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RAW or not to RAW

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Bill Huber

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I have been playing with RAW just to what difference it really made.

Here are 2 pictures taken at the same time, one just after the other. The difference is one was an SHQ jpg and the other was taken as RAW.

The first one is a section of each shot, from the same corner. Pull this file down and blow it up about 2 or 3 hundred %. I think then you will really see the difference. (left is RAW, right is JPG)

I like raw a lot, I am not shooting everything in raw but shots that I think I may want to blow up and print are taken in raw.

The next 2 shot are the org, I did nothing to them at all straight from the camera, I did convert the RAW to a jpg but that is it.



RAW



Org. JPG



--
No, I'm not a Pro, but I did read the Olympus Talk Forum last night.
Bill Huber, Fort Worth, Tx
UZI, E-10 http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber
 
Great comparison Bill, I have many similarly eye-opening examples of raw's quality over jpeg. Also, see my post about a "raw challenge" Just an idea, and we could have many different aspects of comparison. ie resolution/sharpness, dynamic range, color etc.
Bill Huber said:
I have been playing with RAW just to what difference it really made.
Here are 2 pictures taken at the same time, one just after the
other. The difference is one was an SHQ jpg and the other was taken
as RAW.
The first one is a section of each shot, from the same corner. Pull
this file down and blow it up about 2 or 3 hundred %. I think then
you will really see the difference. (left is RAW, right is JPG)
I like raw a lot, I am not shooting everything in raw but shots
that I think I may want to blow up and print are taken in raw.

The next 2 shot are the org, I did nothing to them at all straight
from the camera, I did convert the RAW to a jpg but that is it.



RAW



Org. JPG



--
No, I'm not a Pro, but I did read the Olympus Talk Forum last night.
Bill Huber, Fort Worth, Tx
UZI, E-10 http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/andylandfather
http://www.pbase.com/andylandfather1/olympus_c-5050
 
I hardly ever tried RAW on my E-10, but maybe one day I will.

BTW: I like the Jpg original better, because the sun hits the upper left two extensions of the cloud- but that seems rather to be a problem of better timing, might have looked even better in RAW.
 
Hi Bill,

Thanks for posting the examples of RAW vs SHQ. I was curious how big you plan to blow up the photos when you print them?

Do you think it matters between RAW and SHQ when the prints are no bigger than 8.5"x11"?

I'm doing a car calendar for a friend starting this weekend and that's why I'm curious. I understand that RAW has more flexibility when it comes to post editing, but I only have PS Elements 2 to edit with. I'm using a Mac and it seems there is less choices for it for the RAW conversion programs and money is tight at the moment. Plus with only a 256MB memory card that limits me.

Thanks, JD...
 
Bill Huber,

What size are the RAW files? I'm planning a trip to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens in the morning (if it is not raining and the Call Gods are Kind to me tonight). I will do some of my shooting tomorrow in RAW so I can get in on this discussion. From what i have read on the other forums, this test of using RAW will probably be a one-way trip for me... I'll probably never go back to shooting jpg.

Cheers,

jim
 
Very good shots. I really like to use the raw format with my 5050 but what i dont like is that i loose the EXIF data when converting to JPG with Photoshop. Is there a way to keep it?.. If somebody know please tell me.

Thanks
Sandman said:
Bill Huber,

What size are the RAW files? I'm planning a trip to the Atlanta
Botanical Gardens in the morning (if it is not raining and the Call
Gods are Kind to me tonight). I will do some of my shooting
tomorrow in RAW so I can get in on this discussion. From what i
have read on the other forums, this test of using RAW will probably
be a one-way trip for me... I'll probably never go back to shooting
jpg.

Cheers,

jim
Click to expand...
 
Most are 6.4 down to 4.9 meg.
I did get a 512 CF which starts out at saying 67 pictures.
The 128 SM starts at 17.

They are big.... But they look so good.

--
No, I'm not a Pro, but I did read the Olympus Talk Forum last night.
Bill Huber, Fort Worth, Tx
UZI, E-10 http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber
 
I am using PhotoShop 7 and the Raw Plugin for it and I do not loose any of the EXIF data.

--
No, I'm not a Pro, but I did read the Olympus Talk Forum last night.
Bill Huber, Fort Worth, Tx
UZI, E-10 http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber
 
Well there is just more to it then the printouts.

The pictures just look better with Raw then with SHQ from the camera. I am not sure just what it is, but they are sharper, and they seem have a better dynamic range, or something like that. There is less noise that you see and after you edit them you will really see the noise is a lot less then the SHQs. I would try a few and see what you think for yourself.

--
No, I'm not a Pro, but I did read the Olympus Talk Forum last night.
Bill Huber, Fort Worth, Tx
UZI, E-10 http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber
 
neither of my current cameras shoot RAW, but its still good info to know for when i do finally upgrade.

dboogie
--
If ya don't use your head, you'll end up using your feet
 
is the time it would take to save those file sizes to the card. The E-10's no speed demon as it is.

I should still give it a go too when there's time available to wait for that. Certainly not at any soccer games. :-)
Bill Huber said:
Most are 6.4 down to 4.9 meg.
I did get a 512 CF which starts out at saying 67 pictures.
The 128 SM starts at 17.

They are big.... But they look so good.

--
No, I'm not a Pro, but I did read the Olympus Talk Forum last night.
Bill Huber, Fort Worth, Tx
UZI, E-10 http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the post Bill.

I've been toying with trying RAW, but have not made a decision. I like the result, but I'm more than pushed for time as it is trying to get regular post processing done. How long does it take?

I'm not too worried about the memory as I'm just upgrading to a 512CF and 256xD on the C5050. I am really tempted to take some RAW shots on a dive trip at the end of the month.

Paul
 
I am using the PhotoShop plugin and it takes me less time per picture then I normaly do, and I have no noise to clean up with neatimage.

--
No, I'm not a Pro, but I did read the Olympus Talk Forum last night.
Bill Huber, Fort Worth, Tx
UZI, E-10 http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber
 
brock121199 said:
I'm not too worried about the memory as I'm just upgrading to a
512CF and 256xD on the C5050. I am really tempted to take some RAW
shots on a dive trip at the end of the month.

Paul
Click to expand...
Paul, make sure you buy a fast CF card. They are available up to 40X, nowadays. A bit more expensive, but sooo fast. And as they say: time is money.

Hans
 
Bill Huber said:
Most are 6.4 down to 4.9 meg.
Click to expand...
Hi Bill,
First, thanks for the comparison.

As far as size goes, shouldn't all RAW files be the same size since there's no compression? Just about all that I've taken have been 7.2MB. However I just went back and checked and a recent macro session I did that was mostly black background with about 1/5 the image area taken up by the subject were all 7.1MB.

--
Olympus C5O5O, B-twenty eight, B-3OO, FL-4O
 
I find that the Adobe Camera RAW speeds processing up a lot. I have set the defaults where I like them, and a spot of adjustment and I am done. I do mostly portraits and have done side by side comparisons RAW vs SHQ. I find that the RAW images have better tonal range and look more real. Being able to adjust the white balance is a major plus as well.

There is no argument about what is best.

There is no way that I would shoot a JPEG unless I needed to reel off a set of shots at once.

I am pleased that disk space is cheap though. You need to be able to back it all up though. A DVD writer (I use a 12/24GB DAT tape drive) is looking like a must.
 
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