RAW whats the DEAL??

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FLANNERS

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lee
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I see that a lot of people shoot in RAW why is this different to JPEG? should I be shooting in RAW??

I only have the Nikon software at the moment. WHICH I AM STRUGGLING WITH BIG TIME......Cant launch my pictures in the (utilities) tab to I can play with them!

Any way..........................RAW or not?

I am a big time beginner....if this makes a difference.

Thanks
 
The easiest way to think of a RAW file is like the negative image of the shot you have taken.

By shooting in RAW your opening up more opportunities to save a nearly got it image rather than binning it. I've always shot in RAW as I don't trust my skills [read lack off] to get the image right first time in JPG and by shooting in RAW get an extra hand with my photo's...

Am not sure waht software comes with the Nikon but the Canon equivalent is DPP which you can play with the image and then save as a JPG or download a plugin for CS4 which will allow you to open the file straight into CS4.
 
Ok... from what I understand, JPEGs already have things set on them (like white balance, contrast and other things) than make them harder to adjust.

With RAW basically all these things stay untouched, so you can use programs to make them better - sharper, adjust contrast etc without losing any detail.


Regarding Nikon software, do you have ViewNX that came with it?

I use that to convert to an 8 bit TIFF file and them open them in GIMP (which is free, that's why I use it!). Then you can adjust.. bits.

For me it depends what I'm doing. For snapshot days (days out etc) I'll still use JPG just for ease as it's all automatically enhanced well enough, if doing photography for photography's sake I'd say try shooting in RAW, if you miss focus etc you can rescue it better.


Hope that helps a bit..
 
There are advantages to shooting RAW...

If you shoot JPEG your camera has decided how to process the image but if you shoot RAW you get to decide how to process the image.

The software you use on your pc might just be better than that built into your camera.

Your camera may apply sledge hammer noise reduction. You may do better by shooting RAW and deciding how to deal with noise yourself.

If you shoot RAW you can better tailor the look of the shot to your own taste, including the white balance.

RAW gives you a digital negative that you can always go back to to produce a different looking JPEG.
 
No offence, but you camera manual should have the answer.

In a nutshell, RAW captures everything as the camera sees it with little to no in-camera image processing. With JPEG the camera automatically apply a number of processing techniques, some based on how you configure the camera. When shooting in RAW you apply these settings yourself using a image processing software, such as Lightroom or Aperture.

I say go with RAW and get used to it. Though if you're doing mostly "snapshot"-like photography then JPEG works just fine.
 
gnom said:
No offence, but you camera manual should have the answer.
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A camera manual will tell you how to get your camera to shoot RAW but not why you should or what the advantages/disadvantages are, thats what forums are about, asking questions!

Personally there are a lot of questions that Ihave asked, am yet to ask that may well be in a manual written somewhere but it's a lot easier to get an answer that is easily understood on here...

No offence but telling someone to RTFM is hardly a constructive answer to the OP's question...
 
TheNissanMan said:
A camera manual will tell you how to get your camera to shoot RAW but not why you should or what the advantages/disadvantages are, thats what forums are about, asking questions!

Personally there are a lot of questions that Ihave asked, am yet to ask that may well be in a manual written somewhere but it's a lot easier to get an answer that is easily understood on here...

No offence but telling someone to RTFM is hardly a constructive answer to the OP's question...
Click to expand...

I might have not read the original post thoroughly then, for I read the question as "what's the difference between RAW and JPEG", and the manual (should) clearly explain that. However, I then did go on to explain, albeit very briefly, the differences and my recommendation.

I understand the lure of asking something for a quick reply; though I do think that a bit of research into how things work by one's own efforts should be encouraged.

Maybe it's just the knowledge of heading back to work tomorrow, and the fact that the lady is away for two weeks that's making me grumpy... ;)
 
gnom said:
Maybe it's just the knowledge of heading back to work tomorrow, and the fact that the lady is away for two weeks that's making me grumpy... ;)
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Sorry mate, in the same boat lol, I know what this week holds, can't sleep recently and really should put the lappy down, have been a couple of psts where some interesting replies were typed before deciding 'best not', the earlier one was very tame in comparison lmao :D
 
Great answers by everyone, and i am much clearer now!

Lets all take 5......put the kettle on and come back happier!!!

If my missus was away for two weeks I wouldnt be on the computer looking at this forum though:beer:
 
right what camera/software do you have ..?

RAW files are like negatives you can play with
jpeg is the RAW data already processed by the camera - maybe not to you liking

Nikon Transfer is rubbish - dump it - use Windows to transfer your camera files to PC folder xxx

View NX "will" do some low-level editing on the camera RAW files
but you will need a proper Editor to work on your RAW files
Nikon Capture is too £££
"gimp" is free but hard to learn
PhotoPlus X3 is £30 at PC World

do some research.....................:D
 
Yardbent said:
right what camera/software do you have ..?

RAW files are like negatives you can play with
jpeg is the RAW data already processed by the camera - maybe not to you liking

Nikon Transfer is rubbish - dump it - use Windows to transfer your camera files to PC folder xxx

View NX "will" do some low-level editing on the camera RAW files
but you will need a proper Editor to work on your RAW files
Nikon Capture is too £££
"gimp" is free but hard to learn
PhotoPlus X3 is £30 at PC World

do some research.....................:D
Click to expand...



