Raw files

LewisHall

LewisHall

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Lewis
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Basically I have been reading a lot lately about taking pictures as raw files instead of JPEG...

1. How do I change this on my camera?
2. Do you have to convert them once edited etc to JPEG or say there's only a couple of decent ones you want to edit but there's more you want to keep on your computer do you keep them as raw files or convert them?
 
Hello again Lewis.

Raw is ace. Enough said. Lol. You'll change it in your settings somewhere and it will increase file size dramatically so bear this in mind with memory cards. I recall you mentioned Motorsport photography. A lot of Motorsport togs use jpeg as the camera will write the files to the card quicker if you're firing off a group of shots at a time. Raw gives you a chance to recover a lot more detail in PP such as shadows and blacks along with toning down (or uping) highlights and whites. You can change the WB to more settings too. Cameras often apply sharpening to jpegs so files SOOC often appear better but they're not in reality. If you PP with something like LightRoom then it will instantly recognise them. When you save the image it can be changed to jpeg. The default setting is as a TIFF file. Flickr won't recognise ARW (raw) files.
 
If the d3200 is the same as the d5100 then its Menu>SHOOTING MODE>image quality>RAW

As for converting them you'll need a program that can read RAW files, Lightroom, PS, PSE. Once you have done the work on the RAW file in Camera RAW, you can then open them in the software and do any final work then safe as jpeg
 
LewisHall said:
Basically I have been reading a lot lately about taking pictures as raw files instead of JPEG...

1. How do I change this on my camera?
2. Do you have to convert them once edited etc to JPEG or say there's only a couple of decent ones you want to edit but there's more you want to keep on your computer do you keep them as raw files or convert them?
Click to expand...

In the shooting menu there should be a image quality setting,just set this to RAW!:thumbs:
I save all the RAW files to a folder and only process the ones I want to use!
It may be worth mentioning that unless you have software you might not be able to view the RAW files on your computer!
 
I changed my settings, not long after I bought my camera, to shoot in both jpeg and raw, after reading about it. If I'm being honest, when I did it I didn't have much of a clue :shrug:

I'm glad I did though, I now have images that I took back then that I'm just getting round to making better in pp, something that wouldn't have been possible.

Twelve months down the line I still have it set the same. If I just want to save the image sooc then its there in jpeg. If I want to do some pp its there in raw :)
 
minnnt said:
Hello again Lewis.

Raw is ace. Enough said. Lol. You'll change it in your settings somewhere and it will increase file size dramatically so bear this in mind with memory cards.
Click to expand...

Alright mate, memory cards not a problem got a 64gb one. Also what's pp I know it's something to do with processing but what actually is it?
 
cotty332000 said:
In the shooting menu there should be a image quality setting,just set this to RAW!:thumbs:
I save all the RAW files to a folder and only process the ones I want to use!
It may be worth mentioning that unless you have software you might not be able to view the RAW files on your computer!
Click to expand...


What software is best to view raw files mate?
 
Phil-D said:
I changed my settings, not long after I bought my camera, to shoot in both jpeg and raw, after reading about it. If I'm being honest, when I did it I didn't have much of a clue :shrug:

I'm glad I did though, I now have images that I took back then that I'm just getting round to making better in pp, something that wouldn't have been possible.

Twelve months down the line I still have it set the same. If I just want to save the image sooc then its there in jpeg. If I want to do some pp its there in raw :)
Click to expand...


How do you set it to save both mate?

Sorry don't know how to quote them all on one comment lol
 
PP is post processing. Basically any kind of editing you do to the images.

I use LightRoom and it's such an easy way to edit photos with a massive range of options and tools. It also enables you to view the pics on your computer.
 
