Raw or not

[the1andonly]

Recently on holiday i bought a sony hx400v bridge as a stopgap. The intention was to pass it onto swmbo (nikon p100) as she realy liked the better zoom and image stabalizarion. This was to be after i got my canon dslr fixed or a new body sorted.
The very big but , i got used to luxury of not lugging a pantechnicon of lenses and stuff so going forward ive decided to go back to a bridge and see what happens.
The next question is do i nèed RAW, i have photoshop elements 15 and have used gimp but very rarely use it.
My current thoughts buy boss a sony hx400v, job done (sony hx400v no raw)
Convince her a second hand one (ie mine) is ok.
Buy another ( same sort of price) eg a Panasonic fz82 lumix fz80 but with raw.
Easy life or raw which do i need

 

[Otter Spotter]

Raw every time

 

[Jim]

I used to only shoot only Raw. Now I shoot Raw and jpeg at the same time.The natural quality jpegs out of my Olympus are so good. It is rare I go looking for the raw file.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Depends on the pictures you take...
Are they snaps to remind you of the holiday... if so the camera settings will probably take care of most situations...
...or do you plan to spend a long time post processing & tweaking your images for printing?

 

[vin0114]

IMO RAW is a definite. I have used both RAW and HDR for years but found that using RAW is easier to work with and using Elements is a doddle to get the best out of shots.

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[the1andonly]

I used to only shoot only Raw. Now I shoot Raw and jpeg at the same time.The natural quality jpegs out of my Olympus are so good. It is rare I go looking for the raw file.

For the past 8 yrs i have saved both raw and jpeg and rarely post process. I spend time at the camera instead. Old film habits like exposure bracketing still in evidence.
Pherhaps taking the photo is more important than the end result? Dont know.
How important is the difference between the 2 cameras.

 

[AndyPK]

Spring and summer used to be my ‘main’ seasons for photography, with autumn and winter for developing the wet plates () and enlarging/printing......but now, thanks to digital, it’s pretty-much a year-round photofest. I used to shoot RAW/JPEG together, but now tend just to use JPEG. I spend very little time on post-production and even less on actually looking at the pictures I’ve taken!

 

[pwilmo]

Hi I have attended several photo walks, mentored by professional photographers and the majority of they are using jpeg, sometimes raw for weddings. Unless you are printing poster size, jpegs are such good quality nowadays.
They say SOC .. straight out of camera; get the shot right at shutter press and just minimal after tweak crop

 

[Richard n Ann]

Thought this thread was going to be about vegetables. I like them cooked but not too much

 

[Gellyneck]

Buy another ( same sort of price) eg a Panasonic fz82 lumix fz80 but with raw.

Updated my previous FZ80 (had got fed-up lugging the plethora of kit around!) to an FZ82 about a year ago and very pleased with it. Shoot in simultaneous RAW and jpg with offset exposures.

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[MikeD]

RAW only for me.

I used Adobe Lightroom for editing and it copes well with RAW images.

 

[the1andonly]

I like them cooked but not too much

Another half baked response

 

[DBK]

Recently on holiday i bought a sony hx400v bridge as a stopgap. The intention was to pass it onto swmbo (nikon p100) as she realy liked the better zoom and image stabalizarion. This was to be after i got my canon dslr fixed or a new body sorted.
The very big but , i got used to luxury of not lugging a pantechnicon of lenses and stuff so going forward ive decided to go back to a bridge and see what happens.
The next question is do i nèed RAW, i have photoshop elements 15 and have used gimp but very rarely use it.
My current thoughts buy boss a sony hx400v, job done (sony hx400v no raw)
Convince her a second hand one (ie mine) is ok.
Buy another ( same sort of price) eg a Panasonic fz82 lumix fz80 but with raw.
Easy life or raw which do i need

If you can get a camera which can take both RAW and JPG you will keep your options open for the future. I'm another who takes both at the same time and the JPG version is the smallest the camera can do which makes it ideal for uploading photos from trips to this Forum.

The RAW versions I import into Lightroom and some will be edited in Photoshop as well. One advantage of RAW is you can select say an area in shadow and increase the exposure of it. You can do this with a JPG image as well of course but often the JPG compression will have lost the detail which is still there in a RAW image waiting to be drawn out.

But unless you intend to do this sort of post-processing then RAW isn't needed but if you change your mind in a few years time you might regret not having RAW images filed away.

 

[AndyPK]

As an aside, I wonder how many digital formats will still be around in, say 10-20 years.....? We run the risk of not being able to access our files if we have selected the ‘wrong’ file-type to save in.......

 

[Langtoftlad]

As an aside, I wonder how many digital formats will still be around in, say 10-20 years.....? We run the risk of not being able to access our files if we have selected the ‘wrong’ file-type to save in.......

Probably not as great a risk as you might think... being digital it will always be possible to convert from one format to another.
What might be more problematic is the storage medium... if you don't keep copies or keep up to date with disks, drives, clouds etc.

