{"id":6249,"date":"2022-08-01T19:54:19","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T19:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/?p=6249"},"modified":"2022-12-01T09:31:18","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T09:31:18","slug":"raw-vs-jpeg-not-really-a-fair-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/2022\/08\/01\/raw-vs-jpeg-not-really-a-fair-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"RAW vs. JPEG: Not Really a Fair Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

You probably don\u2019t need to read this article because you already shoot in\u00a0RAW\u00a0mode on your DSLR.\u00a0 And I\u2019m sure you\u2019re thinking, \u201cAre there really people that\u00a0still<\/em>\u00a0shoot only JPEGs?\u201d Crazy, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 You\u2019re not still reading this, are you?\u00a0 Oh no, don\u2019t tell me\u00a0you\u2019re<\/em>\u00a0not shooting\u00a0RAW\u00a0files.\u00a0 Have a seat and let\u2019s talk.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0RAW\u00a0File (NEF files on Nikon and CR2 files on Canon) is a big scary mass of information (BSMI) (strictly my own nomenclature so don\u2019t Google it), which if not understood can sit on your computer for long periods of time without ever turning into easy-to-work-with images.\u00a0 I certainly understand why some people might be scared off by them.\u00a0 But these BSMI are the best feature your DSLR has for proper exposure, if you just give them a chance!<\/p>\n

So what is a\u00a0RAW\u00a0file? Simply put, a\u00a0RAW\u00a0file is the unprocessed data captured by your sensor when you take a picture.\u00a0 This data can all be saved in a\u00a0RAW\u00a0file (which leads to a BSMI), or you can forego saving all of that data by compressing the information into a\u00a0JPEG\u00a0which is about 1\/4th<\/sup>\u00a0the size of the\u00a0RAW\u00a0file.\u00a0 This means that you are throwing away 3\/4th<\/sup>\u00a0of your image data.\u00a0 Sounds like a lot doesn\u2019t it? (It is!)\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0benefits\u00a0of\u00a0RAW\u00a0files are in your ability to manipulate the exposure and appearance of the image and\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0in having a file that you can print bigger.\u00a0 In other words, a\u00a0RAW\u00a0file and\u00a0JPEG\u00a0will look the same\u2014until you try to manipulate them.\u00a0 That\u2019s when the\u00a0JPEG\u00a0will reveal itself as inferior.<\/p>\n

Benefits\u00a0of saving\u00a0RAW\u00a0files in camera:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • You can save a greater range of exposure.\u00a0 Did you underexpose a few shots when you were in Australia? With\u00a0RAW\u00a0you can just turn your exposure up in an instant.\u00a0 With a\u00a0JPEG, it\u2019s time to book another flight back or live with an underexposed image.\u00a0 Sure, you can do a little tweaking with a\u00a0JPEG\u00a0(and I emphasize \u201ca little\u201d).<\/li>\n
  • RAW\u00a0files allow you to preserve color correction information that would normally be discarded by\u00a0JPEG\u00a0compression, so you don\u2019t need to worry about white balance\u00a0before each photo.<\/li>\n
  • RAW\u00a0files have a greater tonal range.\u00a0 Not to simplify it too much, but would you rather color in a drawing with a box of 8 crayons or a box of 512 crayons?<\/li>\n
  • When you make changes to your\u00a0RAW\u00a0file, you\u2019re only changing the settings applied to that file and when you export a\u00a0JPEG\u00a0from your\u00a0RAW\u00a0file, those settings are applied. This means you will still have your original file down the line and not a changed or degraded version.<\/li>\n
  • You can export as many JPEGs as you want from your\u00a0RAW\u00a0file.\u00a0 Did an editor call and ask you if you have one that was exposed lighter?\u00a0 Turn up the exposure on the\u00a0RAW\u00a0file and export another\u00a0JPEG.<\/li>\n
  • Want to create an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image but only have one photo to work with? Export three different versions from your\u00a0RAW\u00a0image: one light, one mid and one dark image.\u00a0 Sandwich the layers in Photoshop and make an HDR from one\u00a0RAW\u00a0image!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Benefits\u00a0of saving\u00a0JPEG\u00a0files in camera:<\/h2>\n
      \n
    • JPEGs are smaller.<\/li>\n
    • You can fit more JPEGs on a memory card.<\/li>\n
    • You can take more rapid fire consecutive images<\/li>\n
    • They take up less space on your computer.<\/li>\n
    • They\u2019re easier to upload and email to people.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Did I mention they\u2019re smaller? I think you get my drift.\u00a0 JPEGs are bad.\u00a0 And yes, I used to shoot JPEGs, so I am speaking from experience, but when I shot JPEGs, my Nikon D100, which was released in 2003, had a buffer of 2\u00a0RAW\u00a0files.\u00a0 That means that I was only able to take two rapid fire exposures before the camera needed time to process them, which meant a delay until the buffer had room to take another photo.\u00a0 It takes an eternity for the buffer to empty\u2014longer in some cases.\u00a0 Once I upgraded to a D200 I explored\u00a0RAW\u00a0files a bit more and was hooked.\u00a0 Now I own a D700 and have a buffer of 17\u00a0RAW\u00a0files and rarely hit that ceiling.\u00a0 I will admit that shooting\u00a0RAW\u00a0has made me a lazier photographer exposure wise, since there was a time when I labored over metering multiple zones of a scene to ensure a perfect 4×5 transparency. \u00a0(So, I believe I\u2019ve earned a little laziness.)<\/p>\n

      \n

      With all of the\u00a0benefits, what\u2019s holding you back from shooting\u00a0RAW\u00a0files?\u00a0 \u201cMemory is too expensive.\u201d\u00a0 Not anymore.\u00a0 You can buy an 8 gigabyte card for $40 or less.\u00a0 \u201cRAW\u00a0files are too hard to print or email.\u201d I\u2019ll give you that one.\u00a0 You can\u2019t send a\u00a0RAW\u00a0file to most labs to print or email them out to your friends, so they can be much harder to handle, but with the popularity of DSLRs, even free programs like Picasa are able to import\u00a0RAW\u00a0files, and they export easy-to-work-with JPEGs that you\u00a0can<\/em>\u00a0send to a lab, email, or post to Facebook.\u00a0 But there\u2019s one difference\u2026 they\u2019ll be properly exposed.\u00a0 And, isn\u2019t being able to rescue those five perfect images you took on your once-in-a-lifetime trip worth a $40 memory card and a little extra work?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      You probably don\u2019t need to read this article because you already shoot in\u00a0RAW\u00a0mode on your DSLR.\u00a0 And I\u2019m sure you\u2019re thinking, \u201cAre there really people that\u00a0still\u00a0shoot only JPEGs?\u201d Crazy, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 You\u2019re not still reading this, are you?\u00a0 Oh no, don\u2019t tell me\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0not shooting\u00a0RAW\u00a0files.\u00a0 Have a seat and let\u2019s talk. A\u00a0RAW\u00a0File (NEF files on Nikon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","pmpro_default_level":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[226],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Before_After_rawjpeg3_2048x2048_27ecad2e-c2be-4a7f-bc9e-4515fcb952d2_1024x1024.webp?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6249"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6251,"href":"https:\/\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6249\/revisions\/6251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dslrworkshops.com\/staging\/4845\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}