can also make a difference in your results.
HTH.
JPG REMORSE.
Three years ago, when I first got my D200, I had an obsolete laptop with a slow processor, a 15GB hard drive, 128KB RAM, and no RAW software (I couldn't find any that would run on Windows ME). I did have Photoshop 7. It seemed to make sense at the time to shoot jpg to save disk space and get more shots on my camera card. I then edited my images in PS. I always captured my jpgs at the largest size and highest quality. I was familiar with and accepted the theoretical advantages of shooting RAW, but I had come to the conclusion that in the end, the difference between a RAW image and a highest quality jpg was negligible. Being ignorant, I thought it was working great. I could not have been more wrong.
These days, I shoot 100% RAW. I have a reasonable grasp of RAW processing techniques, and my results get better every day. And when I go back to those images I so naively shot as jpgs instead of RAW, I want to puke. Everywhere I look, I see jpg artifacts. And all I can think of is how much better they would look if they had been captured RAW. And all that good data lost forever. Many were spectacular once in a lifetime opportunities, and I butchered them. For what seem to be, in retrospect, trivial reasons.
If your camera can capture RAW, then capture RAW. Don't be like me. Whatever your reasons for not shooting RAW, they are insufficient. Trust me. I learned the hard way.
Even the rankest amateur, with no RAW software, and no intention of ever getting any, and only intends to view them on a computer or print them himself, or at the drug store, should be shooting RAW+jpg(the highest quality), if his camera is capable. You will never know when this amateur will capture a great image that deserves special treatment, and the RAW file will be there for use by a competent professional. Or, somewhere down the line, he may decide he wants get more involved, and the RAW data will be at his disposal. These days, memory is cheap. Always capture the RAW file too, even if you don't think you'll ever use it, even though you are capturing jpg for whatever reason.
Well, I better get off my soapbox before I fall off.
(The above message sponsored by Former Jpg Shooters Anonymous.)
Lee
Thunder Rabbit GRFX
www.thunderrabbitgrfx.com
One of the beauties of shooting RAW is that you have not finished improving the image today, even after running it through a RAW processor and displaying an edited jpg.
RAW processor software ( and computer hardware ) continues to improve year by year, and I can go back to images I shot 5 years ago, and reprocess them now, and get noticeably better images than I did back then because I did shoot them in RAW.......
I find myself returning to my archives and re-editing images better than I did back years ago, partly because the software and the hardware is so much better than it was several years ago, and partly because my editing skills have improved also.
A jpg, baked in the camera, cannot be re-edited to nearly the same extent.
I agree that 5-7 years ago, jpgs were easier to store etc, but Terabyte drives are solving that problem, and computers processing power has improved dramticallly in the last five years as well.
Like Richard I shoot Raw files in Av or Manual mode 99% of the time.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
I generally know what aperture I want to use for a given shot, either because I know I have little light to work with, because I have a specific idea of the DOF I want or because I am interested in shooting at the sweet spot of a particular lens. I find that I do less dial twiddling in Av mode, as it automatically selects a speed and then lets me use EC to tweak +/- 2 EV with the main dial if I want. It's really not all that different from shooting manual, just a little quicker to adjust if the light conditions are changing rapidly. If you are comfortable shooting manual, there's no compelling reason to change.
Thanks.
If I am shooting landscapes, manual is fine, but if shooting people moving in an out of the shade for instance, it is faster and easier for me to ride in Av, and keep and eye on the shutter speed the camera is selecting.
Shooting wildlife, a small 15 degree turn of their head can shift them from bright sunlight to shade, and alter the picture quality dramatically, and it is easier to let the camera shift the shutter speed than me.
For panos I always shoot manual. For HDRs, Av of course.
Like Richard, I tend to be more concerned about aperture, and its associated sharpness and dof, than whether my shutter speed was 1/100 or 1/200th, particularly on a tripod.
