Fuji JPEG editing do or don't?

Hi all. This question has been bothering me lately. I shoot raw + jpeg but find it's so much easier getting the look I want wether B&W or COLOR by just editing the jpeg file I Lightroom. I honestly can't see any degradation of the file. Tweak the tone curve, adjust whites, blacks, exposure, reduce saturation, vignette or whatever. Probably the only thing I don't do is sharpen.
If you're exposing for optimal Raw, your jpegs will not be optimal. If you're exposing for optimal jpeg, your raw files won't be as good as they could be. Can't have both although jpeg+raw allows you to at least have a raw file which give yet more latitude for adjustment.
I know, why don't I just do the same to the raw file? Because it just takes a lot longer. A lot. And multiply by 100+ images and kiss your evening good bye.
That doesn't make any sense to me. Here is something to try - edit your Lightroom raw development default to your liking, then everything will import according to that and you can tweak from there. Literally, if you're editing in Lightroom, there should be no increase in time by editing the raw files.
So what do you think? Do you only edit raw? Or are you editing your jpegs? How much? Do you see degradation, if so how? Thanks a bunch!
Again, if you edit at all, it makes no sense to edit jpeg. The degree of "adjustability" of the raw files is so much greater that you're throwing away some of your image otherwise. You should look especially, as I alluded to earlier, at having your files come into Lightroom with default settings that you like. The most important setting to be aware of is your camera profiles. After that, the tweaking you do should be no different for raw than what you're doing now.

As for sharpening, keep detail down near 6-8, radius .5 or so and adjust the rest to taste.
 
Just in case some people are confused:

”JPEGs Lose Quality Every Time They're Opened and/or Saved: False

Simply opening or displaying a JPEG image doesn't harm it in any way. Saving an image repeatedly during the same editing session without ever closing the image will not accumulate a loss in quality. Copying and renaming a JPEG will not introduce any loss, but some image editors do recompress JPEGs when the "Save as" command is used. Duplicate and rename JPEGs in a file manager rather than using "Save as JPEG" in an editing program to avoid more loss.

JPEGs Lose Quality Every Time They're Opened, Edited and Saved: True

When a JPEG image is opened, edited and saved again it results in additional image degradation. It's very important to minimize the number of editing sessions between the initial and final version of a JPEG image. If you must perform editing functions in several sessions or in several different programs, you should use an image formatthat is not lossy, such as TIFF, BMP or PNG, for the intermediate editing sessions before saving the final version. Repeated saving within the same editing sessionwon't introduce additional damage. It only happens when the image is closed, re-opened, edited and saved again.”

https://www.lifewire.com/jpeg-myths-and-facts-1701548
Thanks for that!
Here’s a good video of award wining wedding and street phographer Kevin Mullins and how he edits both the raw and jpeg file in Lightroom. And showing how much range the jpeg actually has for editing.

 
Just in case some people are confused:

”JPEGs Lose Quality Every Time They're Opened and/or Saved: False

Simply opening or displaying a JPEG image doesn't harm it in any way. Saving an image repeatedly during the same editing session without ever closing the image will not accumulate a loss in quality. Copying and renaming a JPEG will not introduce any loss, but some image editors do recompress JPEGs when the "Save as" command is used. Duplicate and rename JPEGs in a file manager rather than using "Save as JPEG" in an editing program to avoid more loss.

JPEGs Lose Quality Every Time They're Opened, Edited and Saved: True

When a JPEG image is opened, edited and saved again it results in additional image degradation. It's very important to minimize the number of editing sessions between the initial and final version of a JPEG image. If you must perform editing functions in several sessions or in several different programs, you should use an image formatthat is not lossy, such as TIFF, BMP or PNG, for the intermediate editing sessions before saving the final version. Repeated saving within the same editing sessionwon't introduce additional damage. It only happens when the image is closed, re-opened, edited and saved again.”

https://www.lifewire.com/jpeg-myths-and-facts-1701548
Thanks for that!
Here’s a good video of award wining wedding and street phographer Kevin Mullins and how he edits both the raw and jpeg file in Lightroom. And showing how much range the jpeg actually has for editing.

