Why Shoot RAW???

[ennacac]

OK, you got me, I did shoot some RAW files the other day and this is why RAW is better than jpg. I was doing some copy work with my DS inside so I set the WB at indoor tungston to get the color I needed for my jpg files.

Three days later I got the urge to go out and test a new Fox call I just bought, so off I went, but with the DS instead of a gun. The call brought in a young Eagle that was almost colored out and I got off a few shots with the 300mm before he got tired of me and flew away.

I then decided to check to see what I got and when I looked at the LCD-OH [email protected]@P! Forgot to put the WB back to Auto and now everything is strange looking. The I remembered I was shooting RAW, so in PS2/ACR I just set the WB where I wanted it and all is good.

As I have said before, I find the DS jpg files to be just fine, but not if you screw up as this would have been a real project to fix in jpg.

How special, just the color I didn't want!



And then ACR saved the day!

Tom

[bigdawg]

Really nice shot there...I don't shoot RAW but do realize there can be advantages...I just like the ease of JPEG a little more right now!

Dawg

[EddyinGA]

I'm in the beginning stages of shooting raw.



Like in your experience, there are things you can do to the raw file that simply can't be done to a jpg file.



However, I'm going to try very hard to not let "raw" become a crutch and relieve me of the responsibility of getting it right to start with.

[CyberCoyote]

Wow, one of the best visual examples of WHY one should shoot in RAW whenever possible and beyond that a MAGNIFICENT capture! Forgetting to change the settings for indoor/outdoor is one of my biggest personal flaws but RAW does save me from those snafus also more than I'll admit.

With the right software RAWs aren't any hinderence save for file size. My K100D has a few bad pixels and it's nice to have photoshop compensate for them automatically. I do notice that the internal jpegs come out a tad bit naturally sharper prior to processing and there's enough data in the jpegs to do a LOT of work without losing too much. Long story short Pentax jpg files are still very very good.

But that Bald Eagle in JPEG would have been a chore to fix and would have been degraded a lot with that much compensation. As it is, no one would know you had to correct the WB if you didn't say so.

[ennacac]

I thought my shots yesterday would be a good example for the forum for those that don't understand how RAW can save the day. That said I normally don't shoot RAW unless like with the Eagle the light is not good and I feel I may have to do some changing of WB to get the image that I want.

The real issue I have with RAW shooting wildlife is my DS has such a small buffer that I can't shoot as fast as I would like in RAW and many time I miss a shot because the camera is waiting for the buffer to clear.

Tom

[TDN]

I always shoot RAW.

Once you learn its benifits, and get used to the workflow, it's like comparing 35mm film with polaroid...

The amount of tweaks and control you get with RAW compared to JPEG is just fenomenal.

And since disk space is not very expensive anymore these days, the size of the images doesn't bother me either.

Ed, especially for your bird shots you could benifit a lot from RAW, because you can over- or underexpose by up to 3 EV afterwards in post processing, so the exposure is exactly right!

I'm telling you, if RAW was a woman, I'd marry her

Tom

[robar]

hopefully i've made a convert.. that has happened to me bafore.. i pretty much only shoot in raw.. as you know.. i forget, does CS2 let you open a jpg into ACR ?? i know CS3 does thru bridge.. it's an interesting concept and works well. the ds does take awhile to write but you can get a 5 shot burst with it..

roy

[robar]

TDN wrote:

Ed, especially for your bird shots you could benifit a lot from RAW, because you can over- or underexpose by up to 3 EV afterwards in post processing, so the exposure is exactly right!

i think 3ev is pushing it tom. i'd say more like 2ev especially if you are shooting above iso200.. 2ev still gives you a total of 5ev to work with..

roy

[2many]

Tom,

Most people wouldnt know what a fox call is, I grew up actually hunting fox's for bounty in Kenosha, County. It paid my way thru school.

That is a really good example of why one should shoot in raw, I plan on shooting in Raw as soon as the 8GB memory cards get here.

[NonEntity1]

Just as a side note, and not staking any claim that jpeg is more adjustable than RAW, there is still quite a bit of white balance adjustment that can be done with a good, fresh from the camera, jpeg. Even starting with the reduced size file Tom posted quite a bit can still be done. All that said, I am gradually working into RAW and trying to explore its possibilities.

Tim