Sorry to disagree but actually gimp is pretty easy, 2 or 3 auto-adjusts will get most photos better until you want to play :shrug: I open colour levels and auto level and sometimes auto colour enhance, if either makes it look "wrong" I just undo :D
 
OK, and apologies if a bit stroppy, and has been answered quite well in the above posts, but please, why, not use the "search
facility" or "Google"... both are really useful.......... :shrug:

Seems to be lots of repeat threads coming up of late.......:shrug:
 
Lynton said:
OK, and apologies if a bit stroppy, and has been answered quite well in the above posts, but please, why, not use the "search
facility" or "Google"... both are really useful.......... :shrug:

Seems to be lots of repeat threads coming up of late.......:shrug:
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Because sometimes people want a personal answer?

You do know you can just not open the threads if it annoys you, right? It's very very easy to not click, probably easier than clicking. Unless your finger is spasming on the mouse button, which can happen, and probably makes not clicking much more difficult. But asides from then, just leave them for the people willing to re-answer to answer and problem solved really isn't it ;)
 
LYNTON........I asked about RAW v JPEG NOT SOFTWARE.

However someone VERY kindly made other suggestions regarding myt little problem which is a great help.

You can google anything!!!!! but then if we all done this forums like this wouldnt be needed.

Alternativly......read the original post and not just the one above it, as im sure you have a wealth of knowledge that may help a beginner out.
 
Forgot to add, biggest downside of shooting in RAW is eating through your memory cards a lot, lot quicker :lol:
 
TheNissanMan said:
Forgot to add, biggest downside of shooting in RAW is eating through your memory cards a lot, lot quicker :lol:
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Ahh yes a good point, I think most JPEGS are between 4-5MB... most of my RAW files I think worked out around 11-12MB (off memory), it's why days out for me will probably stay as JPG.

Also if you just want memory photos, I can easily take 200+ that I want to keep, which if they all need editing to make the best of them, even 5 minutes each becomes.. a lot of time.
 
TheNissanMan said:
Forgot to add, biggest downside of shooting in RAW is eating through your memory cards a lot, lot quicker :lol:
Click to expand...

No the biggest downside to raw is that your more likely get an image with potential. But you will have to process most of the images you get off the camera. With JPEG, you'll get less good shots, but you won't have to work them so hard.

I spent about a month shooting raw + jpeg. Now this presented another issue because my camera will only do low quality JPEGs when shooting Raw + JPEG. Three quarters of the good captures looked best in JPEG, however the bad JPEGS would be hard or even impossible to salvage.
 
Why do people keep referring to it as RAW? It's not a file format the way JPEG is, raw (all lowercase) simply means it is raw data. Each camera manufacturer has it's own file format for this raw information, such as NEF (Nikon) and CR2 (Canon), but RAW itself isn't one of them....
 
My camera calls it RAW, as does the manual, and my processing software also calls it RAW.
 
JPEG is a universal format, raw is a generalised name for ram imaging, when in fact each manufacturer calls it their own - Nikon - NEFF Canon - CR2 etc. :thinking:
 
Raw is like a film negative, you get more control over what to do with it afterwards, like white balance for example.

RAW is definitely what you should shoot in
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Why do people keep referring to it as RAW? It's not a file format the way JPEG is, raw (all lowercase) simply means it is raw data. Each camera manufacturer has it's own file format for this raw information, such as NEF (Nikon) and CR2 (Canon), but RAW itself isn't one of them....
Click to expand...

its a generic term and it makes life easier when referring to it as raw, you can then have discussions like this where makers of all different cameras can pitch in. If people started saying I shoot cr2 or NEF it wouldn't make any sense from one to the other.
 
littlemonster said:
Sorry to disagree but actually gimp is pretty easy, 2 or 3 auto-adjusts will get most photos better until you want to play :shrug: I open colour levels and auto level and sometimes auto colour enhance, if either makes it look "wrong" I just undo :D
Click to expand...

I bow to your expertise............:)

re-loaded it last night....cannot work out where to start even...doh..:bonk:
 
FLANNERS said:
LYNTON........I asked about RAW v JPEG NOT SOFTWARE.

However someone VERY kindly made other suggestions regarding myt little problem which is a great help.

You can google anything!!!!! but then if we all done this forums like this wouldnt be needed.

Alternativly......read the original post and not just the one above it, as im sure you have a wealth of knowledge that may help a beginner out.
Click to expand...



As I said - use search on here for RAW v Jpeg.... :shrug: Don't know why "SOFTWARE" had to come into it????????



However,

Jpeg - the camera has made what it thinks are the best adjustments to the raw data and you are somewhat restricted to what you can do post processing.

RAW (or raw) - it's essentially a digital negative, if you have screwed up the white balance you can recover it, if you have over or underexposed you can recover it (to an extent) if it's a little blown you may be able to recover it................. you can sharpen or soften to your hearts content.........

However it does eat Memory. Though given I have enough memory cards for about 160 Gb that's not really an issue........ (though might be if you are in to holding the trigger down and doing 4 fps etc etc and will therefore soon fill up your camera's buffer!)


Personally, I always do RAW + Jpeg (no 3 of 4 on jpeg quality settings - can easily see the pics on camera or on PC with the jpeg then open up photoshop and play with the raw's)
 
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