Thanks Andy. I've just been shooting JPEGs in my first 2-months with the X-S1 (again because of the threads/blogs which seem to indicate that the X-S1's JPEG images are as good as I'm likely to get from the camera).
Well yeah, that's an old argument of course. I have found that the results can vary a lot depending on many factors. Overall I do prefer Raw, but they can result in much poorer images if you're not careful. However, they also give you much more leeway for correcting, and *can* give a better final image if everything is right, and you get to grips with the Raw post processing workflow.
I'm fairly certain Lightroom will be in my Christmas sock, so it's probably a good idea for me to start reading-up on how to get started with it. Any suggestions for someone with NO Photoshop experience? Picasa has been my pp of choice over the past few years, but now I'm more aware of its limitations, besides which it seems that Google may abandon it!
I'd personally start with the online videos that are available on the Adobe website, as well as a bit of a trawl through YouTube, which does have some good tutorials too.
My basic advise is to think 'less is more' - make small adjustments, and don't try to fix something that isn't broken! I use a base sharpening setting (low amount, highest detail setting, and a small amount of mask), which I apply during import, and carry out simply black/white point settings, and that's about it mostly.
Look at Lightroom as a way to 'manage' your image collection, and the overall 'workflow', i.e. Importing > culling > tagging > Editing > Storage > Final Output. You tend to leave Final output until such time as you need an image for a purpose, Lightroom is used to store all your images, and manage the filing system using folders and keywords, and allow non-destructive editing.
Only when you need to output a final image do you actually carry that process out - for example, if you want some images for a web page, then you can export them using the appropriate web JPEG settings. If you want to print, then you'll possible either print straight from Lightroom, or export to a TIFF perhaps. These export files can then be safely deleted when finished with, as you can always recreate more copies - look on Lightroom as a kind of photo negative storage system (indeed a Raw file is a digital equivalent of a photo negative).
Of course the idea is that Lightroom is a flexible system, and people will have different preferred ways of working with it. I'd suggest making a small batch of copy images, and using some of the tutorials, try out different ways of working, and see what you prefer.