Mullins is award winning, but given the high contrast nature of his wedding work, one only needs jpeg.
 
Just in case some people are confused:

”JPEGs Lose Quality Every Time They're Opened and/or Saved: False

Simply opening or displaying a JPEG image doesn't harm it in any way. Saving an image repeatedly during the same editing session without ever closing the image will not accumulate a loss in quality. Copying and renaming a JPEG will not introduce any loss, but some image editors do recompress JPEGs when the "Save as" command is used. Duplicate and rename JPEGs in a file manager rather than using "Save as JPEG" in an editing program to avoid more loss.

JPEGs Lose Quality Every Time They're Opened, Edited and Saved: True

When a JPEG image is opened, edited and saved again it results in additional image degradation. It's very important to minimize the number of editing sessions between the initial and final version of a JPEG image. If you must perform editing functions in several sessions or in several different programs, you should use an image formatthat is not lossy, such as TIFF, BMP or PNG, for the intermediate editing sessions before saving the final version. Repeated saving within the same editing sessionwon't introduce additional damage. It only happens when the image is closed, re-opened, edited and saved again.”

https://www.lifewire.com/jpeg-myths-and-facts-1701548
Thanks for that!
Here’s a good video of award wining wedding and street phographer Kevin Mullins and how he edits both the raw and jpeg file in Lightroom. And showing how much range the jpeg actually has for editing.

Mullins is award winning, but given the high contrast nature of his wedding work, one only needs jpeg.
Well the majority of his work is from raw and 30% in color.
 
OP asked 'How do you shoot', not 'How do you think I should shoot.'

I do not understand how it can be so hard for some people to grasp, that there are people who enjoy photography, but not spending their nights in front of the computer tweaking their photos. I also wonder how many newcomers have given up photography since the Raw fundamentalists have drained all joy of it.

I for one am just recovering from having two years worth of RAW files from my Canon period accumulating in my computer, and just the thought of having to start dealing with them made my stomach turn!
 
Just noticed your signature statement :-) Very true. I'm a member of three Facebook photography groups Now, because of FB's image limitations nobody even looks for the sort of details argued to death here on DPR - it's exactly what you say. Does the image itself (not the detail) grab and have an emotional impact on the viewer. In the end that's all that should matter...
 
It's absolutely clear to everybody on this forum that RAW gives a lot more latitude, but I feel the RAW devotees under-estimate what can be done with a JPEG. Just look at the world of mobile photography and apps such as Snapseed and VSCO. The latter has a huge range of profiles that do change colour quite dramatically and successfully. I was quite surprised what can be done from a well exposed JPEG when I started uploading my shots to phone / tablet and using these apps. They might not pass the "perfection test" on DPR, but they're good enough for most people's output and purposes IMO. We should celebrate the fact that Fuji give us a great starting point for those who prefer to use JPEGs or whose mobile workflow pretty much demands it!
JPEG is an output format. Unless you are happy with the files being the output you should use a lossless editing format.

It is also desirable to defer editing decisions as much as possible. Why force yourself to make irreversible choices like film simulation, noise reduction, and sharpening at the moment of capture if they can be decided years later?
 
OP asked 'How do you shoot', not 'How do you think I should shoot.'

I do not understand how it can be so hard for some people to grasp, that there are people who enjoy photography, but not spending their nights in front of the computer tweaking their photos. I also wonder how many newcomers have given up photography since the Raw fundamentalists have drained all joy of it.

I for one am just recovering from having two years worth of RAW files from my Canon period accumulating in my computer, and just the thought of having to start dealing with them made my stomach turn!
Agreed...