On my Nikon D3100 its just a case of selecting the info button just behind and to the left of the shutter button, that brings the info on to the lcd screen. Then pressing the 'i' button bottom left, then using the cursor buttons to navigate to the top right of the screen where the option to change,by press 'ok' button from :-

Raw +fine (thats jpeg)
Raw
Fine
Norm
Basic

change it by again using the cursor buttons then ok

I'm sure it has to be very similar for whatever camera you have :) Edit to say, that I could be wrong though
 
Last edited:
Phil-D said:
On my Nikon D3100 its just a case of selecting the info button just behind and to the left of the shutter button, that brings the info on to the lcd screen. Then pressing the 'i' button bottom left, then using the cursor buttons to navigate to the top right of the screen where the option to change,by press 'ok' button from :-

Raw +fine (thats jpeg)
Raw
Fine
Norm
Basic

change it by again using the cursor buttons then ok

I'm sure it has to be very similar for whatever camera you have :) Edit to say, that I could be wrong though
Click to expand...

Got a Nikon 3200 mate so should be pretty similar
 
minnnt said:
PP is post processing. Basically any kind of editing you do to the images.

I use LightRoom and it's such an easy way to edit photos with a massive range of options and tools. It also enables you to view the pics on your computer.
Click to expand...

Oh right I thought you actually had to process them or something :s I don't even make sense to myself lol
 
minnnt said:
On mine it is RAW+fine but I just shoot RAW now.
Click to expand...

So on Raw+fine does that pretty much just give you 2 pics of every picture you take one raw and one jpeg?
 
LewisHall said:
What software is best to view raw files mate?
Click to expand...

ViewNX that came with the camera will allow you to view them and carry out basic editing!
But if I were you I'd give lightroom a go!
Download the free 30 day trial,in lightroom once you've edited your RAW files you can export them to a specific folder as Jpeg's and then put them into Photo Shop/Photo Shop Elements for any complex editing!
A lot of people tend to use this workflow!
 
LewisHall said:
Oh right I thought you actually had to process them or something :s I don't even make sense to myself lol
Click to expand...

Lewis, I've been at it for over 12 months and its only in the last 3 month, if I'm being honest, that the penny has dropped and I've come on leaps and bounds..................and I still feel like a beginner :lol:
 
Phil-D said:
Lewis, I've been at it for over 12 months and its only in the last 3 month, if I'm being honest, that the penny has dropped and I've come on leaps and bounds..................and I still feel like a beginner :lol:
Click to expand...

There's just so much to learn ain't they haha
 
At the begging of this year I made the decision I was going to shoot every thing in manual. The only thing I leave on auto,90% of the time, is WB, but that can be altered in pp. I started off with View NX2, which came with the camera. I'm guessing you'll have the same? you'll need this to process you raw files if you decide to give it a go.

Recently, I've loaded Elements 11, which I had bought for me last Christmas :lol:. One thing I will say, playing with NX2 for a few months before jumping into E11, was definitely the way to go :thumbs:

Its been hard going, but when the penny does drop it all starts to make perfect sense. :)

I'm still not good at it, but at least now when I take a bad photo, I usually have an idea why :D
 
LewisHall said:
There's just so much to learn ain't they haha
Click to expand...
The closest analogy I've found is playing a musical instrument.

You should be able to get something recognisable in the first couple of days. But you never stop learning no matter how long you go. Some people get good quickly, others take a little more time and effort.

I'm nearly 30 years in and there's not a week goes by that I don't pick up something new.

Lots of people think it's about buying the right gear, you'll know that not everyone who owns a Stratocaster plays like Hendrix, the gear alone is next to useless.
 
One more thing that caught me out when I swapped to RAW from jpeg - the RAW image has had very little done to it. It will probably look *worse* than the JPG, so don't be disheartened if your images don't look as good as you'd hoped. The benefit of RAW is that you have a much wider latitude for processing the image, but it does mean you'll have to at least sharpen them all a bit to get them to look as good as the JPG - and you may have to change the levels/saturation/contrast too.

Adobe do free trials of their software, btw, so have a play with Lightroom and Photoshop Elements.
 
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