This is just what works for me. If you shoot manual all the time 100%, more power to you. I just find I blow exposures in Manual, sometimes, as I forget to re-meter in shifting light.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
Now if I can just get my head around EV (exposure compensation) as opposed to self adjusting f-stop and shutter speed I'll be all set.
Another thread perhaps. Sorry to threadjack your thread Jeff.
Great answers from everyone. Appreciate it.
I loved the Canon FTB because it was full manual match needle. I selected the Aperture and or the shutter speed all the time.
I think what caused me to shy away from staying with whet I know was the ease of use on the Canon 20D shooting in full Auto. Was afraid of missing the shot all the time.
I agree that it seems that raw and av mode or full manual is the best way to go. And using the tv mode only when shutter speed is of vital importance.
Thanks.
Anyone know about how many shots I would get using a 1GB Ultra ii Sandisk Memory card? About 60 - 80 per 1GB?
Jeff
No issues it's all good. Only way to learn.
I know photography and taught it for many years but for some reason the digital 20D was not easy for me to switch to. More a problem with not shooting enough and reading the manual and experimenting like was said here.
Jeff
My 20D, at ISO 100, formats a 512Mb chip to hold 55 images. So a 1 Gb chip should hold ~100+ give or take, fewer at higher ISO I think.
Get a bigger chip, they're cheap right now.
Amazon has 4 Gb Sandisk Extreme III chips for ~$32 bucks, and 2Gb Extreme IIIs fo r~$20 bucks.
Cheapest photo equipment you can buy
I would recommend nothing smaller than 4 Gb chips these days, even 8 Gb chips seem small now with bigger sensors coming out every month.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
Just from all of you posting replies to me I sat down with the camera and tried AV mode....
Screw shooting in auto or P mode anymore! lol
It is amazing how you know something but reading it and seeing others do it really locks in the understanding of something.
In the last 5 minutes I felt more comfortable shooting with my Canon 20D then last 3 years!
Used my Cat Maverick for atest subject.
He wasn't moving therefore shutter speed is not a priority. So set the camera to AV mode. Wanted background out of focus so shot him at 5.6 and 4.0 and let the camera pick the shutter speed. Got an almost full wide histogram. Easy as pie and more natural to my old ways of shooting film cameras.
Question? I am assuming in AV mode I choose the ISO? Correct?
Set to 100 to start and as the day goes on or light falls off if I need more film speed then change the ISO?
Thanks to all here you are improving my ease with the 20D by leaps and bounds. Next is to try raw and see what I got.
Have several upcoming model shoots with models posing for me TF* and was spending way too much time on the technical controls of the camera instead of the creativity.
I will be asking more questions...
Jeff
Amazon has 4 Gb Sandisk Extreme III chips for ~$32 bucks, and 2Gb Extreme IIIs fo r~$20 bucks.
Cheapest photo equipment you can buy
I would recommend nothing smaller than 4 Gb chips these days, even 8 Gb chips seem small now with bigger sensors coming out every month.[/quote]
You like the Sandisks as well. The extremes are for heavy use as far as temperature and durability right?
Jeff
I don't rip long string of high frame rate jpgs, so I don't usually have to worry about the buffer filling up like some sports shooters do.
For me the biggest advantage of the IIS over the IIs is that they are much faster to dump into my computer via my card reader when I am done shooting. I actually prefer the IVs but the cost even more.
With 1 Gb cards this is not that big a deal, but when you begin to dump 16 Gb cards you can wait a bit with slower cards, so I don't get the fastest cards usually, but neither do I want the slowest either. For the 20D the IIIs are a good choice, but the IIs will also work fine.
I have had better luck with Sandisk, Lexar and Transcend. I have had failures with a number of other brands, especially store brands. I had one failure with a Sandisk card and they immediately shipped a replacement.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
the Sandisks are famous for their reliability and service from the company.
I want to change the topic to metering modes (I have questions)...do you suggest I post a new thread so others can join in or continue here?