I'm an organizer of one of our local meetups, and people new to photography often approach and ask what they're doing wrong. They have invested in too much camera and software and are shooting RAW because, you know, it's better. Often suggesting that they switch to jpg until they've learned more about editing gives them one or two fewer things to worry about.
 
Just in case some people are confused:

”JPEGs Lose Quality Every Time They're Opened and/or Saved: False

Simply opening or displaying a JPEG image doesn't harm it in any way. Saving an image repeatedly during the same editing session without ever closing the image will not accumulate a loss in quality. Copying and renaming a JPEG will not introduce any loss, but some image editors do recompress JPEGs when the "Save as" command is used. Duplicate and rename JPEGs in a file manager rather than using "Save as JPEG" in an editing program to avoid more loss.

JPEGs Lose Quality Every Time They're Opened, Edited and Saved: True

When a JPEG image is opened, edited and saved again it results in additional image degradation. It's very important to minimize the number of editing sessions between the initial and final version of a JPEG image. If you must perform editing functions in several sessions or in several different programs, you should use an image formatthat is not lossy, such as TIFF, BMP or PNG, for the intermediate editing sessions before saving the final version. Repeated saving within the same editing sessionwon't introduce additional damage. It only happens when the image is closed, re-opened, edited and saved again.”

https://www.lifewire.com/jpeg-myths-and-facts-1701548
Thanks for that!
Here’s a good video of award wining wedding and street phographer Kevin Mullins and how he edits both the raw and jpeg file in Lightroom. And showing how much range the jpeg actually has for editing.

Mullins is award winning, but given the high contrast nature of his wedding work, one only needs jpeg.
Well the majority of his work is from raw and 30% in color.
My point being that the end result looks easily achievable from jpeg.
 
OP asked 'How do you shoot', not 'How do you think I should shoot.'

I do not understand how it can be so hard for some people to grasp, that there are people who enjoy photography, but not spending their nights in front of the computer tweaking their photos. I also wonder how many newcomers have given up photography since the Raw fundamentalists have drained all joy of it.
I wonder as well how many people actually read what their writing in light of what was originally said. He NEVER said in this original post "How do you shoot" but he did say "what do YOU THINK". So I'm not sure what you're responding to because it doesn't really fit here.
I for one am just recovering from having two years worth of RAW files from my Canon period accumulating in my computer, and just the thought of having to start dealing with them made my stomach turn!
The OP said he's editing jpeg files. If one is already editing, there should be little to no difference in the amount of time spent between jpeg and raw. If it's stomach turner, you are missing something in your Lightroom skills.
 
OP asked 'How do you shoot', not 'How do you think I should shoot.'

I do not understand how it can be so hard for some people to grasp, that there are people who enjoy photography, but not spending their nights in front of the computer tweaking their photos. I also wonder how many newcomers have given up photography since the Raw fundamentalists have drained all joy of it.

I for one am just recovering from having two years worth of RAW files from my Canon period accumulating in my computer, and just the thought of having to start dealing with them made my stomach turn!
Agreed...

I'm an organizer of one of our local meetups, and people new to photography often approach and ask what they're doing wrong. They have invested in too much camera and software and are shooting RAW because, you know, it's better. Often suggesting that they switch to jpg until they've learned more about editing gives them one or two fewer things to worry about.
That's hogwash. Sorry, editing is editing. Raw files are not nightmarish and they are not hard to edit and should not take more time unless there is a gap in your knowledge. If you know how to set up a default raw development profile prior to importing (a one time effort of maybe 30 minutes), there is no difference in the amount of time and effort.
 
I do it all the time (JPEGs instead of RAW) if I'm travelling or short of time and if you want to use a mobile app such as VSCO, Snapseed, Google Photos or whatever, you have to use the JPEG. The sort of adjustments you want to make are fine. Don't expect to start pulling back skies by -2EV or whatever, else you'll get horrible banding. As a rule, I'll always develop RAW files for landscapes with sky, or any extreme DR. Otherwise, family, travel, street shots within normal exposure limits I'm happy with the JPEG most of the time. I usually add just a touch of sharpening, but it depends on how much is done in the camera.
excellent post and that has been my experience!
 
