Given the choice, do you always shoot in RAW?

I only ask as i just got a Canon S70 today and for a compact it does a hell of a lot. I didn't think i was this excited about it, but the little thing can shoot RAW in 7.1mp !!!!!! Good thing i got a 1G card from morgan (thanks again for the quick delivery).

So, given the choice, would you shoot RAW? in comparison to Jpeg (which incidentally means the card can store 4 times as many photos.

When I only had my s60, which also does RAW, I tended to shoot in JPG because in the majority of shots, there were very few if any adjustments needed to the exposure levels or white balance. I also only had a 256Mb card, and tended only to take it on holiday. I might consider all RAW now if I were taking it out as my primary camera just for the day - you'll still get a fair few RAWs on a 1Gig card.

Glad you're enjoying the camera, I take my s60 everythere just in case.

Depends on what I'm doing. Motorsports I'll tend to work in jpeg. Something which has a particularly tricky exposure I'll tend to use RAW. Raw for macro as well, again mainly to give more scope to correct exposure mistakes.

To be honest for 99% of stuff I can't tell the difference in quality. /Runs for cover

I use RAW for weddings, portraits and when the lighting conditions are too tricky for Auto White Balance. I can get 100 RAW+small JPEGs on a 1GB CF card.

I don't use RAW for motorsports.

Studio work I always work in Raw due to the nature of the shots. Weddings You should always shoot JPEG due to the varying degrees of lightting conditions, which means RAW is pretty much pointless as you cannot speed the post-processing up by using a single RAW setting/ subset and applying it to the whole batch of images whereas on a studio photoshoot you can.
shooting a wedding in JPEG and the dynamic range is too great just take two exposures then bring them into photoshop and use a layer mask to bring back detail in the blown out areas.

I ALWAYS shoot RAW+Basic JPEG on my D70.

Dean3d said:

Weddings You should always shoot JPEG due to the varying degrees of lightting conditions, which means RAW is pretty much pointless as you cannot speed the post-processing up by using a single RAW setting/ subset and applying it to the whole batch of images whereas on a studio photoshoot you can.
shooting a wedding in JPEG and the dynamic range is too great just take two exposures then bring them into photoshop and use a layer mask to bring back detail in the blown out areas.

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I only process the B&G's chosen photos from the RAW files, I use the small JPEGs for the proof files. This means they get hundreds of small proof photos quickly, to choose their selection of quality large (RAW) photos.

Also, combining 2 JPEG's photos takes longer than converting 1 RAW file

I have CS2 , how do i edit my raw photos, it seems the software does not recognise them as instead of showing a small preview they are a 'logo'

Im starting to use Jpeg again as Im getting tired of having to process them now. I shoot raw and jpeg combined so if something is wrong it can be adjusted.

I always shoot RAW. I've got the space, and I don't need ultra fast frames per second.

inferno said:

I have CS2 , how do i edit my raw photos, it seems the software does not recognise them as instead of showing a small preview they are a 'logo'

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There is a raw plugin for CS2 you need to download and install first.

SCM

If im in a casual kind of mood, I use Jpeg, as more often than not, I cant tell the difference. If I think i want to get as clear an image as possible, I switch to Raw - typically when the lighting is low. I guess its almost as though I think its jpeg for outdoor/daytime and raw for night time.

I always shoot raw unless I'm going on holiday and have to conserve the storage space for two weeks. If nothing else it means I don't have to worry about the camera getting the right colour balance as I can correct it in RSE. Being able to alter the exposure without worrying that the JPEG compression has lost detail is a major plus. It took me a while to realise the potential but now I'm using it regularly I hate having to shoot in JPEG.

SDK^ said:

Also, combining 2 JPEG's photos takes longer than converting 1 RAW file

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Maybe so, but you do not shoot RAW for weddings. It's totally pointless due to the speed at which you need to shoot and the lighting conditions. RAW is for the studio.

95% of my photos are motorsport and I only ever shoot in RAW, the only real reason is storage is dirt cheap (I always carry 28gb with me and have another 120gb in the car), I do feel that RAW offers more options to improve a shot over a jpeg, but that could just be in my head.

Dean3d said:

Maybe so, but you do not shoot RAW for weddings. It's totally pointless due to the speed at which you need to shoot and the lighting conditions. RAW is for the studio.

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Why not just accept that people do things differently?

Saying stuff like "but you do not shoot RAW for weddings" and "It's totally pointless..." is disrespectful of other people's workflows, especially in this case where there is no definite correct answer.

Let's use one example - Nikon Capture can recover up to (a reported) extra 2 stops of blown highlights when you open a RAW with NC 4.4. Would you still say it's pointless when you can finally recover those white wedding dress details which were previously difficult to get right (either overall picture too dark and exposure has to be pushed too much, showing too much artifacts and noise, or exposed correctly except for the wedding dress which is completely blown, and will remain detail-less if you had shot in JPG?)

I'm not being disrespectful at all, but if you shoot weddings you will soon find out that shooting RAW is pointless.

If I'm taking a photograph (long exposure, tripod, macro, unusual lighting, etc) I shoot to RAW. If I'm taking a snapshot (e.g. mates birthday) I shoot to JPEG.

i use JPEG when taking a lot of photographs.... because ive only got a 512MB card at the moment!!!!

but when taking important photos like portraits... i use RAW!!!!!

RAW all the time, my camera doesn't know what this "JPEG" stuff is...