Jeff
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
Just to let you know I have started a new thread about metering modes. I wanted to include those who posted in this thread as your replies have helped me in learning more about my Canon 20D.
Hope you join in on the new thread.
Thanks
Jeff
Anyway, this thread has made me curious about exploring the A and S areas of the dial (I'm a Nikon user).
Thanks. I'll move over to your new thread.
Shooting modes:
- Outdoors - Av probably about 95% of the time. I can usually look at the light and determine if I've got enough for a decent shutter speed and I'm usually more interested in the DOF ... especially when photographing people.
- Outdoors with flash (usually off-camera) - 100% Av. The light is changing too much to attempt to do this manually. I just completed a shoot with an ST-E2 and a 580EX in ETT-L. Found a couple of gottchas (biggest one being that the IR sensor on the 580EX can be "blinded by the light" if the sun is shining into it's eyes), but aside from that it worked very well. In Av, I set the EC to expose the background the way I want and then the FEC for the subject lit by the flash.
- Indoors - 99% manual mode.
- Indoors with flash - 100% manual. If you set the camera to either Av or Tv, the camera will attempt to set the exposure based on it's measuring of the ambient light. So, in Av, if you have the aperture set at f/2.8, you might get a shutter speed of 1/5 - not a goodness. Manual, set it to f/2.8 (or whatever you want) and the shutter to 1/60 (or something reasonable based on the lens you are using) and all is sweet.
Shooting JPG makes sense if you have a limited time to delivery. For example, you have a small portable studio set up at an event. You've dialed in the exposure and the WB and you're printing on-site. The most editing you might be doing before print is minor cropping. Done! Another example is if you are shooting for the media. Shoot it good, shoot it right and deliver the JPG to the editor .... or so I've read (never had the pleasure).A gottch with RAW on the 20D - if you have a need to shoot lots of frames in a short period of time - well the buffer on the 20D for RAW is only about 5 images. That means that you can press the shutter 5 times in quick succession and then you will have to wait for the buffer to unload on of the images before you can make another exposure. So, if you need to do a lot of frames packed together, RAW may not be the right tool for the job.
My Photos
Thoughts on photographing a wedding, How to post a picture, AF Microadjustments?, Light Scoop
Equipment List - Check my profile
Quick oversimplified answer...manual is absolute, exposure compensation is relative.
With manual you aim for a specific exposure value by setting a specific aperture and shutter speed to get there, and the camera will just do that.
With EC you aim for a specific exposure value by letting the camera take a first pass at the correct aperture and shutter speed using auto exposure, and then you tell it a relative amount above or below the camera's starting point. The camera will then give you that adjusted value by moving aperture or shutter speed depending on which value gets to "float" given the program mode you are in.
So EC is a function most likely used in a non-manual mode. Perhaps that's why I've not yet come across it's usefulness? It's only come to my attention due to a new interest in letting the cam bracket for me.
My Photos
Thoughts on photographing a wedding, How to post a picture, AF Microadjustments?, Light Scoop
Equipment List - Check my profile
Please excuse the density but the bold above is levity, correct?
I've a very bad cold but I can still rhyme.
There is no + or - Exposure Compensation. You have converted your DSLR to a "match needle" camera like the older film SLRs were originally.
The camera does not accept + or - EC in Manual Mode, just values for shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, and the meter tells you if it is too 'warm' or too 'cold'.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
I just knew I'd read something about EC in manual mode, either in Nikon's manual or another book.
Last night I reread the EC section in my Magic Lantern Guide D90 book and the author talks about this. It seems EC is available in M mode. Then, in a sidebar, he points out that it's uneccesary.
I must have blanked the sidebar from my earlier read.
My memory was conflicting with my reason.
And Scott, clearly the bold part I quoted earlier said the correct thing. I think I now have a sinus infection so my understanding is a bit cloudy.
Thanks for the patience and the help guys!