Why do you shoot jpeg (or raw) with the A7iii?

[gary payne]

Hi A7iii shooters

I'm aware that raw shooting allows better post processing but it's apparent that some of Sony shooters have decided that either they:

1. don't want to deal with the raw file sizes or

2. think the jpegs can be processed well enough to satisfy or

3. think jpegs are good enough without processing

And for those who shoot raw...do you shoot compressed?

Any comments appreciated. gp

 

[BBQue]

Hi A7iii shooters

I'm aware that raw shooting allows better post processing but it's apparent that some of Sony shooters have decided that either they:

1. don't want to deal with the raw file sizes or

2. think the jpegs can be processed well enough to satisfy or

3. think jpegs are good enough without processing

And for those who shoot raw...do you shoot compressed?

Any comments appreciated. gp

Well - you listed the possible reasons. And same applies to compress/uncompressed.

I always shoot RAW+JPG and always process from RAW. Why? Cause it is just as fast as processing from JPG. Unless of course you use the completely unprocessed out of camera JPG (which is very good quality actually with the mark iii cameras).

I choose compressed RAW, cause for 99.5% it makes no difference. For the remaining 0.5% I can set it to uncompressed beforehand.

 

[gary payne]

Thanks BBQ

And when you're done processing the raw image and ready to export the final image...do you export it as a jpeg, and do you limit the exported file to any particular size?

Noted photographer Ken Rockwell surprised me on his website by suggesting that for all practical purposes that 11mp is an appropriate limit for final file sizes for the A7iii.

Thoughts?

gp

 

[RoBiK75]

Hi A7iii shooters

I'm aware that raw shooting allows better post processing but it's apparent that some of Sony shooters have decided that either they:

1. don't want to deal with the raw file sizes or

2. think the jpegs can be processed well enough to satisfy or

3. think jpegs are good enough without processing

And for those who shoot raw...do you shoot compressed?

Any comments appreciated. gp

Yes, people choose to shoot "JPEG only" for multitude of reasons, some of which you already mentioned. I imagine that in the age of social media, having a JPEG ready to be uploaded is another possible reason.

There also some that shoot JPEG+RAW... probably to get the benefit of both options at the same time. Also, having JPEG as a backup in case the card holding the RAWs goes bad, is a good reason.

Regarding compressed RAW - the only reason i can think of to shoot compressed is the space saving (except maybe the camera buffer lasts longer with compressed RAW?... i guess that would have to be tested) - either to have space on the card to be able to shoot more images, or to save space when archiving the photos.

I personally am not a fan of compressed RAW. I always shoot uncompressed RAW. Nowadays the storage is cheap and it is getting cheaper with each day. When i shoot RAW, i do it because i want to preserve all the data that i can... shooting compressed would go against my intention. You can always remove some data but there is no way to restore data that has been lost. People also forget that the data is only one part of the equation, the RAW processing software is also being improved upon as the time goes on. I guess it is a good bet that you can get a better result from an image that you shot 10 years ago, processing it with today's algorithms compared to an algorithm from 10 years ago.

 

[bob13bob]

Thanks BBQ

And when you're done processing the raw image and ready to export the final image...do you export it as a jpeg, and do you limit the exported file to any particular size?

Noted photographer Ken Rockwell surprised me on his website by suggesting that for all practical purposes that 11mp is an appropriate limit for final file sizes for the A7iii.

Thoughts?

gp

compare the raw + inbody jpeg. a73 makes contrast way too high and loses all color detail. raw or c-raw are so much better even if you just just capture one sony (free) to convert from raw > jpeg with zero corrections. Just don't let the inbody do it.

 

[olstrup]

Hi A7iii shooters

I'm aware that raw shooting allows better post processing but it's apparent that some of Sony shooters have decided that either they:

1. don't want to deal with the raw file sizes or

2. think the jpegs can be processed well enough to satisfy or

3. think jpegs are good enough without processing

They often are. They can be tweaked a lot in camera to suit ones taste. But as with everything it takes knowledge, practice and good familarity with the gear to do it well.

And for those who shoot raw...do you shoot compressed?

Any comments appreciated. gp

Pros who need to deliver photos with a tight deadline have no choice. Shooting JPEGs and letting the camera handle whatever tweaking that has to be done is the only way meeting the deadline. A news photog who covers a soccer game or a Tour de France stage for live coverage on his newspapers website has no choice but to send home JPEGs via his smartphone or other transmission gear coupled to his camera. Also some photogs work under conditions where sitting down with a computer to develop RAW files is simply not an option even if they had the time.

Some shoot JPEG + RAW so they can also optimize the results later when they get home. Many don't because they still haven't the time because they are immediately sent to other assignments - and if they are not, they will be spending their time off with their families and not in front of the computer screen.

--
"Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." (Henri Cartier-Bresson)

 

[BBQue]

Thanks BBQ

And when you're done processing the raw image and ready to export the final image...do you export it as a jpeg, and do you limit the exported file to any particular size?

I use C1 as my raw processor. You can save several "export recipes". I choose depending on intended use. If I want to do fancy Photoshop work, I export full size TIFF. If I want to upload to social media, I reduce size to about 2MP or so and highly compressed.

Noted photographer Ken Rockwell surprised me on his website by suggesting that for all practical purposes that 11mp is an appropriate limit for final file sizes for the A7iii.

I have no thoughts on that claim. It all depends on intended use. I went from A7 to A7ii to A7rii/A7riii. I love my 42MP, every single one of them. Cropping ability is really useful. To me.

 

[Paul Barnard]

Hi A7iii shooters

I'm aware that raw shooting allows better post processing but it's apparent that some of Sony shooters have decided that either they:

1. don't want to deal with the raw file sizes or

this is dependent on you computer HW more than anything. I’m a programmer who gets computer upgrades to the latest greatest available every year so have no incentive to save size or CPU time. For sure I would think twice if I was using a four or five year old system

2. think the jpegs can be processed well enough to satisfy or

the problem with jpg is they degrade every time you save them personally I would never edit from JPG

3. think jpegs are good enough without processing

yes they certainly can be. I prefer the flexibility of going from the ‘negative’ with each new edit

And for those who shoot raw...do you shoot compressed?

for the reason in 1 I shoot uncompressed. I take the oposite view to BBQue and don’t want to think of that small percentage of time when uncompressed is required and switch settings at that point

Any comments appreciated. gp

I do shoot raw and jpg for safety. I have a fast card for RAW and a slower card for JPG. I copy the RAW to my computer where it all gets backed up in various methods. I then delete the RAW data from my fast card to reuse it. The jpg stay on the slow cards forever as the cards are cheap.

 

[BBQue]

1. don't want to deal with the raw file sizes or

this is dependent on you computer HW more than anything. I’m a programmer who gets computer upgrades to the latest greatest available every year so have no incentive to save size or CPU time. For sure I would think twice if I was using a four or five year old system

Absolutely agree. I would add, that I am processing my 42MP A7riii on my 2013 iMac 27" without any problems or time constraints (Capture One software. LR is slower from what I have heard).