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[Otter Spotter]

No one has mentioned this but any processing of JPEG’s is destructive, each time you change something on a jpeg you lose part of the file, in raw processing is none destructiv, your original file will always stay intact as Lightroom and photoshop only save copies of the amendments without altering the original file.
This is important if you any aspirations of selling your photos

 

[Langtoftlad]

No one has mentioned this but any processing of JPEG’s is destructive, each time you change something on a jpeg you lose part of the file, in raw processing is none destructiv, your original file will always stay intact as Lightroom and photoshop only save copies of the amendments without altering the original file.
This is important if you any aspirations of selling your photos

Huh?
Never work on an original - always use a copy

 

[Otter Spotter]

Huh?
Never work on an original - always use a copy

Agreed, if but every time you copy a JPEG’s, the copy file is smaller than the original. That is not the case for raw. It may be a mute point as JPEG’s have got larger and larger over time so it may not be so much of an issue as it used to b.
if you take and record the shot as a raw and JPEG’s, then the JPEG will give you an idea of how the shot should look if you want a ’ as was’ look.

 

[Jim]

Copying the JPEG file won't affect the quality, only opening it and saving it again will do that.

Academic anyway if you use non-destructive editors

 

[AndyPK]

Probably not as great a risk as you might think... being digital it will always be possible to convert from one format to another.
What might be more problematic is the storage medium... if you don't keep copies or keep up to date with disks, drives, clouds etc.

.....and operating systems! I had the devil’s own job trying to convert Digital8 and miniDV format camcorder tapes to MPEGs as Windows refused to recognise the camcorders I had.......too old, apparently, but not as old as the version of Windows I was using.....

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[pandas]

Always shot Raw with a jpeg. Now I don’t bother lugging an slr about just use an iPhone 11 Pro. Fantastic for what I need the shots for, so much more convenient which means I take more shots.

 

[AndyPK]

Yes, the best camera is the one you have with you!

 

[the1andonly]

Cleaned up camera AF sensors and lenses IPA and canned air, now focussing but is it sharp?
a quick test shooting the lift tower in zoom equivalent 300mm and digital zoom to when both naf. take 1 at 1200mm equivalent and digital zoom to same mag, yes sharp (all at f5.8). The change to bridge is now going to happen.
Spending real money not on the motorhome or a sewing machine is going to be interesting ( the wife is from Yorkshire).
Leaning towards the panasonic if swmbo accepts my cast off sony.

But unless you intend to do this sort of post-processing then RAW isn't needed but if you change your mind in a few years time you might regret not having RAW images filed away.

This sums up my position a treat, rarely postprocess but if havent got capability would be hacked off

 

[MikeD]

Cleaned up camera AF sensors and lenses IPA and canned air, now focussing but is it sharp?
a quick test shooting the lift tower in zoom equivalent 300mm and digital zoom to when both naf. take 1 at 1200mm equivalent and digital zoom to same mag, yes sharp (all at f5.8). The change to bridge is now going to happen.
Spending real money not on the motorhome or a sewing machine is going to be interesting ( the wife is from Yorkshire).
Leaning towards the panasonic if swmbo accepts my cast off sony.


This sums up my position a treat, rarely postprocess but if havent got capability would be hacked off

Some lenses need "tuning" in to the camera. I bought a 500mm Canon L lens and it was disappointing till I tuned it in.

On my Canon 1d there is a facility to do this but not all camera's have it.

Basically my lens was focusing about 2" behind the subject - not a problem with a 50mm but a huge problem on a 500mm F/4 with its greatly reduced depth of field.

 

[kevenh]

I aim to take ready to go photos but still only shoot raw.
Storage is cheap & sometimes I make mistakes that RAW can easily hide.

If you like taking B&W / monochrome pics wIth the in camera review the same, RAW will have the colour if you later change your mind, for example.

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[the1andonly]

Thanks for your comments, it has helped and hindered And helped.
( even the half baked one)

 

[Boris7]

RAW every time.

 

[Bluemanc100]

I’d say RAW all day but because Adobe have stopped my Lightroom version working with the raw files from my Fuji X-T2 I’ve started shooting JPEGs for now as Adobe want ~£10 per month.. I tried to use GIMP on my iMac but the screen icons don’t seem to be working properly

 

[pandas]

Spring and summer used to be my ‘main’ seasons for photography, with autumn and winter for developing the wet plates () and enlarging/printing......but now, thanks to digital, it’s pretty-much a year-round photofest. I used to shoot RAW/JPEG together, but now tend just to use JPEG. I spend very little time on post-production and even less on actually looking at the pictures I’ve taken!

If the science is your thing shoot Raw but it costs costs nothing to shot both Raw and JPEG in one hit. For me having the ‘eye’ is the important thing, the creativity and the passion.
Joining a regional photographic club sorts the men from the boys, (or women from the girls) an opportunity for your peer group to browse, analyse, comment and finally judge your prowess against others in your league - if that’s your thing, Again for me it has always been about the creativity, having the eye. With how I view my shots I do personally need RAW. I recall a similar discussion not that long ago between digital and film. Film every time!

 

[vin0114]

I’d say RAW all day but because Adobe have stopped my Lightroom version working with the raw files from my Fuji X-T2 I’ve started shooting JPEGs for now as Adobe want ~£10 per month.. I tried to use GIMP on my iMac but the screen icons don’t seem to be working properly

Quite agree. I have the last version of PS Elements(not monthly) that would not recognise my new/second hand camera's raw files and had to convert them using Adobe's DNG converter which took forever. However, I purchased Serif's Affinity Photo recently (currently around 49 quid) and problem solved with free future updates if I can ever afford a newer camera

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