It's absolutely clear to everybody on this forum that RAW gives a lot more latitude, but I feel the RAW devotees under-estimate what can be done with a JPEG. Just look at the world of mobile photography and apps such as Snapseed and VSCO. The latter has a huge range of profiles that do change colour quite dramatically and successfully. I was quite surprised what can be done from a well exposed JPEG when I started uploading my shots to phone / tablet and using these apps. They might not pass the "perfection test" on DPR, but they're good enough for most people's output and purposes IMO. We should celebrate the fact that Fuji give us a great starting point for those who prefer to use JPEGs or whose mobile workflow pretty much demands it!
I am too lazy or too engaged in the field to get perfect JPGs. If they are, I do not need to edit them at all :) However, shooting RAW gives me the option to focus myself on composition instead of technical details which can be corrected later on. Therefore, my suggestion is to use the camera profiles in LR to get the Fuji JPG results as a starting point but with RAW files.
 
That's hogwash. Sorry, editing is editing. Raw files are not nightmarish and they are not hard to edit and should not take more time unless there is a gap in your knowledge.
They are not hard, but there is a lot of skill and especially discipline involved - most importantly, IMHO, is knowing when to stop. Way too often I find that the very people who are preaching the supremacy of raw with thau shalt not shoot other formats are not too skilled on doing just that, and are presenting us with visibly over-processed images.

I am guilty as charged, and I often find, that as I am tweaking RAW, I focus too much on one tree and completely lose the sight of the forest. Only a month or two later, when I return to that image, do I see how bad it actually looks. I think this is the result of the mentality that I must make the image in PP as opposed to when I shoot it.

As opposed to when I shoot an almost-there JPG, where a quick exposure adjustment, crop and straighten, and some sharpening is all it takes to get me where I want to go.
 
That's hogwash. Sorry, editing is editing. Raw files are not nightmarish and they are not hard to edit and should not take more time unless there is a gap in your knowledge.
They are not hard, but there is a lot of skill and especially discipline involved - most importantly, IMHO, is knowing when to stop.
That's no different between jpeg or raw.
I am guilty as charged, and I often find, that as I am tweaking RAW, I focus too much on one tree and completely lose the sight of the forest. Only a month or two later, when I return to that image, do I see how bad it actually looks. I think this is the result of the mentality that I must make the image in PP as opposed to when I shoot it.
Again, not a raw vs. jpeg issue, but I know what you mean. I think that is more of a psychological thing than anything else and it's important to know when it really matters to put in the effort.
As opposed to when I shoot an almost-there JPG, where a quick exposure adjustment, crop and straighten, and some sharpening is all it takes to get me where I want to go.
Then what you would need is to set up a one time default profile for your raw files and then it's the same amount of adjustment and done. (That is if you think you will benefit from raw. In my case, I can't edit jpeg files because the have too little latitude for what I like to do. But I don't put the effort into every image either. In many cases, I just have a default that I apply and move on.)
 
It's absolutely clear to everybody on this forum that RAW gives a lot more latitude, but I feel the RAW devotees under-estimate what can be done with a JPEG. Just look at the world of mobile photography and apps such as Snapseed and VSCO. The latter has a huge range of profiles that do change colour quite dramatically and successfully. I was quite surprised what can be done from a well exposed JPEG when I started uploading my shots to phone / tablet and using these apps. They might not pass the "perfection test" on DPR, but they're good enough for most people's output and purposes IMO. We should celebrate the fact that Fuji give us a great starting point for those who prefer to use JPEGs or whose mobile workflow pretty much demands it!
JPEG is an output format. Unless you are happy with the files being the output you should use a lossless editing format.

