RAW and JPEG question

[darktiger]

Say that you are going to Hawaii or some place nice, do you normally shoot jpeg? What format do you shoot when you all go do your TPF group meet? Who shoots raw all the time?

[Nevyn]

Both generally (dual write on my camera) since RAW gives my more chance of recovering either crappy exposure or, as is increasingly common for me, from a scene with a broad exposure range.

If I'm just doing family or holiday snaps, then jpeg.

[scoami]

I haven't tried shooting RAW+JPEG yet. Does it use a lot more memory?

[Night Owl]

Unless I'm shooting something like a family gathering, I shoot all RAW for the extra editing options. I shoot civil aviation, which means I'm shooting into blue sky, haze, clouds, concrete, buildings.... If I forget to adjust the exposure accordingly, I can tweak it a little in post-processing.

[ndsimm]

I always shoot RAW. I used to think it would take to long to convert, but as I still fine tune my workflow, I find it easier to just shoot RAW which has also saved me a few images

[srwatters]

Originally Posted by scoami

I haven't tried shooting RAW+JPEG yet. Does it use a lot more memory?

On my D200, I shoot RAW+basic jpg and get 115 shots from a 2G card. If I shoot RAW alone I get 120 so it costs me 5 images. Since I rarely shoot more than 50 shots in a set, it's a no-brainer for me. I get instant proofs to burn to the CD before the model leaves the studio.

[Cope]

I had lunch with another fourm member, Ken Berntsen, the other day, and this issue came up. Ken shoots Raw and I shoot Extra Fine JPEG. I guess a lot depends on what you are doing with the photos. A pro can't afford to lose a shot at a wedding, but I can live with a blown shot at my grandson's birthday party. On the other hand, it is more likely that you will blow one at a wedding or other event with special lighting, but in an area where you shoot all the time you probably are OK. In film days I took approximately 15-20 rolls in Scotland and I don't think I had more than 2 or 3 bad pictures, and these were group pictures taken late in the afternoon-early evening with poor light.

For comaprison, on a 2GB card, my KM 5D gets:

Raw 215
Raw+ex fine jpeg 161
exfine jpeg 331
fine jpeg 651

[johnastovall]

Always shot RAW, why throw away data?

[srwatters]

Originally Posted by Cope

In film days I took approximately 15-20 rolls in Scotland and I don't think I had more than 2 or 3 bad pictures, and these were group pictures taken late in the afternoon-early evening with poor light.

Ahhh, but remember there was a human sitting at the film processing machine making some exposure adjustments for you in the old film days... I think we sort of take that for granted sometimes. IMHO.

[suzyjazz]

I shoot RAW+JPG 95% of the time. But I am not a heavy shooter where I normally take hundreds of images in one day and not have time to empty cards, etc. However, one time I would definitely shoot RAW is doing landscapes in Hawaii (or anywhere). RAW is my way of gaining a little latitude to get nice skies and foreground details without bracketing shots and using ND filters. I think if I went to Hawaii I'd shoot RAW the whole trip! I ca't wait to go back with a good camera someday....

[Russell]

Originally Posted by johnastovall

Always shot RAW, why throw away data?

I agree with John. To me, if you are going to buy a camera that has RAW capabilities, why not use it and exploit the camera's technology to the fullest?

Thanks,

Russell

[Nevyn]

Originally Posted by scoami

I haven't tried shooting RAW+JPEG yet. Does it use a lot more memory?

Not sure. My camera is set up to write Raw to one card and medium jpg to the other, so I get a quick and dirty preview / sample without the processing.
With the price of memory falling like it is, I'd be tempted to get some more / bigger cards and shoot both if you can - it's not like film, you can just wipe it and shoot some more.

[srwatters]

Originally Posted by Russell

I agree with John. To me, if you are going to buy a camera that has RAW capabilities, why not use it and exploit the camera's technology to the fullest?

I don't agree with that statement. You are exploiting your computers technology and not hardly using any of the camera's. You're getting raw sensor data that is interpreted by other software which may or may not be by the camera manufacturer and may or may not be better than the in camera algorithms. YMMV.

[CobyPhoto]

I shoot all raw. Refine your workflow and know how to make the most of your Image software, PS CS2 and you can convert and handle raw files in very resonable amounts of time. Raw isn't a fix-all for images that are incorrectly exposed etc. I still meter, do custom white balance and take the same care I would shooting JPEG. Correct exposure, white balance etc will just make it faster to handle the raw files. But for those times when lighting is really screwy and exposure tricky...raw really allows for a little extra lattitude in processing.

CJ

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by srwatters

I don't agree with that statement. You are exploiting your computers technology and not hardly using any of the camera's. You're getting raw sensor data that is interpreted by other software which may or may not be by the camera manufacturer and may or may not be better than the in camera algorithms. YMMV.

If you do JPEG your just dropped 8bits of color data at the start.