It is also desirable to defer editing decisions as much as possible. Why force yourself to make irreversible choices like film simulation, noise theree arereduction, and sharpening at thande moment of capture if they can be decided years later?
Actually I shoot RAW and jpeg and keep the RAWs but my point was that are times when editing and using the jpeg is good enough and especially when RAW is not an option (mobile uploads).
 
Just in case some people are confused:

”JPEGs Lose Quality Every Time They're Opened and/or Saved: False

Simply opening or displaying a JPEG image doesn't harm it in any way. Saving an image repeatedly during the same editing session without ever closing the image will not accumulate a loss in quality. Copying and renaming a JPEG will not introduce any loss, but some image editors do recompress JPEGs when the "Save as" command is used. Duplicate and rename JPEGs in a file manager rather than using "Save as JPEG" in an editing program to avoid more loss.

JPEGs Lose Quality Every Time They're Opened, Edited and Saved: True

When a JPEG image is opened, edited and saved again it results in additional image degradation. It's very important to minimize the number of editing sessions between the initial and final version of a JPEG image. If you must perform editing functions in several sessions or in several different programs, you should use an image formatthat is not lossy, such as TIFF, BMP or PNG, for the intermediate editing sessions before saving the final version. Repeated saving within the same editing sessionwon't introduce additional damage. It only happens when the image is closed, re-opened, edited and saved again.”

https://www.lifewire.com/jpeg-myths-and-facts-1701548
Thanks for that!
Here’s a good video of award wining wedding and street phographer Kevin Mullins and how he edits both the raw and jpeg file in Lightroom. And showing how much range the jpeg actually has for editing.

Mullins is award winning, but given the high contrast nature of his wedding work, one only needs jpeg.
Well the majority of his work is from raw and 30% in color.
My point being that the end result looks easily achievable from jpeg.
For his style maybe. He’s not a landscape photographer. And for portraits he says he only shoots in raw.

--
After all is said and done and your photo is hanging on the wall, no one is going to know or care what camera, lens, or what post processing you used. All they care about is if the image moves them.
 
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Just in case some people are confused:

”JPEGs Lose Quality Every Time They're Opened and/or Saved: False

Simply opening or displaying a JPEG image doesn't harm it in any way. Saving an image repeatedly during the same editing session without ever closing the image will not accumulate a loss in quality. Copying and renaming a JPEG will not introduce any loss, but some image editors do recompress JPEGs when the "Save as" command is used. Duplicate and rename JPEGs in a file manager rather than using "Save as JPEG" in an editing program to avoid more loss.

JPEGs Lose Quality Every Time They're Opened, Edited and Saved: True

When a JPEG image is opened, edited and saved again it results in additional image degradation. It's very important to minimize the number of editing sessions between the initial and final version of a JPEG image. If you must perform editing functions in several sessions or in several different programs, you should use an image formatthat is not lossy, such as TIFF, BMP or PNG, for the intermediate editing sessions before saving the final version. Repeated saving within the same editing sessionwon't introduce additional damage. It only happens when the image is closed, re-opened, edited and saved again.”

https://www.lifewire.com/jpeg-myths-and-facts-1701548
Thanks for that!
Here’s a good video of award wining wedding and street phographer Kevin Mullins and how he edits both the raw and jpeg file in Lightroom. And showing how much range the jpeg actually has for editing.

Mullins is award winning, but given the high contrast nature of his wedding work, one only needs jpeg.
Well the majority of his work is from raw and 30% in color.
My point being that the end result looks easily achievable from jpeg.
For his style maybe. He’s not a landscape photographer. And for portraits he says he only shoots in raw.
Yes, it's his style for sure. He's also part of what's wrong with wedding photography...ooh, did I actually say that?
 
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OP asked 'How do you shoot', not 'How do you think I should shoot.'

I do not understand how it can be so hard for some people to grasp, that there are people who enjoy photography, but not spending their nights in front of the computer tweaking their photos. I also wonder how many newcomers have given up photography since the Raw fundamentalists have drained all joy of it.

I for one am just recovering from having two years worth of RAW files from my Canon period accumulating in my computer, and just the thought of having to start dealing with them made my stomach turn!
Agreed...

I'm an organizer of one of our local meetups, and people new to photography often approach and ask what they're doing wrong. They have invested in too much camera and software and are shooting RAW because, you know, it's better. Often suggesting that they switch to jpg until they've learned more about editing gives them one or two fewer things to worry about.
That's hogwash. Sorry, editing is editing.
Nope, not going to let you get away with that one. Just sharpening the raw alone can cost a trip to Photoshop or mind numbing slider tweaks.
Raw files are not nightmarish and they are not hard to edit and should not take more time unless there is a gap in your knowledge. If you know how to set up a default raw development profile prior to importing
Only if your doing cookie cutter images. Say I want this one in Acros with a touch more contrast, and the next photo of someone in Astia and the next landscape in Velvia with the vibrance reduced a bit. A bunch of wasted time on not only different sharpening, but the additional adjustments needed to get the "look" the camera is capable of in the first place with the film Sims and the customization each offers before the image is even taken.

Get back to the computer and find out the Acros has a little too much contrast? -then make one slider adjustment (or more if needed) and move on. Done.
(a one time effort of maybe 30 minutes), there is no difference in the amount of time and effort.
 
OP asked 'How do you shoot', not 'How do you think I should shoot.'

I do not understand how it can be so hard for some people to grasp, that there are people who enjoy photography, but not spending their nights in front of the computer tweaking their photos. I also wonder how many newcomers have given up photography since the Raw fundamentalists have drained all joy of it.

I for one am just recovering from having two years worth of RAW files from my Canon period accumulating in my computer, and just the thought of having to start dealing with them made my stomach turn!
Agreed...

I'm an organizer of one of our local meetups, and people new to photography often approach and ask what they're doing wrong. They have invested in too much camera and software and are shooting RAW because, you know, it's better. Often suggesting that they switch to jpg until they've learned more about editing gives them one or two fewer things to worry about.
That's hogwash. Sorry, editing is editing.
Nope, not going to let you get away with that one. Just sharpening the raw alone can cost a trip to Photoshop or mind numbing slider tweaks.
It's nothing like that. Where do you get this hogwash? Mind numbing slider tweaks? I have a basic slider setting for most all Fuji Raws and it rarely changes. \

Look, you're the one who asked as if you didn't know, but now you're the expert? Did you really want to know, or just argue against people who find Raw editing agreeable?
Raw files are not nightmarish and they are not hard to edit and should not take more time unless there is a gap in your knowledge. If you know how to set up a default raw development profile prior to importing
Only if your doing cookie cutter images.
So you're saying that editing raw images is always nightmarish? Where do you get that?
Say I want this one in Acros with a touch more contrast, and the next photo of someone in Astia and the next landscape in Velvia with the vibrance reduced a bit. A bunch of wasted time on not only different sharpening, but the additional adjustments needed to get the "look" the camera is capable of in the first place with the film Sims and the customization each offers before the image is even taken.
If you're trying to match the camera, you're taking the wrong approach. There is nothing magic about OOC jpegs, in fact the opposite. OOC jpegs have no magic. They can be nice, but never as nice as what I achieve on my own with very little effort. And for the very special images that I really want to edit to perfection, jpeg won't do.
Get back to the computer and find out the Acros has a little too much contrast? -then make one slider adjustment (or more if needed) and move on. Done.
You're overstating raw editing and understating jpeg editing. It's not like that on either side.
(a one time effort of maybe 30 minutes), there is no difference in the amount of time and effort.
You don't get it mate you're making it seem way too complex. Do the rest of the forum a favor and stop making up all this drama about how hard raw editing is. Again, I have to ask, were you honestly wanting to know?
 
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